A legal-realist assessment of the Zimbabwean correctional system response to COVID-19 during state disaster measures

Purpose The first prison system case in Zimbabwe was notified in July 2020 shortly after State declaration of disaster. We conducted a legal-realist assessment of the Zimbabwean correctional system response to COVID-19 during state disaster measures, with a focus on right to health, infectious disease mitigation and the extent to which minimum State obligations complied with human and health rights standards. Design/Methodology/Approach The Zimbabwean correctional system operations during COVID-19 disaster measures are scrutinized using a range of international, African and domestic human rights instruments in relation to the right to health of prisoners. We focused particularly on standards of care, environmental conditions of detention, and right of access to healthcare. Findings Systemic poor standards of detention are observed, where prisoners experience power outages, water shortages and a lack of access to clean drinking water and water for ablution purposes, a severe lack of safe space and adequate ventilation, poor quality food and malnutrition, and a lack of sufficient supply of food, medicines, clothing and bedding. Whilst access to healthcare of prisoners in Zimbabwe has greatly improved in recent times, the standard of care was severely stretched during COVID-19 due to lack of government resourcing and reliance on NGO and faith based organisations to support demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), disinfection products and medicines. Originality Prison conditions in Zimbabwe are conducive to chronic ill health and the spread of many transmissible diseases, not limited to COVID-19. The developed legal-realist account considers whether Zimbabwe had a culture of respect for the rule of law pertinent to human and health rights of those detained during COVID-19 disaster measures, and whether minimum standards of care were upheld