ON YOUR WAY TO COURT

The 18th of July is a day to reflect on The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also?known as the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Nelson Mandela Rules provide the blueprint for prison management in the 21st century. Specifically, the Rules are about prison management, which preserves the safety, rights and human dignity of all.

In a world that has committed itself to inclusive and sustainable governance, this day matters when we consider that more than 11.5 million people are behind bars, globally. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), many of these prisoners belong to the most marginalised segments of society. ?Is this the world we want where, many people behind the bars live in overcrowded prisons and suffer from systemic neglect? More so, when the major driver of high imprisonment rates is repeat imprisonment, which is caused by failure of prisons to rehabilitate offenders and to prepare them for successful reintegration into community. Is this not like sheep, without a shepherd?

In Matthew 5:25 it is said that we should try to settle matters quickly with adversary who is taking us to court. It further advises us to do it while still together on the way, or the adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. This is a moral right not just for the economically or politically powerful, but also for the poor including the right to safety and dignity.?

Reports of prison overpopulation, tribunals after tribunals, endless commissions of inquiry as well as judiciary corruption are a reflection on moral failure among societies. The rich get away with moral failure, which is another term for sin, but the poor are incarcerated for falling short. We all sin and fall short of the moral mark, but the poor seem to be readily punished, as if to clear the conscience of the rich and powerful. The moral failures in our societies, such as corruption, present contradictions, conflicts, inconsistencies and inner confusions to the “shepherds” of our justice systems. These intentional struggles within justice systems make our nations poorer, first because prisoners are people who matter in development, and secondly, poor treatment of prisoners affects us all in safety, public health, community and economic resources. All these put a strain on social cohesion among people.

So, we have the repeated offenders and overcrowded prisons, the ensuing mental health challenges, substance and drug abuses just because we have forgotten the way, not to perfect moral victory or moral superiority, but?to what Richard Rohr calls, “luminosity of awareness and compassion for the world”. True justice is for the sake of social cohesion, through truth, humility, reconciliation, peace and generosity of spirit, not just to appease ordinances. Therefore, ?let the light shine so that we may see?rightly and then social actions or behaviours will take care of themselves. It is about going back to basics while we learn to settle matters quickly and forgive each other. In this way we strengthen the social and moral muscle, which is needed to uphold inclusive and sustainable development as well as governance through right relations.