RIGHTS-ZAMBIA:
If You're in the Dock, It's Useful to Be a Man
Zarina Geloo
LUSAKA, Jan 4 (IPS) - In Zambia, the battle for equality between men and
women is being waged on many fronts - not least concerning the sentences
handed down by courts.
The trial of Chrystal Denn is a case in point.
In the course of her turbulent five-year marriage to Trevor, a
professional football player, Chrystal suffered extensive spousal abuse. Her
husband beat her up, both at home and in full view of others.
After a failed suicide attempt, Chrystal finally killed her spouse in the
course of an argument, in 1999.
A judge sentenced her to life imprisonment for murder. Women's rights
activists promptly lobbied for the sentence to be overturned - not because
they condoned Denn's actions, but because they felt the law was being
unfairly applied in Zambia.
Men who kill their wives in this Southern African country are typically
charged with manslaughter, rather than the more serious crime of murder.
Many are given suspended sentences - others serve about three years of jail
time, at most. No man has ever been sentenced to life imprisonment for
killing his wife.
"It is time to redress this imbalance. It is time to have the law applied
to all, equitably," says Matrine Chuulu, national co-ordinator of the
Zambian chapter of Women in Law in Southern Africa (WILSA) - a regional
network of lawyers.
In a recent publication entitled 'Justice for All', WILSA gives
additional examples of cases that demonstrate the imbalance in sentencing
for men and women.
It cites a 1994 case involving a man called Teddy Kasuba, who sprayed a
car that dropped his wife from work with bullets, killing her. After Kasuba
claimed that he had been confused at the time of the incident, the court
said his actions reflected what "...any reasonable man could have done." It
convicted him of manslaughter, and gave him a suspended sentence.
The husband of Nolisa Nata beat her to death in 1998. However, the court
sentenced him to 18 months in jail for manslaughter - and advised him not to
be violent when he remarried, "...because you may not be so lucky next
time."
This contrasts sharply with the case of Esther Mwiimbe, who killed her
abusive husband in 1984 by pouring boiling oil over him after he threatened
to kill her and her children. Mwiimbe pleaded self defense and cumulative
provocation. But, the court rejected the plea and sentenced her to death.
She was pardoned by former president Kenneth Kaunda in 1991 after
spending more than seven years in prison.
Chuulu says Zambia's courts are failing to recognize the effects of
domestic abuse when considering the mental state of women involved in
killings: "The court is quick to reduce charges of femicide (the killing of
a woman) to manslaughter on claims of provocation for the slightest of
wrongs, ranging from not cooking food to serving cold food - but does not
consider the same in homicides."
Instead, notes the WILSA report, there is a tendency to focus on "...what
the woman did to bring this upon herself." Take the case of Margaret
Kazhila, who was killed by her husband in 1998 after a domestic dispute: the
court sentenced her husband to just 12 months imprisonment, because "...the
deceased was to blame".
This trend was clearly evident during Mwiimbe's trial.
Her husband was a high ranking member of the intelligence services, who
had subjected Mwiimbe to the same torture techniques used against people
interrogated by the state. Mwiimbe's vagina and toe nails were burnt with
sulphuric acid; she also suffered stomach problems because of numerous
beatings with sticks, iron-fitted hosepipes and her husband's fists.
"I had a police file which tabulated all the complaints I had laid over
the years about my husband's cruelty," says Mwiimbe. "But that file was
never produced in court. It disappeared and I was seen by the court as a
cold-blooded killer."
Mwiimbe says the judge in her trial admitted, upon her release, that the
material in the file might have changed his view of the case.
But, she is sceptical about whether this sort of pronouncement marks a
sea change in the way the legal system views women who kill their partners,
claiming the courts "are naturally" biased against them.
"The judges are men, so they empathise with their men folk," observes
Mwiimbe. "It's a cultural thing - women are considered chattels...(and)
people are uncomfortable about dealing with spousal abuse, so they do not
want to deal with its results."
This is further reflected in the way in which cases of domestic abuse are
handled.
Under Zambian law, these incidents are generally classified as assaults.
In cases where the parties are not related the police and courts take claims
of assault seriously. But, if the parties are husband and wife, the matter
tends to be considered a "domestic dispute" - and not worth the trouble of
investigating.
In the case of Denn, the court recognized that her marriage had not been
a peaceful one, but refused to take into account the eight reports filed
about her husband's abuse. These included documentation of an incident in
which he demanded to inspect her sexual organs for evidence of infidelity -
this in the presence of a servant.
The court also refused to consider the fact that Denn had two small
children who were in need of care. Yet, in another case involving a man who
beat his wife to death, the court said it was mindful that the accused would
now have to look after his children alone. The judge sentenced him to only
two years imprisonment.
"The court looks from the point of a view of a reasonable man and not
from the view of a reasonable battered woman," says former judge Fuckfon
Kabazo, adding "The threat of being killed or severely injured is very real
for any battered woman, and it is time the courts recognised the reality of
the dangers for many women."
There are currently two cases pending of women who killed their husbands
in 2004.
Chrystal Denn, meanwhile, has reached the end of the road in the quest
for her sentence - which has now been reduced to 15 years - to be overturned
completely.
Her final hope is article 59 of the constitution which allows the head of
state to pardon or reduce the sentence of a convict. WILSA has petitioned
the president in this regard, and is awaiting a response.
(END/2005)
Send your comments to the editor |
