肯尼亞蘭加塔女子監獄犯人學習法律

At a women's prison in Nairobi, Kenyan inmates are taking the law into their own hands. Law classes have helped inmates launch their own appeals and defend themselves in court.

在肯尼亞的內羅畢女子監獄，犯人們在學習法律。這些法律課程幫助犯人爲自己上訴並在法庭上捍衛自己的權利。

In a classroom behind bars, three inmates and a prison officer learn the basics of common law.

在這個鐵窗內的課堂裏，三名犯人和一名獄警在學習習慣法的基礎知識。

Inmate Rose Musyoki said these classes have given her the chance of a lifetime.

犯人羅斯·穆羽琪說，這些課程對她是一次難得的機會。

“It has been my childhood dream to do law, but due to some unavoidable circumstances like lack of finance, I've not been able to do it," said Musyoki. "So when this chance came in I gave it a trial, and now I'm in it, I'm doing it.”

她說：“我小時候的夢想就是做法律工作，但因爲一些不可避免的原因比如資金不足，我就沒有做。所以現在有這個機會，我就想試一試，現在我真的在做了。”

And already, she's put her lessons into practice, successfully helping another inmate to appeal a sentence for kidnapping by arguing that the accused was under duress at the time.

她已經把課堂上學到的知識付諸實踐了。她成功的幫助另一名獄友就綁架的判決提出上訴，理由是這名犯人當時是被迫認罪的。

“When she went there, the prosecution had nothing against her. They never even said anything, when she raised just that defense, the prosecution was asked, 'Do you have anything against her?' He said, 'No, your honor.' That was a big achievement,” said Musyoki.

她說：“她出庭的時候，檢方沒有證據可以起訴她。他們甚至什麼都沒說。當她開始爲自己辯護的時候，法官問檢方：‘你有證據可以起訴她嗎？’他說，‘沒有，法官大人’。這是一個非常大的成功。”

Langata Women's Prison holds about 600 inmates, serving sentences ranging from a few days to life behind bars. Some are awaiting trial; others have exhausted their appeals.

蘭加塔女子監獄關押着約600名犯人，她們的刑罰從幾天到終身監禁都有。一些人在候審中，另一些上訴失敗。

Accustomed to being on the wrong side of the law, the prisoners get a new perspective through the education program.

通過這個課程，慣於違法的犯人們對事物有了新的認識。

Jane Ouma, for example, is serving a 14-year sentence for assaulting her husband's mistress.

比如簡·歐曼，她由於襲擊她丈夫的情婦被判14年監禁。

She said if she knew then what she knows now, she could have done better than her own lawyer.

她說，如果她那時候像現在這樣懂法，她可能會比她的律師做的更好。

“I would have been in a much better position than when I got my lawyer -- he didn't turn up in court, he gave me a student lawyer who was just practicing law, and I feel I did not get the right representation,” Ouma said.

“以後如果爲自己辯護，會比當時分配給我的律師做得更好。他沒有在法庭上露面，而是派出一名實習的學生律師，我感覺我並沒有得到適當的辯護。”歐曼說。

The program is the work of a non-profit group called the African Prisons Project. Students work toward a two-year diploma in common law from the University of London.

這個項目是一家名爲“非洲監獄項目”的非營利組織設立的。學生學成後可以獲得倫敦大學習慣法專業的兩年學位證書。

Then, when good legal advice is hard to come by, these jailhouse advocates can step in.

那麼，當難以獲得好的法律建議時，這些監獄中的專業人員就會介入。

Sam Bryar, a consultant with the project, said, “They're not quite at the level where they're equivalent to a lawyer, but they're always going to be available and they're always going to be able to provide that kind of support. We think the impact at the end of the day is going to be substantially larger than if we took the funds that we have and put them into just bringing a lawyer in one day a week.”

山姆·比亞爾是這個項目的顧問。他說：“他們的水平不比律師，但是他們隨時待命提供幫助。我們認爲一天下來，這種影響是巨大的，比我們花錢聘請一名律師每週來一天要好。”

Only a handful of inmates gain acceptance into the prison's education programs. Most spend their days in workshops. In one of them, for instance, inmates make handicrafts to be sold at the prison welfare office.

只有一小部分犯人可以接受監獄的教育培訓。大部分人在這種車間幹活，製作手工製品再賣到監獄福利辦公室。

Some work in the kitchen to feed other inmates and staff. Corrections officers here say teaching these kinds of skills gives inmates something to do when they get out.

或者在廚房工作，爲其他獄友和工作人員做飯。教官說，教犯人學習這些技能可以使她們在出獄後有事做。

Education officer Jacqueline Onyango said learning the law also can keep people out of prison altogether.

教育官員傑奎琳·奧延戈說，學習法律可以幫助人們不再入獄。

“When people are more equipped with knowledge, there will be less people committing offenses, because most of them commit these offenses out of ignorance, and a more knowledgeable society is easier to deal with,” she said.

她說：“當人們具備更多知識的時候，冒犯別人的人就少了。因爲大部分人冒犯別人是出於無知，知識水平更高的社會更易於管理。”

Many prisoners here say they are disillusioned with the Kenyan courts; but, as law students they have a chance to prove that a person is not powerless to challenge the system, just because she is behind bars.

這裏的一些犯人說，她們對肯尼亞法庭的幻想破滅了。但是，作爲學習法律的學生，她們有機會證明，一個人不會因爲身在獄中就沒有能力挑戰司法系統。