RIGHTS BEHIND BARS A Study of Prison Conditions In Zimbabwe 2018 the whereabouts of State witnesses. In other cases, the witnesses have either died or allegedly relocated to foreign countries. Either way, the reasons for the State’s failure to continue with the trial are often not attributable to the accused person, but to either the State or other unforeseen circumstances. Yet the accused is made to remain in detention as if they were the cause of the surrounding circumstances. The right to dignity, an important part of the catalogue of rights specifically extended to prisoners and detainees, forms the basis of most international human rights instruments. While some prisons largely complied with international and domestic standards governing cell conditions and humane treatment, many other prisons experience high levels of overcrowding and detainees have to resort to using water in buckets to flush the toilets due to erratic water supply. To overcome the inhuman and degrading treatment experienced by some detainees at different correctional institutions, it is necessary for the State to ensure that all prisons have the same standards of living and detainees enjoy the same bundle of rights throughout the country. At the international plane, rights pertaining to bedding and adequate clothing are not explicitly regulated by ‘hard’ law in the form of treaties. However, these rights are implied in ‘the right to an adequate standard of living’ that is expressly provided for in a number of international instruments of either a soft or hard law variety. At the domestic level, the Constitution refers to conditions of treatment that are consistent with human dignity and the Prisons Act [Chapter 7: 11] makes reference to clothing and bedding without necessarily casting these issues in the language of rights. Some prisons provide blankets that are arguably sufficient enough to keep each detainee or prisoner, with or without a bed, sufficiently warm even during the winter season. Nonetheless, the shortage of bedding and blankets were reported to be an enduring challenge at other correctional institutions such as Mutare Farm Prison, Bindura Farm Prison and Tabudirira Satellite Prison. The shortage of clothing was also an enduring challenge as each detainee usually had one set of uniforms at a time. The right to adequate food is recognised by several international human rights instruments as part of the class of rights that are extended generally to ‘everyone’ and specifically to detainees. Some of the few prisons were able to supply adequate basic food items to inmates. Even then, it can hardly be said that these prisons fully complied with international and national standards on the provision of adequate food. There were severe food shortages at many of the prisons that were visited. An overwhelming majority of the prisons visited had run out of protein and cooking oil, and prisoners were allowed to source food from their relatives. Many prisons serve a basic meal of sadza, cabbage and vegetables with no protein for long periods. The situation amounts to a violation of detainees’ right to sufficient food and the State should secure enough food items to comply with international and domestic standards. The right of access to water is also protected in international law and the Constitution. Access to safe drinking water was not a challenge at many prisons in Zimbabwe, but the challenge arose with regards to lack of adequate water for ablution facilities. Detainees in the majority of the prisons were not able to use flushing toilets and had to resort to the bucket system due to erratic water supply from the 9