Angelah Nothando Mlotshwa and Chantel Zambukira
The Citizens of the City of Kings and Queens have disapproved the release of convicted rapists through the Presidential Amnesty.
The response came through a survey that was done by this publication. The survey sought the public’s opinion whether it was befitting to release jailbirds who had been convicted of rape.
The Zimbabwean government recently released a total number of 4 270 inmates throughout the country’s spread jails through a presidential amnesty amongst those, rapists.
A Presidential Amnesty can be described as “a pardon extended by the Government to a group of people by the act of sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people. Hence Amnesty gives someone the “freedom” they might have lost during imprisonment.
The President through a government gazette granted freedom to different groups of prisoners who had committed different various crimes.
The survey carried out was caused by a video that began circulating soon after the proclamation of the amnesty. In the video, a popular TV news personality is heard asking from convicts what crime had they committed before incarceration.
Elderly men could be heard shouting that they had raped, some had raped victim girls as young as nine years.
Their stay in prison ranged from one year to four years. They were jubilant in exclaiming their government sent freedom.
Thus, Zim GBC News carried out a survey inquiring from the public if it was proper to release men convicted of such a henious crime from custody.
Many respondents were not amused by the amnesty for releasing rapists in particular.
The Zimbabwean Government Gazette Extraordinary of 13th April 2021 states that;
“The following prisoners are excluded from the amnesty,
a. Any prisoner who was previously released on the amnesty
b. Any prisoner serving a sentence imposed by a Court Martial;
c. Any prisoner who has a record of escaping from lawful custody;
d. Any prisoner with a pending criminal appeal.”
At law the amnesty is meant to pardon those prisoners who had been convicted of non-violent crimes which excludes prisoners jailed for murder, treason, rape, armed robbery, car-jacking, public violence, stock theft, trafficking in persons, unlawful possession of fire arms or sexual offenses.
The video which surfaced soon after the vast of prisoners were released from jail due to the current Presidential Amnesty left the public fuming because the side of the victim was not considered.
Although some have criticized the video saying it was taken years back, it should be noted that nonetheless, even if the video is of old, rape perpetrators confessed on camera that they had been incarcerated for the crime and had now been released.
In the survey carried out by Zim GBC NEWS out of 103 people who participated 89 disagreed with the release of rape perpetrators with 14 concurring.
ZIM GBC NEWS also obtained some comments from the online commentators and they expressed the following;
“Rape is the worst because because you have to live with the memories with you for the rest of your life and sometimes you might have been infected with STIs or HIV. Imagine living with HIV and the worst part is for the rest of my life.The minute you are raped your life changes automatically, the way you think, behave, respond to people or react to situations.” – @Aby’s sweet pastries.
“Being raped is a permanent scar and so that definitely warrants a permanent punishment too on the perpetrator. Subjective it might sound, but raping another person is wrong!, there are no 2 ways about it.” -@S’boe
“I personally think anyone guilty of rape should rot in prison and not be reintroduced to society. Only criminals guilty of petty crimes should be let out under initiatives like these. If I was raped, I wouldn’t want my rapist to learn his lesson and be released because he wouldn’t be able to unrape me right. If your crime can’t be undone your punishment should be permanent as well. I don’t want ex rapists in society even if they understand what they did was wrong and are better now. Because truly who cares.” – @💤zuleka.
“Rapists should not really get peace worse those who rape kids” -@ Josephine Maringa.
ZIM GBC NEWS then sought comments from Pyschiatrists and Pychologist on what impact the release of rape perpetrators will have on victims especially if the perpetrators is going back to the same community as the victim.
One Pyschiatrist s
explaied that, for victims not to be traumatised there is need for therapy to make sure they are emotionally fit to face their fears.
“Rapists are always going to go home at some point. The clients (victims) must be prepared to face their assailants at any given time. There is thus need for some preparation by health care providers”, said Pyschiatrist Nemache Mawere.
“The videos circulating are not authentic. It could just be a skit. I worked at prison for 5 years these ones were always excluded.”, he further pointed out.
When ZIM GBC NEWS interviewed one of the Psychologist he stated that if one had not healed from attending therapy this may cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which at the end affect one’s mental health.
“Psychologically its taunting and it brings back some PTSD to the victim because when they constantly see the perpetrator they relive what they went through and its really unfair”, said one of the Psychologists Dr. Bongani Mguni.
“There are possibilities of suicide and most time PTSD can lead to depression . I don’t think it was a good move, they neglected the victims in that decision and what it does to their mental health.”
Interestingly, some believe that even those who were released are not safe as the victim’s themselves might as well want to avenge as soon as they see their perpetrators.
Some victims are prepared to kill the their attacker and the community is not a safe place for people who committed such a crimes. Even if he nay have served his term, facing someone who destroyed one’s lifemakes the wound fresh, bleeding,” said @lovie
One Sakie gave an option especially to believers on how these people can be treated to protect both the victim and the perpetrator.
People who might have raped children should not even be out of prison at all, they can be seen by their beloved one’s and if there is church to help them grow spiritually whilst in jail they can do so. This protects them from the rage of the community whilst at the same time protecting the child to grow in a healthy environment where they cannot see their perpetrators on a daily basis,” @sackie