Violation of Human Rights in some countries like Gabon.
“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”
This is a quote of former president and civil right activist, Nelson Mandela.
For years violation of Human rights has been a real issue in some countries of the world. It is still common nowadays. This situation is surprisingly shocking as we are more and more conscious that freedom should be established everywhere.
Daughter of an ex political activist, my understanding of free speech was something that I understood in my early age. When one has his basic human rights denied, it shows that the country has many social issues that should be reported and discussed.
In the case of Gabon for instance, it has been noticed in the prisons of Libreville, the capital city, that beside people who committed some crimes, there is also a good number of prisoners who are political activists, sometimes syndicalists. Basically spoken, it means that brave people who militate for the right causes in their country are forbidden to do what is right.
It shows the failure from the government to allow the population to freely voice their opinion. It also shows the intentional desire to suppress the idea of freedom. Such behavior does not reflect the principle of Democracy. Basic human rights are violated.
I have been interested in some cases of political prisoners who gave their testimonies of the treatment they had in the prison of Libreville. Many complained about being victims of traumatic treatment. Many also complained that they suffer health issues ( physical and mental) According to article 5 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every human must be free from torture and degrading treatment.
The condition of jail and the treatment done to prisoners in Gabon are just not human and inconceivable!
According to testimonies of some former prisoners and from an NGO “SOS Prisoniers Gabon" which promotes the idea that every prisoner is human first and deserves the right treatment. Life in jail of Libreville is worse than the condition of animals in a farm. That type of statement can sound shocking but it is unfortunately the reality.
Being a prisoner doesn't mean that you should be deprived of your rights and humanity. Even in the Bible Jesus talks about prisoners often. And the verse mostly used is the one in Matthew 25:35- 36 " For I was hungry, you gave me something ... I was in prison and you came to visit me."
After discussions with the founder of that NGO, I understood that many prisoners are poorly treated and as a result, some of them die in tragic conditions. No investigations post death are done which makes sense judging at the conditions that do not favor a normal life. Some of the prisoners are sitting in jail for many years desperately waiting for the verdict of the Justice court. Some of them even die without having seeing a word from the Court. What does it mean? It simply means that there are cases of innocent people in jail who can end up losing their lives.
On the list of the degrading treatment:
No proper medical treatment is given to them even though the jail receives a “doctor's visit” in the month.
Prisoners live in abject conditions resulting in poor hygiene. This situation favors the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis and many others.
The condition in which some of them are sleeping in cells with no roof on their heads is concerning because we are talking about a country situated on the equator in the central part of Africa. It means that prisoners have to face tropical rains. The rains in this area of the continent are often heavy and followed by dangerous thunderstorms. Consequently, they find themselves in a very sad situation on their own.
The prisoners are on a poor diet and honestly, they have almost no food to eat. The mental torture is real. Some end up mentally depressed etc. And to conclude, when it comes to visit and entertainment, they can barely see their families. Some are forbidden to walk and to see the outside of their cells. They remain 24h/ 24 in the dark. Imagine what it means?
And see the damage caused on their eyesight. This prison is a taste of Hell on earth.
I asked if I could write to some of the women in jail, just to maintain hope and making them.feel like they are humans, the founder of the NGO told me that it is not allowed in the structure.
No letters, no drawings are accepted.
My only participation was donation of food and water. Because yes, they drink the worse type of water 💧
The violation of Human rights still exists today in the world. Gabon is just an example among many others. Our role as humans is to raise awareness about such treatment.
It will be interesting to have international organizations such as Amnesty International to visit this structure and see with the government of the country how they can better the condition of life of the prisoners. Being prisoners doesn't mean being an animal. They are still humans who must live and have some rights. They should be waiting for the court decisions in a normal condition.
Violation of human rights is a situation that people should talk and denounce often because as Martin Luther King said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
As for me, I believe in Justice and Human Rights for all.
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