RIGHTS BEHIND BARS A Study of Prison Conditions In Zimbabwe 2018 to citizens incarcerated in its jails. In terms of the Prisons Act, the right to receive and duty to use, diligently, bedding can be derived from provisions that make it a criminal offence to refuse to wear or keep clothing given to the prisoner in question. To this end, the Prisons Act makes it an offence for any prisoner to omit or refuse to use bedding issued to them. It is also an offence for a prisoner to deface or refuse to keep clothing, blankets, bedding or equipment clean (Prisons Act, Part II). 4.4. Adequate clothing According to international law, the ‘right to clothing’ is implied as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living. The CRPD is the only international human rights treaty which explicitly makes reference to adequate clothing as a component of an adequate standard of living specifically for persons with disabilities. In terms of the Nelson Mandela Rules, untried prisoners are entitled to wear their own clothing.29 In addition, every prisoner who is not allowed to wear their clothing should be provided with clothing which is not degrading or humiliating, which is suitable for the climate and which is adequate to keep him in good health.30 The Constitution of Zimbabwe makes no explicit reference to ‘the right to clothing’ or the right to an adequate standard of living. However, it provides that detained persons have the right to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including personal hygiene. In terms of the Prisons Act, the right to receive and duty to adequate clothing can be derived from the provisions that make it a criminal offence to refuse to wear or keep clothing given to the prisoner in question. To this end, the Prisons Act makes it an offence for any prisoner to omit or refuse to use clothing issued to them or to deface or refuse to keep clothing, blankets, bedding or equipment clean (Prisons Act, Part II). 4.5. The right to sufficient food The right to adequate food is recognised by several international human rights instruments as part of the class of rights that are extended to ‘everyone’, including prisoners.31 The Standard Minimum Rules also provide that ‘every prisoner shall be provided by the administration at the usual hours with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength, of wholesome quality and well prepared and served’.32 At the domestic level, the Constitution explicitly and implicitly extends to every person, including prisoners, the rights to food and clean water. With regards to persons placed in detention, the Constitution provides for detained persons’ right to ‘conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including the provision, at State expense, of an adequate standard of nutrition’. The right to adequate food is a right which is important for the realisation of other rights. As such, it should therefore not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with a minimum package of calories, proteins and other specific nutrients.33 29 30 31 32 33 Nelson Mandela Rules, Rule 115. Nelson Mandela Rules, Rule 19(1). See also Rule 36 of the Beijing Rules. See articles 25(1) of the UDHR; 11(1) of the ICESCR; 24(2) and 27(3) of the CRC; and 25(f) and 28(1) of the CRPD. Rule 20 of the Standard Minimum Rules. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 15. 17