Prisoners in jails in
Swaziland / eSwatini routinely face illegal beatings from warders and constant
humiliations, according
to testimony from a former
inmate at Sidwashini Correctional Facility.
The 27-year-old, a
prodemocracy activist charged with terrorism offences in the kingdom ruled by
absolute monarch King Mswati III, reported being ‘beaten and tortured’.
He spent four years at
Sidwashini, in the Swazi capital Mbabane, before a judge acquitted and
discharged him in 2014.
The man’s experience was reported
by Prison Insider, which publishes
testimonials from people who have been or are currently in prison.
The former inmate who was
not named said, ‘I shared a cell with about 35 to 40 other prisoners, it was
packed beyond its capacity, overcrowded as is the case with prisons here. The
only furniture in the cell were our thin sleeping mats and blankets, separated
with only about 30-centimetre space between each of them. The windows in the
cells were so high up, prisoners could only see the outside of the cell by
climbing onto a support, for example several blankets piled up.’
In September 2018 Swaziland’s Correctional Services revealed
that the total prison population in the kingdom was 3,453,
which exceeded the prison system’s designed capacity by 615 inmates.
The former inmate said, ‘In Swaziland, untried prisoners are kept
under lock 24 hours a day. We did not have the luxury of going out like the
convicted prisoners. It was extremely mentally challenging to be locked up all
day.’
He
added, ‘You would find yourself at the verge of crying due to the very cold
condition, only the fear of being embarrassed for shedding tears in public
could hold you back.’
He
said inmates were kept in unheated cells, even during freezing weather.
Breakfast was thin maize porridge four
times a week and bread with black tea three times a week.
Prisoners were counted by
wardens three times a day. ‘The
humiliating part about the counting was that we were forced to squat in rows of
five.’
The
former inmate said, ‘Some mornings
were disrupted by random searches. This experience was humiliating, lots of
verbal and sometimes physical assaults. I saw prison officers severely assault
and humiliate fellow prisoners during night searches. They took the unlucky
ones to the isolation cells, where they were beaten and exposed to further
degrading treatment.’
The former inmate said, ‘Finally,
when the judge acquitted and discharged me, I was elated. I shall always
cherish the day I was released from prison. Those emotions and feelings are
still fresh in my memory. I do not think they will ever fade away. I was freed
from perpetual pain and humiliation.’
There have been other reports about poor conditions at Sidwashini. In December 2017 a suspect told a magistrate that inmates there were ‘frequently assaulted’.
There have been other reports about poor conditions at Sidwashini. In December 2017 a suspect told a magistrate that inmates there were ‘frequently assaulted’.
The Swazi Observer reported at the time the suspect whom it only named as
Masuku, ‘said he suffered bruises on his body due to the heavy beating he was
subjected to by the officers’.
In January 2018 there were
reports of disturbances in jails in Swaziland with inmates accused of brutality against warders. It was reported that
new inmates had formed gangs and warders from jails across the kingdom had been
moved to two institutions at Sidwashini and Bhalekane to increase security.
There were at least two
incidents where inmates rioted because they were served with poor food. These
were at Sidwashini and Bhalekane. At Sidwashini, media in Swaziland
reported, untrained warders were
sent in to help restore peace. At Bhalekane one warder had to be taken to
hospital after an alleged attack.
In 2017 the United Nations
Human Rights Committee (HRC) stepped
up investigations into prison conditions
in Swaziland amid reports of inhumane conditions. They included food shortages,
inadequate sanitary conditions and medical care.
In a wide-ranging
questionnaire to the Swaziland Government the HRC asked for detailed
information about the number of existing prisons in the kingdom, prison
capacity and the number of inmates and whether there were separate facilities
for adults and children. It also asks what plans Swaziland had to ratify the
Convention against Torture and Other, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.
In 2014 it was reported
that more than 1,000 people were in jail in Swaziland because they were too poor to pay
fines for offences such as traffic violations, theft by false pretences,
malicious injury to property and fraud.
The figures revealed that
in Swaziland, where seven in ten people live in abject poverty with incomes
less than the equivalent of US$2 per day, 1,053 of 3,615 inmates in Swazi jails
were there because they did not have the money to pay a fine option. This was
29.1 percent of the entire prison population.
See also
Jail disturbances across
Swaziland
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/01/jail-disturbances-across-swaziland.html
Jail inmates ‘beaten frequently’
Jail inmates ‘beaten frequently’
Swazi jail riot over no bread
Probe into corruption at Swazi jail
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/probe-into-corruption-at-swazi-jail.html
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