Judgment No. CCZ 3 /13 3
Constitutional Application No. CCZ 287/12
The respondents deny most of the applicant’s assertions.
As regards
Harare Central Police Station, they aver that the governing Police Manual prescribes that
every inmate be required to surrender all his possessions, other than clothing for personal
use, so as to avoid his harming himself. Again, cell-phones and other valuable articles
are ordinarily taken for safe custody. The applicant did not request his cell-phone and did
not tell the police officers concerned about his HIV status and anti-retroviral regime. All
inmates in holding cells are given three blankets each and the toilets are cleaned and
inspected every day. However, the toilet flushing mechanisms are placed outside the
cells and therefore cannot be used by the inmates themselves. The respondents also
concede that the conditions in the holding cells are not entirely acceptable. However,
their rehabilitation is not immediately practicable.
With respect to Harare Remand Prison, the respondents aver that they
employ qualified doctors to administer appropriate medication and that inmates may only
bring their own medication if it is unavailable in the prisons stock. Moreover, the
applicant did not lodge any complaint about his medication either upon admission or on
discharge. As regards strip searches, these are procedurally done and strict decency is
observed. Finally, the respondents aver that the practice of solitary confinement has been
abolished and that the applicant was never subjected to this practice.
At the hearing of the matter, Adv. Chadambuka submitted that the
respondent’s assertions and denials are based on what should be in place as a matter of
practice. In effect, they have failed to ascertain and rebut what actually happened to the