Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

More documents

Recommendations

Info

under 18 had been admitted as juveniles over theage of 18. The head of the prison expressed himselfworried by this and had adopted the practice ofreferring boys who looked very small and young to adoctor for an assessment. He produced records ofchildren he had referred in this way.Separating Adults from Children"Every child has the right... to be kept separatelyfrom detained persons over the age of 18 years ..."(SA CONSTITUTION, SECTION 28)"Any child deprived of liberty shall be separatedfrom adults unless it is considered in the child'sbirth certificate (by pasting on a new age and photocopyingthe original) and was, in fact, 19 years old.It was found that other adult prisoners had also liedabout their age at this prison. On interviewing inmatesat Barberton, the researcher found that many of theso-called children had lied about their ages in orderto'obtain "free" bail from the courts or to secure •lighter sentences.This has had repercussions at the Youth Centre atSt Albans, where the adults (claiming to be youth)intimidate the children.Sometimes, the error is made by the prisons them- 'selves, even when children are open and honestabout their age. One inmate said he was not 17 but14 and that this could be verified by his mother,although he has no birth certificate to prove it.In many of the cells at Leeuwkop, young people of17 years of age were being held with older prisoners.The authorities at Leeuwkop said-this was becauseprisoners falsely represent themselves as juveniles;yet'the researchers reported that they found theseolder.boys quite candid about their ages. Two youngmen of 23 and 26 years of age in the admittance cellsaid they did not know why they had been sent tothe juvenile section, and others interviewed openlyadmitted to being 21 and 22 years of age.. At Pretoria Local, considered s suitable place to send'dangerous' accused because of the low number ofescapes, a contrary trend emerged. Here, it becameapparent that many of the unsentenced childrenbest interests not to do so. "•(UN CONVENTION, ARTICLE 37)"The principal criterion for the separation of differentcategories of juveniles deprived of their liberty shouldbe the provision of the type of care best suited to theparticular needs of the individuals concerned and_ theprotection of their physical, mental and moral integrityand- well-being. In all detention centres juveniles shouldbe separated from adults, unless they are membersof the same family. " (UN RULES, 28-29)International guidelines and the South AfricanConstitution require that children under the age of18 must be kept separately from adults. It is normallyconsidered permissible for juveniles to be broughttogether with adults for education and vocationaltraining, but they must be separated at night.In the majority of facilities, juveniles under the age of21 are kept separately from adults over this age,although children under the age of 18 are frequentlyto be found in cells with juveniles over this age.At Leeuwkop, which consists of several prisons at adistance from each other, the juvenile section (MediumB) is physically at a distance from the adult male prisonsand completely separate. The authorities at this prisonwere in disagreement about what the regulations sayabout the accommodation of all prisoners under theDEFINITION OF CHILDREN & JUVENILES IN SA PRISONS
age of 18 with their own age groups. The socialworker was of the opinion that all age groups shouldbe held together, while the institutional committeeperson thought the policy was to separate theyounger inmates from the older ones.Despite this, most of the really young boys were heldin one cell, although the cell also contained juvenilesof 18 years old. At the time of the visit, this cell,designed for 28 prisoners, had a population of 36.In most of the other cells, the ages 'were mixed andincluded 17 year olds to juveniles aged 21 and older.' At Pretoria Central, all the juveniles are accommpdatedon two floors of the prison. Each cell is spacious andhouses 11 or 12 inmates. However, no attempt hadbeen made to separate the young children from theolder juveniles, and there were many prisoners therewho were older than 21 years. Despite this, thechildren interviewed did not complain of harassmentby the older inmates.At Malmesbury,. juveniles are locked up after a shortrecreation, period in the morning to avoid associationwith adults.At Pretoria Central, the sentenced male juveniles areaccommodated in a block behind the main prison inMedium B. This a four-storey building which, at thetime of the visit, had not been completed. Juvenilesare accommodated on the middle two floors. The topfloor is .used for education and training. Adult maleswho are teachers, monitors and on work teams areaccommodated on the ground floor. In Barberton, thejuvenile prison is situated just outside the town, whilethe adult and maximum security prisons are on afarm some distance away. In Boksburg, sentencedjuveniles are accommodated in the former hospitalsection, separate from the main body of the prison.Within this section, juveniles are accommodated in aseparate cell.In contrast, it was clear that at other prisons thatinsufficient efforts had been made to keep childrenapart from adults.At Odi Prison, one young boy was in a cell with 39other youth, some aged 22 or even 25. He said hehad been told that the juvenile section was full.Another boy of 15 was accommodated with 40inmates of different ages. Although he said he wasnot badly treated, he would have preferred to be withchildren of the same age as himself. A third boy wasin a smaller cell with two boys aged .20. He had beenmoved there because he had been "called names" inhis previous cell.Sometimes the prison is organised in a way thatmakes complete separation impossible.At Pollsmoor Medium A, despite the separation ofsections, juveniles have to pass through the adultsection on their way out of the prison, or whenattending school or visiting the doctor. They also
Page 2 and 3: • ContentsINTRODUCTION 1ACKNOWLED
Page 4 and 5: almost certainly because they tear
Page 6 and 7: Figure 2 gives a breakdown of child
Page 8 and 9: THANKS ARE DUE TO:The children and
Page 10: .Ekuseni Youth CentreThe Ekuseni Yo
Page 13: 1• Definition of Children andJuve
Page 17 and 18: Dedicated facilities for JuvenilesT
Page 19 and 20: At the Pollsmoor Admission Centre,
Page 21 and 22: Separation of sentenced and unsente
Page 23: Beds and bedding"Every juvenile sho
Page 26: At Pietersburg, the researcher was
Page 29 and 30: are virtually unoccupied for long p
Page 31 and 32: At Rustenburg, a qualified, nurse i
Page 33 and 34: At Pretoria Central, a new prison,
Page 35 and 36: offers them a 'good opportunity of
Page 37: The South African Constitution ensh
Page 40 and 41: Leeuwkop were extremely demotivated
Page 42 and 43: trial- are the responsibility of th
Page 44: Where programmes are jn placeIn som
Page 47: At Westville Youth Centre, there is
Page 50 and 51: VIOLENCE IN PRISONS
Page 52 and 53: AssaultAs part of their mission sta
Page 54 and 55: of 24, sometimes without even a tel
Page 56 and 57: "Personnel should be qualified and
Page 58 and 59: the night at 3pm. In some instituti
Page 60 and 61: the ages of 15 and 17. In an emerge
Page 62 and 63: Generally, serious problems are ref
Page 64 and 65:
Alternatively, if a charge is to be
Page 66 and 67:
One of the consistent patterns that
Page 68 and 69:
Often children say that they are, n
Page 70 and 71:
the names of their lawyers. Three o
Page 72 and 73:
Bail"Every child has the right not
Page 74 and 75:
Postponements and finalisation of c
Page 76 and 77:
Figure 7 shows the length of senten
Page 78 and 79:
How the Children are Cared For8. An
Page 80:
Trial40. Parents or guardians shoul
show all

Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?