Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
>
>>
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
South Africa's prisons are generally overcrowded, says the Wits Justice ProjectSome single cells
house two or three inmates, and ventilation is often poorLockdowns keep prisoners cooped up in
cells for long periods
(CNN) -- A stuffy, overcrowded cell. At times, two or three men to a single bunk. Lockdown for 23
out of 24 hours.
Is this what awaits South Africa's Oscar Pistorius if he is found guilty of premeditated murder in the
death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year?
Some of South Africa's prisons are better than others.
But whichever one might house Pistorius, there's no question that conditions would be a far cry from
those in his $560,000 home in the luxury Silverwoods Estate, on the outskirts of Pretoria.
South African prisons are frequently overcrowded, putting a strain on sanitation, ventilation and
medical care, according to Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi, project coordinator for the Johannesburg-based
Wits Justice Project , a civil society group.
READ MORE: Who is "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius?
The overcrowding means three men may share a single cell, or communal cells for 40 people are
jammed with double the number they were intended to hold, with men sleeping in double or triple
bunks, she said.
"We heard of one person who for the first year in remand detention slept on the floor and then
'graduated' to a bunk," she said. Remand is the term used for pretrial custody.
Many inmates are kept locked up for 23 hours a day, with only an hour outside their cell. Some
prisons go into lockdown as early as 3 or 4 p.m., leaving prisoners cooped up for 12 hours or more at
a stretch.
"It's not a pretty picture," Erfani-Ghadimi said.
Overcrowding is a particular problem in remand prisons, where it runs at just over 200%, she said,
citing figures from the Department of Correctional Services. Overall, overcrowding in prisons stands
at about 133%.
Special treatment?
The track star's high-profile case has put South Africa's criminal justice system under the spotlight.
Observers asked why Pistorius, a gold medal-winning Paralympian, was detained in a holding cell at
the Brooklyn Police Station after Steenkamp's death last February -- and not at Central Prison or
Newlock, where other defendants awaiting trial are kept.
Photos: 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius
HIDE CAPTION
<<
<
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
>
>>
Steenkamp: From law student to cover girl
HIDE CAPTION
READ MORE: Reeva Steenkamp, from model to law graduate
"If there is some special circumstance that permits this, authorities must share this with the public
as they are setting a bad precedent," the women's branch of South Africa's ruling party said in a
prepared statement. "All should be treated equally before the law no matter your standing in
society."
Pistorius got special treatment, the African National Congress Women's League said, adding that his
family was able to see him outside visiting hours -- unlike relatives of other inmates.
The 27-year-old has rejected the murder allegation "in the strongest terms," his agent said in a
statement.
Pistorius' lawyers requested Brooklyn so that they could have access to their client over the
weekend, following his arrest on Valentine's Day in 2013. The state did not object.
READ MORE: South Africa's legal system in the spotlight
The case of Shrien Dewani, a British man accused of hiring hitmen to kill his wife on their South
African honeymoon, also cast the country's criminal justice system in an unflattering light. His
lawyers argued in 2012 that his extradition would breach his human rights under European law
because he risked being attacked by other inmates in South African prisons.
While British High Court judges dismissed that part of Dewani's argument -- and last month ruled
that he can be extradited to South Africa to stand trial -- concerns about potential torture and abuse
in detention are warranted, Erfani-Ghadimi said.
South Africa is a signatory to the U.N. Convention on Torture, but it has yet to ratify it, so such
abuses have not been criminalized.
"A legacy of apartheid is that prison cells are still unfortunately a place where prisoners can be
abused," Erfani-Ghadimi said.
Amnesty International's Annual Report 2012, which looked at human rights around the world, also
said that a draft law to make torture a criminal offense had not been presented in South Africa's