Odafe and others v Attorney-General and others (High Court 2004)
2nd January 2004, 12:00 pm
The applicants were HIV positive prisoners awaiting trial. All had been awaiting trial for at least two years. HIV positive prisoners were segregated and denied access to medicines. The prisoners challenged the state’s policy alleging that their segregation amounted to unfair discrimination and violated their constitutional right to dignity and that the denial of medical treatment violated their right to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The High Court held that the continuous detention of HIV positive prisoners without medical treatment amounted to mental torture which was in violation of the Constitution. The Court rejected the applicants’ argument that the segregation of HIV positive prisoners amounted to discrimination, reasoning that the Constitution did not provide protection against discrimination on the basis of disease, virus, or illness.

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