14 October 2010 :

after participating yesterday at the “Death Has No Appeal” forum organised by the European Union in Lusaka, the Hands Off Cain delegation in Zambia (comprised of Radical parliamentarians Elizabetta Zamparutti and Marco Perduca) met the Zambian parliamentary members of the National Commission for the New Constitution this morning. Remembering the position taken against the death penalty and the acts of clemency by the last two presidents Levy Mwanawasa and Rupiah Banda, the President of the parliamentary majority Vernon J. Mwaanga, who presided over the meeting, said that «at this table sits parliamentarians that you can consider your allies. During the preparation for the draft that will now be discussed in parliament and then put to a popular referendum in order to be confirmed, they fought to end the death penalty.”
On February 3, at the conclusion of a debate, the Zambian National Consituent Conference confirmed the article of the constitution that allows for the death penalty. “We only lost by one vote, 25 to 26, in a democratic struggle,” Mwaanga said. He added “we will continue our fight, considering our allies.” Remembering that the death penalty hasn't been uesd since 1997 and the last two presidents' public commitment not to sign any execution decrees, Mwaanga then said that “Zambia is considered a country with a moratorium.”
Regarding the situation of those in jail, Zambia has 16,000 prisoners, in contrast to the official capacity of 5,000, while the penitentiary police has 1,800 members. The administration has asked the government to increase this by at least 3,000 members, to which the government agreed.
The condition of widespread and very serious overcrowding is also reflected in the Mukobeko maximum security prison, where there the death row inmates are held. Constructed in the 50s, it should hold 400 prisoners, but at the time of the visit yesterday by Zamparutti and Perduca there were 1,771. This comprised 1,159 general prisoners, 271 sentenced to death, 104 sentenced to life imprisonment, 236 awaiting trial, and 2 with commuted punishments. The hygiene/sanitary conditions of the dilapidated jail mean diseases such as tuberculosis are very widespread, while the contiguity and promiscuity of prisoners assists the spread of every type of disease including HIV and AIDS. During the visit, the Radical parliamentarians were able to interview Herman Mvola, 54. He was accused of a murder in 1985, jailed in 1987, and his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2005 by Mwanawasa.
In the next few weeks the Hands Off Cain mission will go to all three African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Mali.