Prison torture should be defined as a crime: activists

2 Dec 2011

News24 reports that South Africa, which at the end of March this year held 160 545 prisoners and ranked number one on the continent for having the most people behind bars, urgently needs laws that criminalise torture in its penal system if it is to prevent the type of abuses the country was chastised for by the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Chronic overcrowding, an entrenched gang culture and under-staffing in the 241 prisons have made the transformation of its correctional system a difficult task, prison activists say.

Amanda Dissel, local delegate of Geneva-based Association for the Prevention of Torture at parliamentary hearings, told News24 that making torture a crime would assist authorities to recognise acts of torture and to initiate proper investigation of torture with the diligence, impartiality and competence required by international law. Currently the Correctional Services Act does not refer directly to a prohibition on torture or ill treatment, and guards may use minimum force to quell violence or subdue troublemakers.

The use of various pieces of equipment in prisons came under fire from anti-torture activists, who want to see a ban on electro-shock belts, stun shields, stun batons and leg irons. "The use of this equipment runs contrary to international norms and standards and has no place in modern-day correctional institutions," the Institute for Security Studies said in a written submission, adding that some of the devices, such as the electro-shock belt, can deliver a shock of up to 50 000 volts and cause seizures and heartbeat irregularities. A submission by the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative claimed that the overall impression gained is that criminal prosecutions of the culprits are unlikely, and that a culture of impunity is unlikely to be challenged.

Read the full article on www.news24.com.