AEGiS-IRIN: ZIMBABWE: MPs reject compulsory HIV/AIDS tests for prisoners

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

ZIMBABWE: MPs reject compulsory HIV/AIDS tests for prisoners

Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 15, 2000

JOHANNESBURG, 15 September (IRIN) - Zimbabwean parliamentarians, under pressure from human rights groups, on Thursday rejected a bill that would have subjected all prison inmates in the country to compulsory HIV/AIDS test, news reports said. The government in July proposed the compulsory testing for all communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS for prisoners. But the move has come under severe criticism by human rights groups, who argue that it violated the human rights of the inmates. Government officials had said the measure was to curb the spread of the dreaded disease, and other infections in the country's prisons, which hold more than 22,000 inmates. The reports said ruling ZANU-PF MPs had led the parliamentary campaign against compulsory testing.

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