Making Namibia a better to place to live in!

Agreed, although forced labour sounds so harsh for something that is very common in many countries, and referred to as community sentences. Personally, I would like to see more community sentences being handed out. Intead of prison sentences or fines, our courts should have the opportunity to send a convicted criminal to sweep pavements, pick up litter, make bricks for a community youth center - or any combination thereof. The list is endless. There is ample evidence in many countries that community sentence regimes reduce re-offending, and substantially. Here are just a couple of community sentences the courts should start handing out, obviously under the supervision of a professional, competent prison or probation official(s):

• Compulsory unpaid work, up to a maximum of 300 hours. This would involve constructive community work, such as conservation or cleaning up graffiti.
• Participation in specified activities. This may include improving basic skills (such as literacy) or making reparation to the people affected by the crime.
• Prohibition from undertaking specific activities
  [* Undertaking accredited programmes, which aim to change offenders’ behaviour
• Curfew, where an offender can be ordered to stay at a particular location for certain hours of the day
• Exclusion, where an offender can be excluded from specified areas
• Residence requirement, where an offender may be required to live in a specified place, such as an approved hostel
• Mental health treatment, which can only be required with the consent of the offender
• Drug rehabilitation, which includes both testing and treatment, and can last for between six months and three years
• Alcohol treatment. The offender must agree to this treatment and it must last for at least six months
• Attendance centre. Offenders under the age of 25 may be required to attend a particular centre at a specified time for between 12 and 36 hours, over the course of their sentence.