Leading causes of deaths among inmates
Being in jail is a lonely experience that drives inmates to suicidal thoughts. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- In developed counties such as the UK and the US, dangerous inmates are put on suicide watch and closely watched to prevent them from self-harm.
- While investigative authorities routinely pledge to find answers to the death mysteries, few of these incidents are conclusively probed.
Solitude, grief, mental illness and hopelessness are the main drivers of suicide among inmates, according to experts.
Razor blades, nails and bedsheets are popular tools for most prison suicides in the world.
Besides suicide, inmates may also be executed by other people for varying reasons, including cover-up for previous criminal activities, especially where exposure jeopardises either the reputation or fortune of other people.
In developed counties such as the UK and the US, dangerous inmates are put on suicide watch and closely watched to prevent them from self-harm.
Technology has however disrupted the dynamics of suicide watch, with inmates being monitored through closed-circuit television cameras instead of actual prison wardens or the police.
DEPLORABLE STATE
According to Prof Christine Tartaro, an expert in criminal justice and lecturer at Stockton University, use of non-human means to monitor inmates is the genesis of other problems.
“Ideally there should be constant, one-on-one eyes on suicidal inmates,” Tartaro says, adding, “I mean human eyes, not closed-circuit television. It is so easy to get distracted and walk away from the TV set.”
A survey on the criminal justice system titled “Criminal Justice System in Kenya: An Audit”, released in January 2017 by Chief Justice David Maraga, highlighted the appalling state of Kenyan prisons.
This deplorable state could also be pushing inmates to take their own lives.
According to the 2017 survey, overcrowding remains the thorniest challenge facing Kenyan correctional facilities, with a single unit reported to hold more than 400 per cent its capacity.
OVERCROWDING
A remand facility in Meru initially designed to accommodate 200 inmates, for instance, has been reported to hold more than 800 persons; what is not only a case of thin resources but extreme negligence as well.
Data from World Population Brief (WBP) shows that by March, Kenya had a total of 55,000 prisoners, including pre-trial detainees or people in remand who account for a startling 43 percent of all prisoners in Kenyan jails.
Margaret Kitsusa, a psychologist, says in spite of crammed facilities, being in jail is a lonely experience that drives inmates to suicidal thoughts, especially those who are unable to adjust to the vagaries of prison life.
“Spending too much time in jail, especially for people serving life terms, makes life not worth living anymore.
“This then drives them into self-affliction and suicidal ideations,” Ms Kitsusa explains.
TERROR SUSPECTS
Conviction upon false accusation, she says, also plunges suspects into hopelessness and depression.
She adds: “Some people are not strong enough to withstand the storm of stigma that comes with imprisonment. Such people may choose to end their life before they are released.”
The psychologist further argues that throwing mental patients in prison only makes their circumstances worse, as the solitary jail environment gives them the leeway to plot suicide.
Meanwhile, the anti-terror crackdown in the last seven years has seen a steady rise in deaths in custody, with the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances of terror suspects.
By April 2014, the Human Rights Watch in Kenya had reported 10 cases of killings, 10 forced disappearances and 11 incidents of harassment and brutality meted on terrorism suspects.
INVESTIGATIONS
Condemning the widespread abuses, deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Africa Leslie Lefkow said that the crimes were being perpetrated by Kenyan counterterrorism forces “right under the noses of top government officials, major embassies, and the United Nations”.
“This horrendous conduct does not protect Kenyans from terrorism — it simply undermines the rule of law,” Ms Lefkow said.
While investigative authorities routinely pledge to find answers to the death mysteries, few of these incidents are conclusively probed, allowing offenders to escape with blood on their hands.
Ultimately, the deaths slide into the pile of forgotten case files as families of departed inmates grieve forever.
