No Joy for Deaf in Zimbabwe Courts

She is a qualified social worker and says lack of education is a real barrier to accessing the justice system in the country.

Tendai Dondofema has travelle4d the route and knows the road. “As a deaf student at Women’s University here in Harare, we had to have our own interpreters and note-takers – all at personal cost,” she says, calling for Government intervention in such situations.

In many ways, what happened to Dondofema and other deaf and hard of hearing is  commonplace in various situations – and that is where the challenge lie.

For people with disabilities – especially the deaf – attaining education has been more than a challenge, with few trained teachers to teach deaf children.

Deborah Tigere, director at Christian Blind Mission in Zimbabwe concurs, saying a lot needs to be done to address the situation.

“The dice is loaded against the deaf,” she says, explaining: “And the reason is simple: no effective communication between the deaf and the other party.”

The deaf and those hard of hearing especially those not well-educated – the majority – face greater legal challenges and are at risk of serious injustices when they  enter the country’s  criminal justice system,  researchers and  legislators say.

This serious injustice – especially in encounters with police – is due to communication barriers that are typically sometimes if not always not recognized or appreciated by lawyers in the courts.

The time to act is now, says Tsungirirai Marufu and Gracious Chishakwa at Marufu Attorneys in the capital.

“When the deaf are not able to communicate with a lawyer, there is no real representation,” says Marufu, explaining that when a deaf person does not understand what is going on in the courtroom, justice has not been served.

But the key ask is: what must be done to ensure the effective communication in the justice system? For instance, a deaf or hard of hearing person individual requires effective communication to truly meet  and communicate with a police officer or lawyer.

 There are also instances where cases are delayed in the criminal courts because of the unavailability of a sign language interpreter. This delays the whole process of delivery of justice to the deaf.

Member of Parliament and prominent lawyer Innocent Gonese concurs.

“It is important to ensure there are adequate court interpreters to cover all the 16 official languages including sign- and not just those perceived to be the major languages,” he says.

“In particular, sign must be treated equally with all other languages,” he adds, explaining: “What must be done is to ensure every police station, magistrates’ court and office of the prosecutor have at least one official conversant with sign and able to communicate in that medium.”

Marufu Attorneys further weigh in saying “implementation of existing laws would be first step in ensuring effective communication in the justice delivery system.”

To ensure no one is left behind, the Judicial Services Commission, the police and other public institutions should “come with policies making it compulsory requirement for their staff to be skilled in sign . . . to close the gap in communication”.

The consequences have been adequately considered, the attorneys at the law firm emphasise.

He JSC, in partnership with Deaf Women Included and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has come up with a Sign Language Manual for Zimbabwe’s justice system that was reviewed and endorsed but has not been implemented in the courts as well as in the police and prison and correctional services”.

Equally important t would be the need  look at the cost of getting interpreters so that even those who would not afford them can have access to quality justice”. Although the Constitution provides for the rights of people with disabilities, this has not been done consistently as access is limited for the deaf.

“In encounters with the police, this lack of communication may result in detention without the ability to call one‘s lawyer,” says Isaacs Mwale, a legal  officer at Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, adding that  when those with no formal sign language training or linguistic competency it’s easy to fall  foul of the law.

Another street vendor in the capital says “as a person with some residual hearing and a bit of speaking ability, the police assume because I am a vender I will have no problem in a police station without an interpreter”. “It’s wrong and the police always demand cash to release us,”

Of course, in the deaf community there are different levels of hearing.

“Where others can lip-read many others cannot,” says Mangaliso Sibanda, noting many deaf have not been to school and their signs are not the standard but “home=grown” or “street sign”.

It is this group that is in the overwhelming majority – who face greater challenges in encounters with the justice delivery system.

In the short-term, uncertainty factor is huge but Marufu Attorneys believe what is required urgently is implementation and enforcement of Acts and policies as provided for in the law coupled with development of comprehensive policy interventions.

But as one disability activist and advocate recounts the challenge he faces most days trying to negotiate access to the justice system: “It’s like trying to cross a stream, stepping on slippery stones – one careful step at a time. It’s worth it to get over to the other side and be heard and see a new kind of future.”

TAN 

@TheAfroNews.Com