The Congress of the People (COPE) on Tuesday said it wants charges brought against those involved in the confinement of six Pretoria prisoners in solitary isolation for 23 hours a day for nearly a month.
The opposition party was reacting to a story carried in The Times‚ which said they were placed in underground isolation cells — dubbed ‘’the Cave’’ - in Kgosi Mampuru II Prison after being labelled troublemakers for threatening to go on a hunger strike over a lack of parole programmes.
The paper reported that the commissioner of correctional services in Pretoria‚ Zebilion Monama‚ ordered the isolation of the inmates on June 25.
“Has the oppressive rule of the National Party at its peak returned to South Africa? Has the government thrown our Constitution into the dustbin?” asked COPE’s Dennis Bloem.
“Do senior government officials feel that they have impunity to trample on the Constitution and inflict cruel punishment on any person they deem fit as under apartheid rule?”
Bloem quoted Section 12 of the Constitution which says “everyone has the right…‘not to be treated or punished in a cruel‚ inhuman or degrading way’ ”; and said “confining them for 23 hours a day over such a prolonged period violates Section 35(2)(e) of the Constitution’.
The latter calls for “conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity‚ including at least exercise and the provision‚ at state expense‚ of adequate accommodation”.
Bloem said Cope “is appalled that the minister (of correctional survices) has launched no investigation and done nothing whatsoever to intervene in this matter for more than a week”.
“Cope is calling upon the Human Rights Commission to follow up on this case and rescue the prisoners if they still remain in what The Times calls ‘SA’s ‘cave’ of shame’‚” he said.
COPE wants action over prison ‘cave’ allegations
The opposition party was reacting to a story carried in The Times‚ which said they were placed in underground isolation cells — dubbed ‘’the Cave’’ - in Kgosi Mampuru II Prison after being labelled troublemakers for threatening to go on a hunger strike over a lack of parole programmes.
The paper reported that the commissioner of correctional services in Pretoria‚ Zebilion Monama‚ ordered the isolation of the inmates on June 25.
“Has the oppressive rule of the National Party at its peak returned to South Africa? Has the government thrown our Constitution into the dustbin?” asked COPE’s Dennis Bloem.
“Do senior government officials feel that they have impunity to trample on the Constitution and inflict cruel punishment on any person they deem fit as under apartheid rule?”
Bloem quoted Section 12 of the Constitution which says “everyone has the right…‘not to be treated or punished in a cruel‚ inhuman or degrading way’ ”; and said “confining them for 23 hours a day over such a prolonged period violates Section 35(2)(e) of the Constitution’.
The latter calls for “conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity‚ including at least exercise and the provision‚ at state expense‚ of adequate accommodation”.
Bloem said Cope “is appalled that the minister (of correctional survices) has launched no investigation and done nothing whatsoever to intervene in this matter for more than a week”.
“Cope is calling upon the Human Rights Commission to follow up on this case and rescue the prisoners if they still remain in what The Times calls ‘SA’s ‘cave’ of shame’‚” he said.
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