A 46 year old man of Maputo was
amputated after developing injuries around his wrist due to chaining within the
hospital. The named gentleman lives in Maputo, Mozambique with his father,
sister and nephew. He has brought his complaint to our Maputo paralegal
partners, the Forum for Disability Organisations in Mozambique.
The named man says that he has
been living with the psycho-social disability since the age of 24. All along he
has been receiving traditional medicine and it kept him stable. In 2013, his
traditional healer died. So, he could not continue with his traditional
therapy. This led to having him develop a crisis. In December, 2013 he was
rushed to Maputo Central Hospital. Just because he tended to be violent, he was
tied up with wires around his wrists. He continuously complained about serious
pain to the hospital staff but they ignored him. “I remained in pain all the
time I was in hospital,” he said in Portuguese.
After some days, he was
discharged and released to go home. Upon reaching home, he complained of
serious pain so the uncle and sister took him back to the hospital but this
time at the surgical section. The doctor prescribed amputation. The gentleman says
that since he was experiencing great pain he agreed to be amputated. His two
relatives confirmed this. He was amputated.
The gentleman and his relatives
want to take action against the hospital for tying him and causing injury,
leading to amputation. The Maputo paralegal team is putting together facts to
ensure the matter has sufficient legal merit to proceed with court action.
Definitely the man was not
supposed to be tied to such an extent as to cause such bodily harm. Someone
must account for this. It is for a long time since we have been calling for
restraint from medical personnel and the society from subjecting people with
psycho-social disabilities when they tend to be violent. The manner in which
the said gentleman was treated is equivalent to torture, inhuman and degrading
treatment and punishment. His mental and physical integrity was also injured.
His liberty and security of person was also injured by these medical personnel.
The liberty issue could have been justified but it was extreme and reasonable
accommodation should have been provided. Today, the gentleman suffers double
impairments, psycho-social and physical impairments. Tragedy! His functional
capacity is now restricted and his ability to physically work is now limited.
The amputation may cause the aggravation of his mental state.
It is thus very important for
governments to put in place laws that recognize people with different mental
impairments as people just like any other person. Such mental health laws
should outline the rights of people with mental illnesses as they receive
mental health care services. Tied, chaining and beating should be banned and
considered an offence. Mozambique does not have a mental health law in place. It
has a draft Bill but that Bill does not comply with international human rights
principles. Other countries in Africa have got colonial era Laws that treat
people with mental illnesses as lunatics meant to be kept in prisons. Malawi
has a draft Bill which does not comply with international human rights
principles. So, what prevails is the colonial law of 1949. Zambia produced a
Mental Health Bill this year. It is yet to be submitted to the Ministry of
Justice. It somehow attempts to comply in some sections. We would to see this
Bill pushed to Parliament in the next sitting for enactment. Let us all stand
up to protect the rights of our beloved comrades.
Wamundila Waliuya.
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