Mangaung prison inmate ‘tortured to death’

“On a cold winter day in 2005, inmate Isaac Nelani asked wardens at Mangaung prison, run by British security firm G4S, for an extra blanket to keep him warm. The prison walls emitted a chill that crept into his joints and bones. Nelani, a 47-year old inmate at Mangaung prison, was HIV-positive, which made him more susceptible to the cold.

Other than his insistence on an extra blanket that day, not much else is known about Nelani. Inmates who spoke to the Wits Justice Project (WJP), say he was a gentle guy, others claim he was emotionally unstable. Why he had been placed in a cell in Mangaung’s notorious “Broadway” isolation section remains unknown. Nelani himself is no longer around to connect the dots, because he died under suspicious circumstances on that cold day, May 18 2005. G4S officials registered the death as suicide in their internal records, which the WJP has in its possession.”

So what happened in “Broadway” on that fateful day, May 18 2005?

Read, Ruth Hopkins’ – WJP senior journalist – latest piece on the deaths of two inmates at Mangaung Correctional Centre, as it was published in the Mail & Guardian today, here. A PDF version is available to download, here.

Read the Canadian news site – Facts&Opinions’ – coverage of the story, here.

Additionally, listen to Hopkins and former inmate, Tebogo Meje, shed light on the cruel practice of solitary confinement and gross violation of human rights at Mangaung prison, here.

Related Readings

G4S accused of holding South African prisoners in isolation illegally

South African prisoners sue G4S over torture claims

British law firm acts for Bloem prisoners

Private security industry under fire

 

Preventing Torture in South Africa – the Symposium outcome document

As previously reported, the Wits Justice Project was able to host a symposium on torture in South Africa in 2014 through the generous support of the Claude Leon Foundation. The two-day symposium (28-29 August 2014), brought together members of civil society, academics, legal experts, human rights activists, and survivors of torture, to deliberate on the first year of the “torture bill” and the necessary follow-up steps needed for the ratification of the Optional Protocol of the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

Reports of torture, including mass torture, in South African detention facilities continue to surface. The most important have been broken by the Wits Justice Project team, namely the St Alban’s mass torture and the Mangaung G4S series on forced injections and abuse of force.

The proceeding and outcomes of the symposium have been collated into a booklet which is printed and being distributed widely and also available online here.

 

Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke on transparency of the judicial process

South Africans are entitled to a judicial system that they can trust; Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke expressed this sentiment. Moseneke was speaking at the National Press Club Newsmaker of 2014 that was hosted at the North West University in May.

To read his full speech click here.

10 Things to know about the Police Brutality Legal Clinic

1. The Police Brutality Legal Clinic is run by ProBono.Org, an NGO which works with private legal practitioners to provide pro-bono legal services to those who can’t afford to pay for these resources themselves.
2. Global law firm Hogan Lovells partnered with ProBono.Org to start the Police Brutality Legal Clinic in 2011.
3. The clinic offers free consultation services with attorneys who evaluate the merits (evidence) of a case and provide preliminary advice on issues such as prescription, compliance and jurisdiction and then decide if a case is worth pursuing.
4. The clinic operates on the first and third Tuesday of every month from the Probono.Org offices, by appointment only. Find address and contact details here.
5. The clinic handles cases of police brutality, unlawful arrest and unlawful detention by the South Africa Police Services (SAPS) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).
6. The clinic has seen more than 240 clients since 2011.
7. In recent years, the clinic’s case load has increased significantly. According to Candice Pillay, head of Hogan Lovells pro bono department, this is because the public is becoming aware of their rights in relation to what police officers can and cannot do.
8. The clinic also provides advocates to clients on a pro bono basis, once litigation commences.
9. Civil cases against SAPS and JMPD are brought against the Minister of Police or the City of Johannesburg, not against individual officers.
10. The clinic is currently litigating 20 cases – including pending High Court cases relating to unlawful detention.

For appointments please contact Pro-Bono.Org on 011 339-6080.

Ten facts about SA’s watch-dog – Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

1. The IPID Act was signed into law on 12 May 2011. IPID is an independent organisation that reports to the Minister of Police and functions independently of the SA Police Service (SAPS)
2. The Act empowers IPID to investigate serious criminal offences by SAPS and Municipal Police Service (MPS) members – including all deaths in police custody or as a result of police action, criminal offences and acts of serious misconduct allegedly committed by SAPS and MPS members.
3. The Directorate is obliged to investigate matters such as complaints relating to the discharge of an official firearm by a police officer; rape by a police officer, whether the police officer is on or off duty; rape of any person in police custody and any complaint of torture or assault against a police officer in the execution of his, or her, duties. It is also mandated to investigate police–related corruption.
4. IPID was established on 1 April 2012, in terms of Section 206(6) of the Constitution of the Republic of SA which provided for the establishment of an independent police complaints body. IPID replaced the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) and is empowered to focus on serious criminal investigations as opposed to mostly service –related matters investigated by its predecessor.
5. IPID’s mission is to be “an effective independent and impartial investigating and over-sight body that is committed to justice and acting in the public interest while meeting the highest standards of integrity and excellence.”
6. For the entire 2013/2014 reporting period, the IPID had no permanent head and nine provincial head posts were vacant. As a result, there were inconsistencies in performance, with some provinces meeting their performance target and others failing to do so.
7. IPID received 5 745 complaints during the 2013/2014 reporting period. Of these, 3 916 were assault cases, 429 were complaints relating to the discharge of official firearms, 390 were incidents of deaths resulting from  police action, 374 related to other criminal matters and 234 were incidents of deaths in police custody.
8. SAPS adopted an anti-torture policy in 2009 and in 2011 IPID was given an express mandate to investigate all allegations of torture by the police, according to the Association for the Prevention of Torture.

9. The Prevention and Combating of Torture Bill was signed into law by President Jacob Zuma in July 2013.According to IPID 2013/2014 annual report, to date no police officer has been prosecuted for torture by the National Prosecuting Authority.

10. More than 17 000 cases of deaths, rapes, assaults and torture were reported to IPID between 2004 and 2014 countrywide – an average of 1 770 a year, or close to five incidents a day. According to City Press’ Athandiwe Saba (Brutality… just another day on the job) records dating back to 2004 were incomplete and case numbers, incident dates, names of police stations and complainants’ details often unrecorded.

Want to learn more about police brutality and misconduct?

The full IPID 2012/2013 report can be read here

The full IPID 2013/2014 report can be read here

An insightful piece on unlawful arrests and police misconduct, written by WJP senior journalist, Ruth Hopkins, can be read here

Also read South African police accused of routinely torturing crime suspects by WJP senior journalist, Carolyn Raphaely.

Listen to Wits Justice Show radio podcasts on Police Brutality and What can the police do to you during an arrest?