The Human Rights Commission has commended President Edgar Lungu for pardoning 283 inmates from the various Correctional Facilities across the country on the eve of Zambia’s 55th Independence Anniversary Celebrations.
Commission spokesperson Mwelwa Muleya says the pardoning of 245 male and 38 female inmates by President Lungu in exercise of his Prerogative of Mercy Powers under Article 97 of the Constitution of Zambia is significant towards restoring the dignity, rights and freedoms of the affected individuals.
Mr Muleya said the pardoning of inmates is also necessary towards decongesting Correctional Facilities which are usually overcrowded between 250% and 300%, a situation that contributed to the violation of a wide range of human rights violations.
He said it is a momentous occasion for the pardoned individuals to join their families and the rest of Zambians in celebrating Zambia’s 55th Independence Anniversary Celebrations under the theme “Our Freedoms, Our Country and Our Responsibility”.
Mr Muleya said the Commission is commending the President’s exercise of mercy against the background of the unfavourable human rights situation in detention and correctional facilities which the Commission has consistently been bringing to the attention of the various legal and justice sector players in Zambia.
Further, Mr Muleya has thanked Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo and the Minister of Justice Given Lubinda for their steadfast leadership and understanding on matters relating to promoting and protecting the rights of inmates.
He said the Commission is particularly encouraged that its support to the Government to improve the rights of inmates has on many occasions been appreciated by the Government through taking of practical steps towards redressing the situation, including pardoning some of the recommended inmates based on various human rights considerations.
However, Mr Muleya said the Commission is saddened by the death of an inmate it had recommended for pardoning on account of ill-health and old age, a day before the announcement of his pardoning.
“The Commission commiserates with his family on the tragic loss. Nonetheless, the Commission is hugely grateful that the President had done what was humanely possible by exercising his constitutional powers of mercy and compassion on individuals convicted by the courts”, he added.
He has congratulated all those who were pardoned and appealed to them not to betray the President’s Prerogative of Mercy by backsliding into old behaviour that had caused them to be in conflict with the law and society at large.
Mr Muleya said their pardoning should be an opportunity for the released inmates to understand and appreciate the fact that despite offending society, society at large through the President has forgiven them. Therefore, the released inmates should give back their best to society by living a life consistent with this year’s Independence Anniversary theme, “Our Freedoms, Our Country and Our Responsibility”.
These people are prisoners for a good reason.
Now we will have more thieves and rapists in circulation.
The type of prisoners Lungu pardons are the General Kanene type.
The truly vile ones. Scum.
The only ones that deserve pardon are those on death penalty having their sentences commuted to life sentence instead.
Yes, they hv come out of prison but they will soon find out just hw hard life is even outside jail. It’s hard enough even for those who hv never been in prison. For ex-prisoners, it should be a nightmare.
Just build more facilities and make them comfortable like it is in the Netherlands. See how many cadres will volunteer to be inside jail to avoid hunger. That action would curtail cadres from molesting innocents at bus stations.
It’s a shame that some murderers and gun tooting thugs on the side of power are forgiven before they even get arrested. It’s not fair to law abiding citizens.
Except for one.
What about the feelings and the suffering endured by victims of these brutal men and women. They must be feeling brutalized again by Lungu this time around.
Credit must be given where it is due. Not all released will regress but should that deter everyone from receiving pardon. Lungu has done his part it is up to the pardoned to live a responsible life. They have served their punishment its time to rebuild their lives.
So president Lungu and his friends have no clue how to feed and look after these prisoners so the best they can do is unleash them on the poverty stricken society. In as much as forgiving these criminals is good, we should have some mechanism to monitor them and even empower them so they become responsible citizens. But as things stand these will just end up being cadres and and continue terrorising the masses.