During our visit, we separated into small groups and spoke to inmates about their time in prison. The people I spoke to were all five in for aggravated defilement (sexual intercourse with a child under age 14). We asked them questions about their lives in Luzira, and their responses were upsetting.
It tends to take at least 4 years to be tried and receive sentencing. Two of the men we spoke to had been in for two and three years without a trial. There is no system for bail (except maybe bribery), so people are stuck in a maximum security institution until the justice system gets to them. Speaking of the justice system, many inmates cannot afford private representation, so they are assigned a representative from the state. This person may require bribes to adequately represent an inmate.
Further, we inquired about prison living conditions and found out that the food is sometimes inedible, sleeping conditions are tight and overcrowded, and money is what makes life easier. The gardens we saw were not because they were growing vegetables for the entire prison. Rather, the seeds were bought by individuals, and the produce is theirs alone. An inmate with no money and no family support lives drastically differently than someone with money and family near by. Granted, the money earned through working a trade at the prison can make life more comfortable, but it is unclear if the wage is livable for a prison inmate. Not to mention, technically, some of the people in this prison are innocent (innocent until proven guilty) because they haven't received a trial.
Given our experiences today at the prison, I have a few questions for my classmates from Drake and MUBS.
1. What were you most surprised by during our visit to Luzira Prison?
2. What challenges to sustainable development did you see?
3. Do you think that Luzira Prison is a progressive prison model?
I was most surprised by the programs available to the prisoners. There are options to make furniture, clothing, baskets, etc. There are also educational programs for primary school, secondary school, a business diploma, and a law program with London. I suspect that most of these programs aim to keep the inmates busy to reduce riots, rather than to improve their quality of life or reduce the number of repeat offenders. As the warden noted, the programs have not been that effective in reducing repeat offenders. The most obvious challenges are the conditions of the prison, specifically overcrowding, nutritious food, and space to sleep, as well as the persistence of bribery. While I am not sure of the extent of the poor conditions, it is clear that the prisons bring up concerns of human rights violations. This is not compatible with the social aspects of sustainable developments since every human, even convicts, have basic human rights and depriving them of these rights relates to social exclusion. Bribery is not sustainable because it directly conflicts the SDG of justice. If people can buy their way to justice or special privileges, than justice is not really being served. I think aspects of the prison are progressive, like the educational systems and the ability to work. But, I think it all depends on the execution of these ideas. Work in prison is a very sensitive subject. It can be a useful program for society, but it can also be forced labor depending on how its executed.
ReplyDeleteFor me, this experience was very interesting but also very ethically confusing. I couldn't help but be disgraced at the fact that some inmates have been in the prison for years and are still waiting on a trial. And if there were innocent people in there, the food and accommodations were not humane. But then when Kathleen, Payton, and I learned what the inmates were in for- defilement, I felt guilty feeling sorry for them. In general the fact that over 3000 men are being held where technically 600 should be, was alarming to me as well. I also found it peculiar how "death row" really just meant "life in prison." Additionally, I think it is great that the prisoners are provided with education, but should the government be paying for someone to get educated who may simply be in prison his whole life? Or for someone who may have raped a child? It's all very eerie but I enjoyed learning about the justice system and Luzira Prison on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I was shocked as we entered through security. We were allowed into the prison yard with the inmates, which I thought would make me uncomfortable due to the expected demeanor of the prisoners. But after talking to the them, I found that the general attitude came off as much more optimistic than expected. Many of the prisoners were placed in the prison not knowing exactly how long they will serve. The corrupt political system has affected prisoners very negatively. I assume that most prisoners are serving more time than they should, are very uninformed on the status of their trial, and forgotten about. Contrary to the anger I thought most prisoners would be showing very outwardly, they were surprisingly humble and accepting of their new lives. The inmates who are pursuing bachelor degrees want to contribute to society before they rejoin and are appreciative of the opportunity to learn! I enjoyed talking to the prisoners and was happy that my low expectations were proven wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that surprised me about the prison trip is, the prisoners are very friendly towards everyone. There has not been any issues with gangs forming or having an uprising. I think this related nicely to the last question because when the guards trust the inmates to go about their days with no watch and not much security within can lead to more and more prisons having the opportunity to have their inmates walk around freely. I also think there is much need for change. There was trash all over the ground, there are too many prisoners for the space they have and the living conditions in general could be better.
ReplyDeleteMy project is focused on the legal system here in Uganda and through my research I found out different rights which the inmates we talked to did not seem to know they had. For example, there is a bail system set up in the Ugandan Constitution. The Constitution also says that those arrested should immediately know what they are being detained for and should get to court within 48 hours. One of the men that I talked to did not know what he was in for and did not know how long his sentence was going to be after being in jail for over two years. This is surprising to me that the courts are so backed up that they go against what the constitution says. I think that the courts need to get better staffed so that they can be more productive and get cases through the system faster.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me most about the prison was how calm the atmosphere was. Although I felt uncomfortable at times, I did not expect people to be freely walking around at every corner we visited. In addition, the inmates were given many tools for working that prisons in the US would never allow due to the possibility of violence. I was expecting people to be in cells for the most part. I was most surprised by what the prison offered the inmates, which is sometimes more to offer than people's lives in poverty explaining why some will actually try to be in prison. That shocked me completely knowing that someone's life could be worse than being an inmate. I do not think that is how people in the US view our prison systems. I believe the US has a bit to learn about in terms of what inmates should be offered, capable of, and what rights they have when imprisoned.
ReplyDeleteThere were two things I found to be surprising during the prison visit. The first was that I was shocked in myself for being so calm. I thought that going into a prison with freedom to walk through prisoners would terrify me, but I was not nervous at all. The other surprising experience for me happened when we spoke with the prisoners. I spoke with two prisoners with Bethel and Katie and one of them was serving time for paid murder. Bethel and I talked afterwards about how he did not seem to express guilt or regret when speaking of his crime and that made us both upset. The biggest sustainable development issue I understood from our experience, was that many prisoners do not receive a proper trial or are thrown into the system to serve sentences that they have not been tried for, one prisoner said that he had been in prison for 7 years and that did not count towards his sentence because he has not yet been tried. I think parts of the prison model are progressive. The most progressive part is that prisoners have the option to earn a university degree and so far I see this as being one of the best ways to promote correctional behavior.
ReplyDeleteAs others have mentioned, the most surprising part of the visit for me initially was the lack of armed security guards despite the fact that this was a maximum security prison. Walking through the prison yard, the main thing that stuck out to me was that doing something like this would be too dangerous in an American maximum security prison, and that there would be a greater chance of violence. While this initially makes the prison appear to be in some ways actually more socially controlled and less chaotic than American prisons, I learned that there was a reason for the level of control, and that it wasn't just a product of Ugandan prison culture. Professor Henderson mentioned to me that the reason the prisoners were so well behaved was likely because of a fear of intense and cruel punishment, the kind of punishment that would probably not be tolerated in an American prison system. The most interesting encounter I had at the prison was a conversation I had with two prisoners tasked with repairing and building refrigerators for the prison to sell for profit. I think that the sustainability aspect of the prison systems in Uganda and the United States are comparable in their exploitation of prison labor, where they strike a balance between providing prisoners with the opportunity for education and experience through labor, but it is generally mostly to the benefit of prison profits and is less meaningful to prisoners trying to get jobs post sentence. Because of this, and the fact that many prisoners currently have been held for several years without trial and are technically innocent, I believe that aspects of the prison can be considered progressive, but the institution as a whole is not progressive.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how accessible items that could be used as weapons were to the inmates. If an inmate gets upset with another inmate or a guard, there is almost nothing that would stop them from taking a saw, screwdriver, needle, etc and hurting others. However, inmates and guards both said that violence isn't really an option here. They mentioned that it was thought of as more of a rehabilitation center as opposed to a punishment. It really gave us an insight into a different worldly perspective and not looking at the glass as half empty, but half full. Making the most out of every situation is extremely important, and can really make or break someone in this situation, especially if you are spending years in the facility.
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