INJUSTICE weighs heavily on Bulawayo-based lawyer Mr Bob Siansole, particularly when it comes to wrongful convictions due to lack of legal knowledge.
Witnessing this over his six years of practicing criminal law has ignited a fire within him.
Inspired by organisations like the Innocence Project, which offers pro bono legal aid to the wrongly convicted, Mr Siansole has established "I Didn't Do It" (IDDIT).
The organisation seeks to overturn convictions for individuals who may be languishing in prison due to an inability to defend themselves against crimes they never committed.
With a dedicated team of four, IDDIT has begun its nationwide outreach to prisoners. They've already encountered several inmates firmly maintaining their innocence.
While Mr Siansole cannot disclose the number of cases under review, IDDIT's efforts to identify potential victims of wrongful conviction are already underway.
Mr Siansole highlights the high cost of legal services, which often leaves individuals without proper representation, potentially leading to wrongful convictions.
"IDDT is a non-profit organisation that deals with primarily exoneration of wrongfully convicted persons.
"We noticed there is a serious problem when it comes to access to justice in Zimbabwe," says Mr Siansole.
"For someone to get legal representation, they need to be financially capable to look for lawyers in private practice. We don't have public defenders, we only have private defenders.
"So you will find that when the law says 'you have a right to legal representation of your own choice, but if you do not have the means the State will provide counsel for you', but we don't have those kind of lawyers, so you will find that people are found wanting when it comes to legal representation, serve for murder offences, but only at trial stage."
Mr Siansole acknowledges that Zimbabwe, like many countries, has individuals serving sentences for crimes they didn't commit.
While national statistics on overturned convictions are unavailable, the Innocence Project in the US demonstrates success in fighting for exoneration, even in cases with potential death sentences for murder or sexual crimes.
They have even overturned convictions where individuals pleaded guilty, highlighting the gravity of the situation. Mr Siansole highlights the lack of legal knowledge, which can lead to convicts receiving harsher sentences than they deserve.
He clarifies that IDDIT focuses on individuals already convicted, not those still awaiting trial.
"We don't want to be found infiltrating in the trial process hence the name 'I Didn't Do It'. We want to be dealing with wrongfully convicted individuals.
"We won't be worried about the wrongful arrest and so forth, we want to deal with wrongful convictions so that we engage institutions like the Zimbabwe Republic Police on how to investigate these cases so that only guilty people are then sent to prison," he said.
"The issue of wrong convictions is not just a Zimbabwean problem, this is a global phenomenon. That is where you find out that IDDI, is likened to the Innocent Network Project in America, Europe and this is a global problem and in Zimbabwe we have not tackled it hands on."
Mr Siansole stresses the importance of modern technologies, including DNA testing, in IDDIT's fight for justice. This aligns with the work of organisations like the Innocence Project, which heavily relies on advancements like DNA analysis to overturn wrongful convictions.
"We have the intention of being instrumental in the introduction of DNA evidence in Zimbabwe. You will realise that largely in America the organisations that do the work that we do manage to secure the release or the overturning of these decisions through the provision of new evidence that is DNA evidence," said Mr Siansole.
"Unfortunately in Zimbabwe there is no DNA evidence when it comes to post convictions. We want to ensure that the country is alive to the need to introduce DNA evidence, for now we don't have that mechanism, but we want to ensure that the mechanism is introduced."
Mr Siansole acknowledges that existing organisations fight for the rights of the accused, but there's a gap in support for the wrongly convicted. IDDIT aims to bridge this gap. He plans to visit prisons soon, meeting inmates who believe they have been wrongfully convicted before initiating the screening process.
"We cannot safely say we have identified individuals that have been wrongfully convicted. No. We do know that they exist and what we are going to do is go to prisons and provide them with that platform, give them a form and invite people who genuinely believe in their innocence to write to us and request that we look into their cases,.
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Mr Siansole's vision extends beyond securing freedom for the wrongfully convicted. IDDIT also intends to assist these individuals in rebuilding their lives after a wrongful conviction. The support will encompass not only the exonerated themselves but also their families who have endured the ordeal alongside them.
"As we assist the person with the appeal process, we will go deeper looking at the welfare of their dependants. This is meant to ensure their dependants do not suffer from the wrongful convictions. We are therefore looking for donors who will assist such dependants whose breadwinners are wrongfully convicted. We realise that we cannot assist everyone and as such we will only assist the dependants of those individuals we will be assisting to appeal," he said.
IDDIT will prioritise cases involving alleged wrongful convictions for non-political crimes. The focus will allow them to concentrate their resources on a specific area of the justice system.
