Life in Mugabe's Hell Hole: Zimbabwe jail exposed in secret film that shows inmates starving to death By Julian Gavaghan Last updated at 7:25 AM on 02nd April 2009
The appalling way Robert Mugabe treats political dissidents was revealed today after secretly filmed images of a Zimbabwean jails was released. The shocking pictures show horrifying scenes of starving inmates too weak to stand and eating miniscule rations as if they can barely bring food to their mouths. In one part of the documentary film Hell Hole, a man stands shirtless in a prison yard, his ribs and pelvic bone shockingly prominent until he pulls on a ragged T-shirt. Emaciated: A prisoner with protruding ribs and wearing rags is washed by an inmate at a Zimbwean jail in footage filmed by cameras that were smuggled in In other scenes, emaciated prisoners, who appear to be wasting away because of vitamin deficiencies, are shown on mats in cells furnished with only blankets and the thin mattresses in cramped cells. Producer Godknows Nare, who spent four months training insiders to capture the footage, said prison menus have been reduced to daily bowls of corn porridge. Human rights activists and former prisoners have spoken of horrifying conditions in the country's jails, but until now there has been little firsthand evidence available. Mr Nare said he hoped the footage would persuade Zimbabwe's new coalition government and the international community to step in to help. `Just hearsay, without visual proof, is not enough to change people's minds,' he said. Cramped: Prisoners at the jail where Mugabe sends dissidents pack into a cell Annah Moyo, a Zimbabwean lawyer who works with the Southern African Centre for Survivors of Torture, said conditions in Zimbabwean prisons were `a form of torture.' She said: `Everyone knows that if you're sent to prison, your chances of coming out alive are slim.' Part of the problem she revealed is that Zimbabwe's soaring inflation and shortages of basic goods, including food and medicine, have made it difficult to supply jails. Last year civic group Women of Zimbabwe Arise leader Thembelani Lunga allegedly died from being denied AIDS drugs after being locked up for four days in Bulawayo Central Police Station. Miss Moyo also said prison officers are corrupt, taking food that should go to inmates and selling it on the black market. Starving: Prisoners are given just one bowl of corn porridge a day to survive on She claimed security officials also ensured conditions were bad as a means of putting off political activists know of the prison conditions. It is unknown how many prisoners shown in the film, which was broadcast yesterday on South African network SABC, were political dissidents. But it is understood that thousands of supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change party have been locked up, often on trumped up charges. Earlier this month, Roy Bennett, a senior member of the party, which is now part of the unity government, spoke about harsh jail conditions he endured for a month before being granted bail in an arms case. He said prisoners survive on one meal a day and are given salty water. Squalor: Two prisoners with only blankets as clothes sit in an unfurnished cell Mr Bennett, noticeably thinner after his jailing, said five people died during his incarceration and it took authorities 24 to 48 hours to collect the bodies. The MDC joined longtime President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF in a unity government in February. The arms accusations against Mr Bennett, which his party says are trumped up for political reasons, are evidence of the difficulties the new governing partners will have putting political tension and violence behind them and turning their energies to rebuilding the country. The Zimbabwe Cabinet minister in charge of prisons was today unavailable. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1166509/Life-Mugabes-Hell-Hole-Zimbabwe-jail-exposed-secret-film-shows-inmates-starving-death.html __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/message/87326;_ylc=X3oDMTM2dXBhMG9qBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BG1zZ0lkAzg3MzI2BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTIzODY4NjY3MgR0cGNJZAM4NzMyNg-->( 1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcWE5NzJmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BG1zZ0lkAzg3MzI2BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTIzODY4NjY3Mg--?act=reply&messageNum=87326>| Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlajJycGM4BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc3RpbWUDMTIzODY4NjY3Mg--> Messages<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJla3RzZTVxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21zZ3MEc3RpbWUDMTIzODY4NjY3Mg--> Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] NB - The Libertarian Alliance does not necessarily approve of the above message. 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