Disabled prisoners 'treated well'
2013-02-20 10:03
Johannesburg - Prisoners with disabilities are treated with
dignity and enjoy the same rights as able-bodied inmates, the correctional services
department said on Wednesday.
"No prisoner's human rights are taken away from them.
They are treated with the dignity they deserve," said spokesperson Koos
Gerber.
In the case of double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, who is facing
murder charges following the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, Gerber
said Pistorius's prosthetics would not be taken away from him should he be sent
to jail.
"The department [of correctional services] is a
responsible organisation and takes care of inmates in an appropriate
manner," said Gerber.
Disabled people were therefore treated like everyone else.
"We only assist in providing for the special needs that
a specific disability requires," said Gerber.
"A blind person will, for instance, be incarcerated
with people with sight so that they can assist him and so on... they certainly
are not locked up separately as a group."
- See News24's Pistorius Special Report.
- SAPA
