The Burden of Proof

I just finished reading a book about the Congo, "Congo Dawn", and I was amazed at the overwhelming corruption.  Then I read the blog "Through My Porthole" and realized my fiction book was real life today for these women. As a part of Mercy Ministries, Mercy Ships crew have the opportunity to visit the prisons on a weekly basis. 

 

The grim conditions I saw 42 women enduring in the local prison today touched me deeply, but I was really rocked by the stories the inmates told us.

 

The common thread for many prisoners here is being accused of a crime (like a theft), only to be incarcerated for months and months waiting for a trial. One woman had been waiting 8 months for a verdict, another has seen a year pass – a baby born – with no trial date in sight. The release date for yet another woman is in just a few days but she is terribly worried that she simply will not be allowed to leave. The husband of another was accused of kidnapping so his wife was imprisoned although she knew nothing. This but a glimpse of the injustices many are suffering.

The female section within the prison compound includes 4 ‘cells’, 10 women to a room. The look reminded me of something from an old western movie; walls formed from concrete blocks, a roof of rusty tin. Windows spaces  are secured with old-fashioned iron bars, and the interiors are dim and hot.

Several women were squatting in the cooking area; tending their meager, unvaried meal of cassava over naked flames.  Others pumped water from the sole spigot to wash themselves later – without privacy, or to scrub by hand the few items of clothing they own.

Their open space is small rocky, dirt courtyard with a washing line stretched across it. Someone had tended hardy plants along one side.  A scattering of Livingston Daisies in brilliant magenta brought a poignant splash of colour to their dismal world.

The stories these women told make their physical conditions fade into insignificance. Like all the prisoners in this nation’s system, the burden of proof lies with the defendant. These woman were imprisoned because they were accused of a crime, and it is up to them to prove themselves innocent. I don’t really know how they hope do that with no money or resources.

My friend Patti and other Mercy Ships women spend time encouraging these precious women every second Saturday (a male group also goes to the 1000-strong men’s section). We told stories, we sang together, we got them moving around with actions songs, we did crafts. And we shared that God knows each of us by name – and explained to the ladies how they could know Him too.

Hanging out with the women prisoners today was an earth-shattering experience for me. In the midst of my prayers for prisoners in so many nations suffering under the same conditions, I am truly thanking God for the impartial legal system in my own nation.

Justice is so easily taken for granted until you glimpse life without it!