The International Committee of the Red Cross-ICRC says prisoners in Burundi suffer social discrimination.
Nazim Ayadat: “We have to change the way we look at prisoners”
In honor of Mandela Day, the International Committee of the Red Cross-ICRC in partnership with the Ministry of Justice has visited Light University students to sensitize them to the rights and dignity of detainees.
Nazim Ayadat, protection coordinator at ICRC, calls on all people to change their mind on how they think about and treat prisoners. “We have to change the way we look at people deprived of freedom. Everyone can become a detainee,” he says.
Mr Ayadat says prisoners are people who need much attention as they are isolated and far from their families. “Most of them are no longer remembered by their families and suffer social discrimination once they are released”.
Philippe Ngendakumana, a former detainee, says life in prison is perilous. “At the very first time, a prisoner struggle to get used to difficult living conditions in prison. The lot of noise, insufficient and unhealthy food, and the dirt all around…make it difficult for a prisoner to be more comfortable”.
Mr Ngendakumana says however that life in jail is not an end of life as most people think. “It is in prison where I improved the English language that I still use today. I learnt a lot of things and was also helpful to other detainees because as a former French teacher, I was nominated to supervise other teachers in Ngozi prison,” he says adding that someone can be more useful to the community than before after their release.
Dieudonné Koyenga, prison adviser at ICRC, says most communities consider detainees as criminals who, despite the penalty they face, must be discriminated and punished again and again.
Mandela Day is an annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009 and will be celebrated for the first time in Burundi.
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