Inspectorate flags severe conditions in prisons

A prison watchdog has revealed that more than 120 prisoners died of unnatural causes, with it receiving over 1 000 complaints of inmate-on-inmate assault during a two-year period. The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) yesterday presented a report to Parliament that unveiled the severe conditions plaguing some of SA’s prisons. As an independent oversight body, the JICS is responsible for inspecting detention conditions, investigating complaints and monitoring inmate treatment. It conducts thorough inspections of correctional facilities at least once every two years. The Citizen reports that the JICS informed the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services that its presentation covered several critical areas, including deaths, sexual violations and the conduct of officials. The report disclosed that the oversight body recorded a total of 123 unnatural deaths, 505 natural deaths, and 21 suicides across various prisons. At least 4 800 inmates were held in ‘solitary confinement’. According to the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement is defined as the isolation of prisoners for 22 or more hours a day without meaningful human contact. This practice was prohibited in SA by a 2008 amendment to the Correctional Services Act. However, segregation, a form of isolation that is limited to a number of days, is still allowed. Inmates have the right to challenge their segregation, and the JICS report noted 10 such appeals.

The report highlighted 40 incidents involving mechanical restraints and 468 incidents of the use of force in prisons nationwide. Under the ‘urgent complaints’ category, there were 81 recorded attempted suicides. Additionally, the report recorded 1 260 incidents of inmate-on-inmate assaults. There were also 427 incidents of official-on-inmate assaults and 13 incidents of inmate-on-official assaults. The Citizen reports that the oversight body conducted a total of 148 inspections over the past performance cycle. The JICS, in its report, raised concerns about ‘unlawful solitary confinement’, excessive use of force, and issues with the parole board’s functionality and the lifer parole process. It also highlighted several other issues, including unaffordable bail, prolonged periods awaiting trial, insufficient education and rehabilitation programmes – particularly for youths – and inadequate access to telephones. Although the JICS makes recommendations and reports its findings to Parliament and the Minister of Correctional Services, these recommendations are not binding.

The African Diaspora Forum (ADF) has called on the government to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the death of a foreign national at the Desmond Tutu Refugee Reception Centre near Pretoria last week, reports The Star. The forum’s spokesperson, Bongani Mkhwanazi, said it was concerning that it had taken the death of a refugee for authorities to want to address refugees’ problems. ‘This heartbreaking event underscores the dire conditions faced by asylum seekers in SA, who endure inhumane circumstances while seeking essential documentation. The ADF calls on the authorities to conduct an immediate and comprehensive investigation into this incident, addressing not only the causes of the stampede, but also the broader systemic issues plaguing refugee reception centres. These centres, intended to provide refuge, have instead become sites of desperation due to overcrowding, long queues, and inadequate facilities,’ Mkhwanazi said. He added that to prevent such incidents, the government needed to lodge a full inquiry into the death, focusing on systemic issues.