Crowded jails 'a rights issue'
2005-09-16 21:23
Pretoria - Prison overcrowding was a human rights issue for both prisoners and prison staff, delegates at a conference on the issue resolved on Friday.
"It has been resolved that the chronic overcrowding problem is a human rights issue for prisoners and prison staff," said Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann, convenor of the conference's organising committee.
Bertelsmann said it had further been resolved that government and all stakeholders implement suitable strategies and programmes to address the issue.
He listed a number of such strategies and programmes that delegates from non-governmental organisations, eight national and provincial government departments and individuals had suggested during workshops at the three-day conference in Pretoria.
These included having faith-based organisations (FBOs) more involved in helping prisoners adjust to life inside prison without getting deeper into crime and helping them re-assimilate into society once released.
10 000 released every month
Dalton Adams, a representative of FBOs at the conference, said society faced a serious problem in dealing with the 10 000 prisoners released from South Africa's jails every month.
"What we have here when 10 000 prisoners re-enter society every month is 10 000 people who need employment, who need their families' support and who need skills."
Adams said a network of FBOs was preparing to build centres around the country where prisoners could go upon release to get training in marketable skills, help with reuniting them with their families and direction in a life away from crime.
Inspecting judge of prisons, Hannes Fagan, said making minimum sentencing guidelines more flexible could greatly contribute to decreasing prisons overcrowding
Fewer awaiting trial prisoners
"If the minimum sentencing guidelines were made more flexible, we could see a significant decrease in prisoner numbers."
He said the number of awaiting trial prisoners had decreased from 60 000 in May 2000 to 46 000 at present.
"In part, because of the awareness that the media has created about the problem of prison overcrowding, the number of awaiting trial prisoners has come down."
Fagan expressed joy about the correctional services department's remissions programme from earlier in the year, where a number prisoners nationwide were released.
"To the delight of the judicial establishment there has been a glorious success with this programme. There has been a recidivism rate of about 0.6%."
Other suggestions included the speedy introduction of the Child Justice bill which would ensure children were incarcerated only as a last resort; training magistrates and prosecutors about non-custodial sentencing; the co-operation of a number of departments in dealing with the issue and changing negative perceptions South Africans have about prisoners.
- SAPA