22 December 2008
THE Government is in the process of transforming the Prison Service into a modern correctional institution in line with the United Nations (UN) standard minimum rules for the treatment of offenders.
Home Affiars Minister, Kalombo Mwansa said at the weekend at the launch of the Prisons Service HIV/AIDS work place policy that the prisons were meant to provide humane custody and correctional services to prisoners.
He said in a speech read on his behalf by acting Home Affairs Permanent Secretary, James Mfula on rehabilitation and re-integration of inmates that the service was now able to provide behavioural cognitive and occupational therapy programmes under the offender management and chaplaincy units.
Dr Mwansa said that the operationalisation of the national parole board was another demonstration of the Government's commitment to ensure excellence in the provision of correctional services in prisons.
To address the problem of congestion the Government was constructing a maximum prison at Mwembeshi and renovating Livingstone prison, which would be upgraded to a maximum prison while Kamfinsa prison that had been expanded would now accommodate 2,500 inmates out of a national total of 14,000.
On the HIV/AIDS policy, he said the plan took care of the rights and responsibilities of prison officers and inmates in relation to the disease and also the provision of treatment, care and support services to the prison community, staff and inmates.
He said HIV/AIDS was a challenge not only to prison authorities but the whole nation because inmates only served limited terms and returned to society.
"The infection acquired in prison can be transmitted to the outside community. Therefore protecting inmates against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases is ultimately giving protection to the outside community," he said.
Zambia Prisons Service deputy commissioner, Teddy Chola said that there had been an overwhelming response from prison communities and inmates as quite a good number had undertaken Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT).
He said the challenge was for prison officers to use the guidelines in the policy as a mirror in the course of duty and share information with the inmates.
He added that the launch of the policy was an ambitious quest to reverse the general understanding that the prisons community was the most hit with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
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