It is for good reason then that the regulations to combat the spread of Covid-19 prohibits visits to all places of detention, including correctional centres and remand detention facilities as of 18 March 2020 for a period of 30 days or longer. Prison overcrowding poses obvious challenges for the social distancing recommended to prevent COVID-19 transmission. It is the overall pattern across the country that the most severely overcrowded prisons are the large awaiting trial prisons in the metros – these include facilities such as Pollsmoor and Goodwood in Cape Town; Johannesburg Central (aka Sun City) in Johannesburg; Durban-Westville in KZN, and East London and St Alban’s in the Eastern Cape. If a prison is 150% full, or 50% above the specified capacity, it means that the space allocated for each prisoner is reduced by a third. Overcrowding and pressures on prisoner numbers are not spread neatly and evenly across prison systems and there tend to be particular pressure points. position under the current South African constitutional framework. Correctional centres (prisons) not only in South Africa, but across the board are faced with the same challenge. (Single cells are, however, an exception; the discussion here deals with communal cells.). There are many great benefits to being a Maverick Insider. In itself, it is a very serious humanitarian concern, as it auto-matically generates substandard and often inhumane conditions of detention. prisons are not yet on par with the standards set by the South African Constitution and International Treaties. Under the South African Disaster Management Act Regulation 11(5)(c) it is prohibited to publish information through any medium with the intention to deceive people on government measures to address COVID-19. Another potential fix would be to reduce sentences for good behavior. It is the overall pattern across the country that the most severely overcrowded prisons are the large awaiting trial prisons in the metros – these include facilities such as Pollsmoor and Goodwood in Cape Town; Johannesburg Central (aka. ) The consequences of housing too many people in too little space means that inmates are doubled-bunked in small cells designed for one, or forced to sleep on mattresses in unheated prison gyms, temporary housing, hallways, or basements. ����< ������Ϸh8��vׯk���sg7|�m��i;_��|1v9��_N�b��_L0q9ً�L����4n��� Some basic but noteworthy issues about South Africa’s prisons are set out below and a few conclusions drawn. Prison life in South Africa is characterized by an elaborate system of gangs, through which much prisoner-on-prisoner violence is mediated. First, the virus must be stopped at the gates as it will be nearly impossible to fight inside a prison, especially an overcrowded one. Second, the recommendation from the UN is to alleviate prison occupation by releasing certain categories of prisoners. z�g`x֝ ��T֝�- U$ "v� #�T f��? <> Prison overcrowding is frequently cited as the reason for many maladies in our prison system, but the situation is a bit more textured than a blanket statement proclaiming that South African prisons are overcrowded. (Photo: Lisa Skinner/Gallo Images). In South Africa, we have opted almost for the opposite. Outbreaks of Covid-19 in these prisons can have catastrophic consequences for both prisoners and the public healthcare system. regulations to combat the spread of Covid-19 prohibits visits to all places of detention, including correctional centres and remand detention facilities as of 18 March 2020 for a period of 30 days or longer. Third, the lockdown has also resulted in the termination of visits, not only of friends and family to prisoners, but also of oversight agencies, lawyers and civil society organisations. 6 Departmem of Correctional Services White Paper on Corrections in South Africa … Select which newsletters you'd like to receive, Suné Payne, Victoria O'Regan & Patrick Egwu, According to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), this is 3.344m, per person in a communal cell. The first driver is that we are sending fewer and fewer people to prison due to a poorly performing criminal justice system. Awaiting trial prisoners and sentenced prisoners with further charges also have to appear in court. Overcrowded classrooms present difficulty for teachers in South Africa (Mtika, 2010). Staff who are working in overcrowded prisons are also at risk in a range of ways. Rather than help rehabilitate prisoners, prisons, due to overpopulation and the This is of course not a problem of the Department of Correctional Services alone, but that of the entire justice system. Family and friends visiting prisoners are in many ways the lifeblood of the prison, bringing not only human interaction and contact with the outside world, but also resources such as cash, food, bedding, toiletries and so forth. *This article was produced for Spotlight – health journalism in the public interest. It … The Independent Monitoring Board has There are almost 3,000 adult sentenced females. in Johannesburg; Durban-Westville in KZN, and East London and St Alban’s in the Eastern Cape. Prison overcrowding: No more band-aid solutions. To date, DCS has been able to avoid mass outbreaks and as at 28 April 2020, 59 prisoners and 70 officials have tested positive for Covid-19; a total of 129. The paper thus takes the view that the problem of prison overcrowding pose challenges to both poor and rich countries, but the causes differs from one region to another. 28 November 2003. Sign up for our newsletter and stay informed. For example, segregating certain gangs from each other, or segregating first-time prisoners from experienced ones, are measures used to ease tensions and protect prisoners. Overcrowding was attributed to a number of causes. The number of sentenced prisoners increased by 27%, and the number of those held awaiting trial increased by 54%. In December 1996, South African prisons … Apart from the deprivation of liberty, spending weeks, if not months, awaiting trial in a facility like Pollsmoor is severe punishment. (Single cells are, however, an exception; the discussion here deals with communal cells. If a prison is 150% full, or 50% above the specified capacity, it means that the space allocated for each prisoner is reduced by a third. Crime ... overcrowding in prisons and a high rate of recidivism. North Korea has a VHS copy of Space Jam ensconced in a museum. According to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), this is 3.344m2 per person in a communal cell. The above four issues then present particular challenges in the context of a highly contagious pandemic. november 2006. Apart from the few figures reported in the media as well as the annual reports of DCS and the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS), we knew very little of what is happening inside of our prisons, even before the. The DCS gave a presentation to the Committee about overcrowding and management of correctional service facilities. This is 1.8m by 1.8m. in statute as the permanent chairman of the Prison and Jail Overcrowding Commission. Firstly, the prison system must have an underlying philosophical framework derived from the Constitution. %PDF-1.4 1.3 Incarceration, even when justified and under the best possible conditions, is traumatic. 2 0 obj "Information pertaining to Covid-19, vaccines, how to control the spread of the virus and potential treatments is ever-changing. Shrewsbury, the most overcrowded prison in England and Wales, is operating at 196% CNA or almost double capacity. Paper, Interna[ional Centre for Prison Sludies (2003) 3. Castellón I1 and Male Prison of Barcelona2. A mass infection in the prison population can have catastrophic consequences for the public healthcare system, especially if prisoners suffer serious symptoms and require intensive care. Data on the prison system that should be there, and used to be available, is simply not there anymore. x��ZK��ޟ_��@��a�24�ӯ��&90��U�� �����KRɲ�=�����W_�d�v��㿃N�F��s���?�0���������|~��G One need not be an expert in public health or an epidemiologist to quickly come to the conclusion that prisons present particular challenges regarding Covid-19. Higher levels of occupancy, high turnover of prisoners, lack of services and heightened security requirements all add to a regime characterised by boredom or “eet en lê” (eating and sleeping). The reverse of that, ie overcrowding is the current realities of prisons today. In many African countries, the practice is that prisoners spend the entire day outside and only return to the cells at dusk to sleep. Prison overcrowding is frequently cited as the reason for many maladies in our prison system, but the situation is a bit more textured than a blanket statement proclaiming that South African prisons are overcrowded. On 20 April 2020, Pollsmoor Remand Detention Facility had 2,908 prisoners, but the specified capacity is 1,619 . A change in mentality may also help reduce prison overcrowding. We are therefore disabling the comment section on this article in order to protect both the commenting member and ourselves from potential liability. 91 accommodate women in a section of the prison.1 The total capacity of prisons is 118 154 people, with 25 000 places being reserved for people awaiting trial detainees (ATD). The second issue is the amount of time that prisoners spend in their cells versus outside of the cells (in open air). Whether these releases are indeed happening, is not yet known, but a release from prison also raises other issues such as address confirmation if someone is awaiting trial or placed on parole. Extent of overcrowding at SA prisons revealed. Apart from the few figures reported in the media as well as the annual reports of DCS and the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS), we knew very little of what is happening inside of our prisons, even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Another 32 cases or 25% (one prisoner and 31 officials) were recorded in the Western Cape. Prison overcrowding poses obvious challenges for the physical distancing recommended to prevent Covid-19 transmission. Although there are policies put in place to alleviate the problem of overcrowding in classrooms, this is not being implemented and is posing a problem for teachers. Between 1996 and June 2001, the overall number of prisoners in South African prisons increased by 34%. Admittedly, they also bring contraband fuelling the carceral economy – which is often crucial for some prisoners to “buy” their safety. Nowhere else in the world has the use of life imprisonment increased at such a rate. The overwhelming majority of prisoners are sentenced adult males (112,000). Tens The major findings on which most researchers agree are (1) that prisoners housed in large, open bay dormitories are more likely to visit clinics and to have high blood pressure than are prisoners in other housing arrangements (single-bunked cells, double-bunked cells, small dormitories, large partitioned dormitories); (2) that prisons that contain dormitories have somewhat higher assault rates than do other prisons; and (3) that prisons … Please sign in or register to enable this feature. Physical distancing is simply not a possibility in a prison environment and definitely not in one of the large awaiting trial centres like Pollsmoor or, To date, DCS has been able to avoid mass outbreaks and as at 28 April 2020, 59 prisoners and 70 officials have tested positive for. Overcrowding in prisons and its impact on health Overcrowding in prisons and its impact on health García-Guerrero J1, Marco A2. The staff working there and other officials also come to prisons daily. Should you have additional information that you think we should know, please email [email protected]". Another 32 cases or 25% (one prisoner and 31 officials) were recorded in the Western Cape. Many are familiar with the devastation that AIDS brought to Africa’s prisons and with underlying health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and general poor nutrition, COVID-19 does conjure up images of an unprecedented prisons health crisis, as both the infection rate (the proportion of people infected) and the infection fatality rate (the proportion of infected persons who die) may be higher in prisons than that which may occur among the general population outside prison. cilliers. In this article a review of the origin and development of prisons in South Africa will be given. It should also be pointed out that a facility like Pollsmoor is not one prison, but five centres of which two are currently used for awaiting trial prisoners. Overcrowding in South African prisons will remain a reality for a while as the number of awaiting trial detainees continues to increase. 8. Of these, 70% of cases are in the Eastern Cape, and more specifically linked to East London. (Note: Two advocacy groupshave launched a court bidto ensure the inspectorate enjoys the institutional independence that the constitution requires. Of these, 70% of cases are in the Eastern Cape, and more specifically linked to East London. These consequences include an increasing numbers of suicides amongst France’s prisoners, inhumane living conditions for prisoners in both the U.K. and the U.S., HIV amongst South African prisoners, and prisoner control and fires in Honduras’ facilities. The chairman of the Board of Parole shall be added in statute as a voting member of the Prison and Jail Overcrowding Commission. The thesis further looks and finds in the course of research that, prison overcrowding is a global phenomenon not just peculiar to Nigeria, South Africa and in America. The legal requirement is a minimum of one hour of outside exercise (weather permitting), per prisoner per day. In 1994/5, there were some 400 people serving life sentences and it is estimated that this has now increased to 20,000, or roughly one in every six sentenced prisoners. (�R�Zxb��T�D��A]\F��2����i�v�I.e�V[��J#��N�0�AmXǮ�h������ٵ31י3b#9�:��j�ƃ�D��. For the past 12 years, our prison population has been remarkably stable due to two major competing drivers. Cubic space is set at 8.5m, . Eight are for women only, 13 are for youths and 129 are for men only. �����4]̝��%^��:=�;���YN�b-����0T�'�4�4�����?x郓�8ɴs�qIy9�v�v^�����_�������i%�q�Ad��`���[=��"��f@x6�����4����.��';��P5f� �O&k�j�{�t)6˂ /���ao��B8�C�����iF7XW��ao��*61|+����b N�����x�ШӅ;ߡ�$ They face greater potential violence from the prisoners, threat of infection and increased stress and mental health issues. ), The third important factor is the sentence status of the prisoner. This is not acceptable. %äüöß Despite the commonly accepted legal dictum that one is innocent until proven guilty, it is almost universally the case that conditions of detention in awaiting trial prisons are worse than for sentenced prisoners. This is 1.8m by 1.8m. This problem, together with overcrowding in prisons, leads to inadequate and substandard health care and violates inmates’ rights.” Richter says the rights of prisoners to healthcare are “regularly severely compromised, as evidenced by the ineffective treatment of HIV and TB in South Africa’s prisons. Click here to see other benefits and to sign-up to our reader community supporting quality, independent journalism.
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