Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

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Generally, serious problems are referred to the nearesthospital, although at the Pietermaritzburg Prison,prisoners are catered for in the prison hospital, exceptin the case of serious illness.At Leeuwkop Medium B, a psychiatrist and apsychologist work in the prison on a sessional basis.At the Westville Youth Centre, there is no psychologicalservice available to the awaiting trial children.This is the case at most prisons.Relationships between children and staff"No member of the detention facility or institutionalpersonnel may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act oftorture or any form of harsh, cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment", (UN RULES, 87)On the whole, the prisoners reported no seriousproblems with the staff at prisons. At Rustenburg thechildren said the staff were generally helpful whenthey had problems.At Barberton, similarly, the children reported generallygood relationships with the warders who helped themwith their problems. Several complained, however,that the warders beat them; others complained thatthe warders were always threatening to beat them.At Pretoria Central Medium B, most of the prisonerssaid they had no problems with the warders, but twosaid they had been caned. One said he had beencaned because he had complained that he had noaccess to a lawyer or anyone to advise him what todo, and that he didn't know what he had been foundguilty of. The other inmate, an 18 year old, told arather bizarre story. He said that one of his visitorshad thrown him a cigarette, which he had caught.The warder had reported this to the deputy head ofthe section who had taken the cigarette away and madehim touch his toes while he hit him on the buttockseleven times with a stick. He then returned thecigarette and told him he should not throw thingsaround in the prison.At some prisons, such as at St Albans, there is anopportunity for children to makecomplaints, usuallyin the morning after they have been released fromtheir cells. The cells are also checked for 'problems'.At Odi, however, the prisoners complained that thestaff did not assist them with their complaints andtried to evade their requests. The children said thatsome of them shouted at the inmates. At St Albans,the children had complained of leaking sinks duringthe previous year and no action had been taken.VIOLENCE IN PRISONS
Discipline"Any disciplinary measures and procedures shouldmaintain the interest of safety and an orderedcommunity life and should be consistent with theupholding of the inherent dignity of the juvenile andthe fundamental objective of institutional care, namely,instilling a sense of justice, self-respect and respectfor the basic rights of every person. " (UN RULES 66)"No member of the detention facility or institutionalpersonnel may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act oftorture or any form of harsh, cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment, punishment, correction or discipline underany pretext or circumstance whatsoever. " (UN RULES m)The South African Constitution and internationalinstruments require that disciplinary procedures shouldbe consistent with upholding the dignity and the rightsof juveniles and respecting the basic rights of all. Cruel,inhuman and degrading treatment is prohibited, includingcorporal punishment, placement in a dark cell, closed,or solitary confinement, restriction of diet or restrictionof family contacts. In S v Williams, the ConstitutionalCourt ruled that juvenile whipping was unconstitutionaland ordered the removal of the relevant sections fromthe Criminal Procedure Act (1977). 1Q Whipping as apunishment for.prison offences was abolished earlierby legislation.-Although very few of the children said they had beenseriously ill treated by staff, interviews revealed incidentsin clear breach of international rules. At Rustenburgthere were no records of disciplinary measures againstinmates, and only one of the children complained of a'mild open-hand slapping' administered for disobedience.At Malmesbury, the authorities said there is no formaldisciplinary process for juveniles. Where juvenilesneed to be disciplined, they are warned after the firstoffence and, if they continue to be 'unruly', they areput in solitary confinement for about a week.At Pietermaritzburg, the authorities said that there areno separate structures for disciplinary enquiries to thoseused for adult prisoners. Contraventions of prison rulesand regulations are punished by solitary confinement.At Leeuwkop Medium B, one of the senior officials saidthat prison policy provides for either the formal or informaldisciplining of prisoners. If they are formally charged withan offence and found guilty, certain of their privilegesare removed, and they are held in the segregation cellswhere their punishment is 'monitored'. If prisonersengage in violent or dangerous activities, they maybe immediately removed from their cells. An informalform of discipline would be the issuing of a warning.However, it seems that none of the boys at Leeuwkophad been formally disciplined at the time of the research.Although, generally, the inmates did not report mistreatmentby the warders, one 15 year old complained that,on being found in possession of an 'unauthorised'spoon, the assistant head had attempted to put himand his friend in the boiler. Another stated that he hada good relationships with the warders because they"only beat the prisoners who fight amongst eachother.".The assistant head admitted that he did beatprisoners who fought'with each other and was ofthe opinion that the regulations allowed him to use'necessary force.'HAt Johannesburg Medium A, where the awaiting trial 'and unsentenced juveniles are kept, one of theinmates said he had been 'disciplined' by beingmade to do exercises (twenty-five press ups) and bybeing deprived of his lunch. This was punishment forthrowing food at a boy who had stolen his meat whilethey were eating lunch.At Pollsmoor, as previously mentioned, there areregular incidents of sodomy, but only a few arereported, mainly through a third party or ananonymous letter. In such cases, offenders areremoved from the cell where the incident occurredand put in a cell with hardened criminal offenders'who are not prepared to cooperate', There is onecell at Pollsmoor which houses the so-called 'difficult'juveniles, and it is to this cell that most juveniles aresent for punishment.10 Abolition of whipping as-m sentence was achieved as a result of the Constitutional Court decision in S vWilliams 1995 (7) BCLR 861.11 In legislation, the use of 'necessary force' is allowed for specific purposes, e.g. to prevent escape, but notas a form of discipline.
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• ContentsINTRODUCTION 1ACKNOWLED
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almost certainly because they tear
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Figure 2 gives a breakdown of child
Page 8 and 9:
THANKS ARE DUE TO:The children and
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.Ekuseni Youth CentreThe Ekuseni Yo
Page 13 and 14: 1• Definition of Children andJuve
Page 15 and 16: age of 18 with their own age groups
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 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
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Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

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