← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · amundsen
Thread ID: 5224 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-02-26
2003-02-26 03:40 | User Profile
**South African wins payout after catching HIV in prison **
CAPE TOWN - An ex-convict, who sued South Africa's prison authorities after catching HIV, has clinched a landmark payout - the first time the government has been held accountable for the spread of HIV in overpopulated prisons.
Aids activists cautioned that, because the out of court deal was confidential, it would not necessarily set a legal precedent which could open the door to more such lawsuits.
South Africa has the world's highest number of people with HIV, the virus that causes Aids. One in five South Africans, more than 4.5 million, live with the disease, and the epidemic is believed to be spreading even faster in the prison system.
In his 1.1 million rand ($244,420) lawsuit, the former inmate said he contracted HIV from a fellow inmate while in prison from 1993 to 1994 -- when prison authorities did not warn inmates about the dangers of unprotected sex or supply condoms.
"A material portion of prisoners were HIV-positive at the time. It is inevitable that prisoners who engaged in sex would have been infected with the HIV virus," the plaintiff said in court papers, adding that officials were aware of sex between prisoners.
**He said he would not have had sex and, subsequently, contracted the virus had he known of the risk. **
Under the terms of the deal, the Department of Correctional Services denied any liability but admitted prisoners were not allowed to have condoms until 1996 when policy changed.
Department spokesman Luzuko Jacobs confirmed that the government had made a financial offer to settle the case, but declined to give further details.
In an earlier draft settlement, the parties had agreed to compensation of no less than 100,000 rand plus medical and legal costs, without an admission of liability.
[url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnewsstory.cfm?storyID=3100969&thesection=news&thesubsection=world]Source[/url]