Prison warders in Swaziland
assaulted inmates by stripping them naked and squeezing their testicles, a
local newspaper reported.
It allegedly happened at Bhalekane
Correctional Services.
The Swazi Observer reported (27 July 2017) a former inmate who it called Bhekani
Mkhonta (not his real name) said an entire dormitory of prisoners was ordered
to strip naked.
The newspaper reported, ‘The
officers proceeded to search their dorms for narcotics (dagga) and money.
“They were wearing surgical gloves, ordered us to strip naked and face
the wall as they wanted to do a strip search and they wanted things like dagga,
cigarettes and money; which we thought was normal,” he said. “However they then
started to smack us on our buttocks,” Mkhonta said, adding how this was closely
followed by the use of fists.
‘“I had my private parts squeezed
like one does when milking a cow,” he said.’
The newspaper said the
alleged attack happened in early July 2017. The Observer said, ‘He said he had decided to tell his story to
disclose the kind of inhumane treatment inmates are subjected to, revealing
that on this incident alone, some of the officers even went as far as using
their own belts to lash the inmates, while demanding them to produce the
narcotics they had in their possession.’
It reported Mkhonta saying,
‘That lasted for about 30 minutes, we were all crying in pain, as most of us
had genitals squeezed in that manner, what hurts the most is that not all of
the inmates smoke, be it cigarettes or dagga yet we were all tortured.’
Mkhonta said that a week
after the alleged attack, another cell was invaded in the same manner.
According to Mkhonta there
was no money or narcotics found.
Correctional Services
Public Relations Officer (PRO) Superintendent Gugulethu Dlamini disputed the
allegations but confirmed that strip searches were normal in all correctional
facilities.
See also
‘JAIL WARDERS SELL
PRISONERS DRUGS’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/jail-warders-sell-prisoners-drugs.html
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