171. The Second Applicant states that prisoners on death row at Butimba can
only interact with other death row prisoners and cannot participate in any
sports, classes, lectures, or trainings, neither do they receive any
newspapers. He also avers that the prison authorities intentionally exclude
them from occupational training and educational opportunities, effectively
conveying the message that such opportunities would be wasted on people
who are condemned to die. According to the Second Applicant, prisoners
receive one meal a day, which rarely contains meat and when it rains, water
runs into their cells. He states that few prisoners receive family visits
because their families are too far away, and even If the family could make
the trip, they would need permission from the district warden.
172. The Second Applicant further submits that he is particularly susceptible to
the death row phenomenon because of his fragile and vulnerable mental
state as he is already exposed to trauma. He buttresses his submissions
with jurisprudence and reports from various sources; and surmises that his
living conditions fall far short of the minimum requirements. The Second
Applicant reiterates the First Applicant’s graphic description of the
conditions faced by prisoners on death row in Tanzania, as illustrated in the
judgment of the Republic v. Mbushuu alias Dominic Mnyaroge.85
*
173. The Respondent State did not address this issue.
***
85
Gable Masangano v. Republic, Constitutional Case No. 15 of 2007, [2009] MWHC 31 (Malawi));
Republic v. Chiliko, Sentence Rehearing Cause No. 25 of 2015, (unreported) (Malawi); Achuthan v.
Malawi, Communication Nos. 64/92-68/92-78/92-BAR, Afr. Comm’n H.P.R., § 7. (22 March 1995)); Rule
13 of the Nelson Mandela Rules; United States Department of State Report on Tanzania 2016, which
reports that the Respondent’s States prisons describe extreme overcrowding and the prison system as
“harsh and life threatening. Inadequate food, overcrowding, poor sanitation, and insufficient medical
care [are] pervasive.” The gallows are situated in the first room of the corridor on which death row
prisoners are continually confined; See also Report of the International Federation For Human Rights,
Tanzania: The Death sentence institutionalized? No. 414/2. at 37 (2005).
49