Prison refers to the building in which
people are held while serving sentence for crimes they have committed or while
waiting for trial. This way of punishing originated from Greece Athens and it
was known as a place for detention. Later the Romans adopted it as a form of
punishment. This is the way people who have offended society were punished in
those countries. In Africa such a person would face the elders and the society
itself and answer the charges verbally and physically in front of everyone. In
the northern Uganda we had the ‘Matoput’ which was meant for the criminal but
administered by the elders of the society and the victims. In this way justice
would be done. This kind of prison has been brought by the colonialists. The
question now is, is prison helpful or not? Because it involves separation of
the criminal instead of handling them communally.
I do pastoral work in Kirinya prison
where most of the inmates are waiting for trial. They have spent a lot of time
there. There are four main purposes of prison which include; retribution,
incapacitation, deference and rehabilitation. These are the purposes for having
prisons around and in this sense, the question is, are they helping? And what
is their effect?
Retribution means punishing the
criminal for an offence done against society. It is meant to deprive the criminal
and make them powerless and learn in fear of doing other crimes. I see this
being done in kirinya remand prison. These people are taught discipline, for
example to never talk to any official while standing. They are also taught to
be respectful of one another. But all this is done in fear not by will because
if they do not do it, they are beaten or put in a room with cold water and
eating a half of the meal for seven days. So we find them disciplined but out
of fear.
Another purpose is incapacitation which
refers to removing the criminal not to harm other innocent people. This is true
in terms of the murderers, defilers, robbers, etc. In this case we find several
inmates who say that if they go back they start from where they stopped and so
for them being there is helpful. This was lacking in the African way of
handling crimes because the criminal would stay and have possibility of harming
others.
Another purpose is deference which
refers to prevention from future crime. This makes the inmate be free from the
same conditions he was in before he committed the crime. To protect the similar
crime and its consequences a person is put in prison.
Lastly and most important is the
rehabilitation. Unfortunately this is not found in Kirinya, all the above
purposes are put in practice except this one. This is where this prison lacks
credibility and helpfulness. In this prison, there is no concentration on
attitude which can be handled in rehabilitation, instead there is focus on the
behavior. That is why they look disciplined but with fear, they look smart but
full of fear. They are also denied what they deserve to have as inmates. They
are supposed to be catered for medically but they are only provided with what
is available instead of what they need. They are only given a small piece of
soap and a razor blade to use for four months, yet they need to clean their
uniform, take a shower and shave their hair every day and every week
respectively.
When we talk to them, we feel they are
missing a lot. Several of them have been on remand for more than four years and
others are innocent and others are criminals. They are full human beings with
every human need which severally they miss. They are traumatized, depressed, with
low or negative affection. These cause them sicknesses like pressure, ulcers
and many other diseases. They need psychological help than physical help. The
only hope they have is the presence of the religious that is; sisters who visit
them, priests who go for mass and us the seminarians. We only reach the
Catholics who come to pray with us. What about those we cannot manage to join
us? Many of them are dying in the wards, it is not an easy life to be in.
Let us not condemn them but instead
love them. It is true that some of them are serious criminals but others are
innocent. This does not remove their humanity or make them less human. They are
human beings like us. What is surprising is that most of the crimes (like one
who was working in a shop and lost money) they talk of, some of us could have
been victims but it is only by luck that we are not there. Some of them are
there because of hatred, because they are shielding others, defilement,
suspected murder because the dead person was near them. We are also inmates of
the love of God, let us also share that love with them by praying and
supporting them.
As we continue reflecting about the
life in prison we need to think of the inmates as our brothers, fathers or even
our friends whom we treasure. Today it could be there turn to be indoors but
tomorrow we may not know where we will be. My encounters with the inmates have
taught me patience. Each time we encounter them, they normally ask us to pray
for them as they prepare to go to court regardless of some been aware they have
four years before going to court. This challenges me in my daily activities and
leads me to question my capacity to wait. This depicts the reality that the
inmates not only wait to receive from us but have something to offer us in
return. Each Sunday I get an opportunity to give a smile to my brothers who
somehow have been labeled as outcasts by the society. This gives me much joy
and helps me to reflect about the love of God which is unconditional and His
readiness to forgive us whenever we turn back to Him. The question we ought to
ask ourselves today is whether we can allow ourselves to experience happiness
in whatever hardships we encounter in our life time?
AGABA JOHN
Have you ever sat down and think of the Mercy of God? It is
the very question to ask oneself every now and then.