Capacity Development Training of Services Providers The LRF believes it is critical that service providers are aware of their responsibilities and are sensitive to gender and the plight of the impoverished. Prison Officers’ Workshops The LRF has established a good relationship with the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPSC) which has enabled it to conduct workshops successfully throughout the country. The workshops focused on UN Minimum Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Declaration of Rights, bail and children’s rights. The main objective was to raise awareness amongst prison officers that inmates have rights which ought to be respected and protected. Prior to the training the LRF had established that detained people’s rights are often infringed by prison officers who believed prison inmates forfeited their rights. Centre Workshops Males Females Total Masvingo 5 73 38 111 Harare 5 67 47 114 Bulawayo 5 85 43 128 Gweru 4 47 31 78 Mutare 4 50 37 87 23 322 196 518 Total important and that ZPCS should not be viewed as an institution for punishment only. As a consequence of the officers now appreciating that inmates have rights which ought to be respected, ZPCS has enabled access for the LRF to conduct outreaches for the inmates as well as the officers, accompanied by the distribution of IEC materials. During these outreaches questions were raised relating to economic, social and cultural rights as provided in the Zimbabwean Constitution. The ZPCS officials were interested in knowing more about areas of the law outside their work, such as marriage and inheritance and the need of inmates to be prepared for their return to the world outside the prison. Discussions on the UN Minimum Standards made participants aware of expectations regarding prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners, including the separation of different categories of prisoners, personal hygiene, food, health and provision of medical services, use of instruments of restraint, exercise and sport and communication by prisoners with their family and their legal practitioners. These minimum standards were new to most officers, who supported the need to ensure that prisons conform to international best practices, although some were of the view that the standards might look good on paper but did not address issues on the ground, such as disobedient prisoners. It was emphasised that reintegration was now more ZPCS facilitator presenting on the relationship between a prison officer and inmates Legal Resources Foundation Annual Report 2015 23

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