The 2010 Constitution is celebrated for, among others, the Bill of Rights, which protects and preserves the dignity of individuals and communities and promotes social justice.
In a sense, it mirrors the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And in a country that for decades has been known for human rights abuses, this was a first in its history.
Among the rights envisaged in Chapter Four are the rights of arrested persons. Article 50 (2) provides that every accused person has the right to be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved; to a public trial before a court established under the Constitution; and to be present when being tried, unless the conduct of the accused person is deemed impossible for the trial to proceed.
However, many suspects arraigned, whether on first appearance or subsequently from remand, are presented in an undignified manner that may bias the public perception of their innocence.
In my visits to courts, usually when there are criminal trials, it is common to find accused persons from remand dressed in dirty clothes and looking dishevelled, resigned and just exhausted.
This in my view is often due to the physical, mental and emotional toll remand can take on a person. Consequently, the suspects appear guilty merely due to their appearance if nothing else. This is despite the fact that the judicial process of determining their culpability is yet to commence.
Not all cases make it to the news, but once in a while there are some which are so heinous that they capture national and in some cases international attention.
These cases often have journalists clamouring to get photos of the accused persons in the docks. Dimitar Markov, director of the Law Program at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, says a majority of the media laws in many countries do not outline the coverage of criminal cases, leaving the governance to the media itself through professional guidelines or codes of conduct.
The consequence of this is distasteful images and videos of persons in court, including those entirely unrelated to the matter published for all to see.
Worse off is the emotional and psychological effect that these publications have on the accused persons and their families, who often have to contend with certain labels from society as a result.
There is therefore need to address the conditions in remand facilities to ensure that they are humane. Further, there is an urgent need for the revision of laws and regulations, particularly on media reporting of criminal matters, to prevent the subversion of basic human rights even while pursuing the interest of informing the public.
Finally, there is need to relook into the nature and manner of presentation of accused persons in courts. Great care should be put into reporting material details of a case to ensure the presumption of innocence at all times.
Advocate
