The Public Relations Officer of Botswana Prisons and Rehabilitation, Senior Superintendent Wamorena Ramolefhe, has denied reports by BONELA’s legal officer, Dikeledi Dingake, that BONELA was recently denied access to see HIV positive foreign prisoners in some Gaborone Prisons.
Ramolefhe said that he knows that they had given access to BONELA personnel to see such prisoners on the 20th of September.
“We have evidence of such in our documents in prison; we are willing to show it to anybody who asks for it,” he said.
Ramolefhe said that, besides, they have not received any report from BONELA that they had been denied access to such prisoners.
This is besides the letter to the Department in which BONELA complained that they were denied access to a female prisoner they had wanted to see together with a psychologist they had brought to assess the prisoner patient.
A copy of such a letter was given to this newspaper by BONELA.
An undisclosed number of foreign prisoners is reported to be in prisons around the country.
Despite their medical condition, the government is refusing to give them ARV treatment, like she does with locals in the same situation, saying it was expensive. As a result of that, some are reported to be in very poor health, with their CD count very low.
BONELA is currently preparing to take the matter to Court to challenge government on what they feel is very inhuman treatment of fellow human beings.
Some countries in the region are reported to be availing ARV’s to foreign prisoners.
