Commission was informed that a number of condemned prisoners suffer from impaired vision as a result of the time they spend inside dark wards. As condemned prisoners in many prisons are held in cells which are locked at night time and cannot access the toilets in the ward, they are required to use a plastic bucket to relieve themselves inside their cells for many decades, due to the indeterminate nature of their sentence. The lack of meaningful activity to occupy them during the day, coupled with the conditions of detention and the thoughts of their family members, result in a number of condemned prisoners suffering serious symptoms of mental illnesses, which worsen as the time spent on death row increases. As highlighted above, prisons cannot adequately provide mental health facilities, and access to medical treatment for condemned prisoners is rife with delays because, as special prisoners, their transfer to hospital requires an armed escort and is a logistical burden on under resourced prisons. Quantitative and qualitative data gathered from condemned prisoners highlighted a series of concerns surrounding their trials, primarily the lack of access to meaningful legal representation. Condemned prisoners stated that they were unable to afford legal fees for private lawyers as their trials took place over many years, and were therefore reliant on counsel assigned by the state. They informed the Commission that their lawyers would be absent on court dates, even the day on which the judgment was delivered, and did not mount a vigorous defence with their best interests in mind. As a result, they felt the quality of legal representation they were provided, and their financial incapacity to afford a private lawyer, were the reasons they received the death penalty. Furthermore, criminal trial and appeals typically continue for a long period of time, even more than a decade, and the quality of evidence and witness testimonies would suffer deterioration over time. The narratives of death row prisoners alleging that their due process rights were not upheld during the course of their trial, points to the shortcomings in the judicial process, that further warrant the need to abolish an irreversible and extreme sentence of death. A prevalent risk associated with the award of death penalty is the dire social and psychological impact of wrongfully sentencing an innocent person to death, and the resultant adverse impact on public trust in the integrity of the criminal justice system. With minimal options to review concluded cases to identify any miscarriages of justice, there is no safety net with which wrongful convictions can potentially be identified and rectified. The impact of the death penalty on the families of condemned prisoners requires in-depth research and enlightened policy, to ensure they do not suffer the brunt of the punishment. The Commission was informed of instances where dependents of condemned prisoners would face discrimination and stigma within the community including when accessing government services, due to the detention status of their parent. Condemned prisoners, especially male prisoners who were breadwinners in their families, discussed the adverse impact of their sentence on the livelihood of their families, which was a cause of mental anguish for them. Others lamented the estrangement of family members and the lack of visits by family members. xxi