Prison Reforms
Checking, Correcting and Preventing Human Rights Violations through
Community Involvement in Prisons

Detention in the Commonwealth

The Commonwealth is composed of 53 countries, with a wide spectrum of social, economic and political systems. Examining detention conditions within the Commonwealth membership shows an equally wide range of institutions from well kept sophisticated prison systems, to overcrowded dilapidated police lock-ups. A recent report, 'Directory of Detention Conditions' (2005) released by the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) highlights detention conditions in countries that have serious shortcomings in their penal systems and police custody. The bulk of this paper is drawn from that publication. Commonwealth countries that feature in this report are: Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

In this paper, "detention" includes both prison and police custody, unless otherwise specified. Significant areas of concern that emerge from the IAS report are conditions of detention, the use of torture in places of detention, treatment of vulnerable groups such as women and juveniles, corruption and contact with the outside world. Additionally, the use of private and military detention centers and their associated problems are discussed.

Conditions of detention

There is no specific Commonwealth document regarding prisons or police custody. General rules and principles can be drawn from international human rights instruments, specifically the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention Against Torture (CAT) and other United Nations documents relating to the treatment of prisoners. Each country will also have its own legislation that set out specific prison rules.

The Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners and Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners detail the basic conditions that a prisoner should enjoy. Guaranteed rights described include access to a lawyer, regular exercise and adequate hygiene, and prohibition of punishment that amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. More specific details are the dimensions of cells, amount of light available and the number of meals prisoners should receive.

The IAS report indicates that many countries are far from fulfilling even the basic requirements. One of the most common problems is overcrowding. Many prisons and police lockups are beyond official capacity, housing up to five times the designated number. The actual buildings are usually in poor condition without adequate sanitation, water or furnishings. Detainees are unable to bathe at regular intervals, have access to safe drinking water or even have a place to sleep. In some places, due to overcrowding, prisoners must take turns to sleep and then it is on a concrete floor without any blanket.

The poor hygiene and overcrowding in many prisons lead to poor health among the detainees. Diseases attributed to the sub-standard conditions include TB, typhoid, gastro-intestinal complaints and skin ailments. In addition to poor facilities, medical care is deficient and there have been cases where prisoners with TB and chicken pox have died from lack of treatment.

Torture

The theme of Human Rights Day 2005 was 'End Torture Now', as acknowledged and supported in a Commonwealth context by the Commonwealth Secretary General in his Human Rights Day speech. However, evidence form the IAS shows torture to be prevalent among the selected Commonwealth states. The Convention Against Torture (CAT) absolutely prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by agents of the state. Prisoners and detainees are of particular concern as they as more likely to be exposed to ill-treatment at the hands of state actors. The methods described in the report range from sophisticated means with designated tools to primitive brutal violence inflicted with blunt instruments. Methods include electrocution , beating , removing of toenails , burning body with cigarettes , using an electric drill , placing genitals in a drawer and closing the drawer , and withholding medication for asthma or diabetes . Degrading and humiliating treatment such as keeping detainees half naked through interrogations has also been used.

Alarmingly, the reported cases usually represent a fraction of the real scale of the problem. Descriptions such as 'systematic', 'normal', 'routine' and 'legitimate' are applied to the practice. In Uganda torture in police custody appears to be "indispensable to the operations of security forces" . A disturbing aspect of torture in places of detention is the use of sexual violence, mainly targeted at women although men and juveniles are not exempt. Sexual abuse was reported in all countries, with Pakistan standing out with a particularly bad record.

An atmosphere of impunity permeates in all places, with infrequent charges and even fewer convictions. The climate of impunity is aided by torture being carried out in un-sanctioned or undeclared interrogation and holding centers. An individual can be taken without charge and held incommunicado for prolonged periods. Specific countries mentioned are Uganda, Cameroon and Pakistan that use undisclosed cells, beyond legislative safeguards. As a result of torture in police custody and prisons, there are many deaths reported. It is rare for any proper autopsy or investigation and subsequent charges.

Punishment in prisons often amounts to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The minimum standard rules prohibit such forms of punishment. It specifically rules against the use of handcuffs, chains or irons as forms of punishment. However, in many cases prisoners have been subjected to handcuffing, leg irons and fetters as punishment.

Corruption

Corruption is a significant problem in many prisons around the Commonwealth. Time spent in jail may not be so horrific for some if they can afford to pay for preferential treatment. In Pakistan and India a prisoner can arrange to have alcohol, drugs or sexual favours (usually with other prisoners) provided by corrupt guards or wardens. Prison officials are not only open to bribes, but in some cases demand money for prevention of abuse. Hence it is the poor and marginalised prisoners who are at greater risk of abuse or torture, as they cannot afford to pay for protection. Money is also demanded for basic services such as access to water or food. The right to access a lawyer and family visits can also cost money in a detention centre. Pakistan police take it a step further by occasionally detaining individuals arbitrarily without charge or on false charges to extort payment for their release . In Bangladesh the police will use torture as a means of extortion.

Vulnerable groups

According to the UN Standard Minimum Rules, women should not be kept in the same institution as men as far as possible, and if there is no alternative, then in a separate premises at the institution . Commonwealth countries covered in this report with no reported separate women's institutions are Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the remaining countries with separate facilities, conditions are reported as appalling for detained women. In police custody there is even less chance of separate facilities. In some appalling cases, women have shared cells with men, and in one reported instance a woman was forced to dance naked in the cell .

The inadequate number of female staff contributes to the vulnerability of women. Male guards and wardens then have access to women's facilities with no female staff present, where opportunities for abuse then increases. Torture and mistreatment of women is common. They are not spared any of the methods that are applied to men. They are also subject to gender specific abuse such as rape and sexual harassment.

The other vulnerable group of concern is juveniles. The United Nations have issued Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice or the 'Beijing Rules'. These state that juveniles should not be housed with adults. In many places a shortage of adequate facilities for juveniles sees them accommodated along with hardened criminals. Police arresting and detaining children often ignore legislative measures protecting the rights of children. For example, in Bangladesh children under 16 entitled to bail are often not offered it and instead sent to jail. Police officers sometimes inflate the ages of the children they have arrested in order to avoid the extra paperwork. Children in Pakistan remain detained beyond the time limit prescribed by law. This is due to many reasons including failure of police to bring them before the magistrate or demands for a bribe which parents are unable to pay. In Cameroon it was reported that children and babies are often in prison with their mothers.

Juveniles in detention can suffer cruelty and neglect. They are not exempt from forced labour as reports exist of children breaking rocks or doing work assigned to older inmates. Disturbing reports of children being tortured also surface, with even more horrendous stories of sexual abuse and children being forced into prostitution in certain jails. In Pakistan in 1999, there was an uprising in one of the juvenile facilities that dramatically shed light on the problem of sexual abuse of juvenile inmates by prison staff. The uprising was initiated after a 13 year old boy was beaten for complaining against sexual abuse by a head warder. There have also been reports of police in India sexually exploiting street children .

Visits and access to the outside world

It is the right of a prisoner to have access to their lawyer and visits from outsiders. According to the IAS report, this right is not endorsed in the Commonwealth countries. Due to corruption among prison officials, visitors and lawyers often have to bribe the guards to be allowed in the prison. Official visits by the International Red Cross, who monitor treatment of prisoners, were not allowed to visit prisoners suspected of terrorism in Pakistan.

In many countries where torture is rife, individuals are placed incommunicado, where their relatives or lawyers are unable to gather any information on their whereabouts. In Uganda there are no mechanisms in place that inform family members where the suspect is being held. Ignorance of visiting rights curtails families' ability to meet with detainees.

Unauthorized detention centres

Some Commonwealth countries listed in the IAS report use additional places of detention that do not always fall under government jurisdiction. These are run by security forces that operate separately to the police. Usually there are no legislative safeguards and hence detainees can be at the mercy of unscrupulous and unchecked security officers. Uganda has several separate detention facilities run by the military and ad hoc security groups. In many of these places suspects can be held without charge nor be brought before a magistrate, and hence suffer haphazard brutality at the hands of these security forces.

SPECIFIC COUNTRY ISSUES

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a very poor record of treatment of people in detention. One of the primary problems is torture and ill treatment. Presently Bangladesh national legislation does not recognize torture as a criminal offence . Therefore, combating torture with existing mechanisms is very difficult. Additionally there is no legal provision to allow victims of torture to file claims for compensation and rehabilitation.

The use of 'safe custody' in Bangladesh has shown to be an antonym for such. In theory, safe custody is for the protection of women and children who are victims of crime, whether they be victims of rape or trafficking, rescued from brothels, or lost and mentally disabled children. Safe custody is essentially part of the mainstream prison system, taking with it all the problems of overcrowding, poor hygiene, food and health care. Women and children put in safe custody are not segregated from the general prison population and end up sharing cells with convicted felons. As a result they are often further victimized at the hands of prison guards and inmates, which has caused the death of a number of girls.

Many women and children end up in 'safe custody' for extended periods, such as girls who marry outside their families' wishes and are unable to return. Additionally, parents of trafficked children may be unable to be located. In many cases families are too poor to engage the services of lawyers to ensure the release of their children.

Cameroon

The most significant problem in Cameroon's custodial centers is torture. It is systemic throughout government administered institutions, and rampant in non-government facilities. A human rights organisation reports on private prisons run by traditional leaders in northern provinces - Lamidos have set up their own judicial systems where they can have an individual arrested and detained outside the state legal system. For example an individual described in their report, was arrested but later released by state police, and afterwards the Lamida ordered him to be taken into private custody where he was tortured and subsequently died from his injuries. This is usually done with the quiet complicity of official authorities.

India

India is another Commonwealth member with a horrendous record of torture. 'India has the highest number of cases of police torture and custodial deaths among the world's democracies and the weakest laws against torture'. India has signed but not ratified the CAT. The authorities argue that existing laws are sufficient to combat torture. However, the large numbers of deaths in custody and rampant torture indicate that this is not the case. Not only do the existing laws fail to effectively protect citizens from abuse, it is difficult for victims to obtain redressal and adequate compensation.

Overcrowding is also a major problem in almost all of India's detention centres. The over-burdened prisons are due to a majority of prisoners awaiting trial - in one prison in New Delhi 80% of inmates are awaiting trials. The waiting times are extensive because of the slow judicial processes. "According to a National Crime Research Bureau study, Crime in India 2002, nearly 220,000 cases took more than 3 years to reach court, and about 25,600 exhausted 10 years before they were completed. A staggering number of inmates awaiting trial have already been imprisoned longer than the most rigorous sentence they could ever be given for the offence they are alleged to have committed." Some prisons are holding almost 200% of their official capacity. These decaying, decrepit buildings are dating back to the British colonial era and therefore the situation is even more appalling.

Social inequalities of the caste system are perpetuated in these institutions. Inmates of the lower castes are segregated from those prisoners of higher social status and are subject to various forms of abuse. The poor and tribal inmates may be denied visitors or medical care, subject to prolonged labour or sexual harassment.

Nigeria

Juvenile detention is one of the featured problems in Nigeria. Juveniles do have designated facilities, however these fall short of the standard minimum rules for juvenile detention. In these institutions corporal punishment is used, to the point of being classified as torture or other cruel and inhuman treatment. They are incarcerated for trivial offences such as truancy or being beyond parental control. Children in Lagos have also reportedly been held for ransom to extort money from parents.

Pakistan

Prison conditions in Pakistan have been described as deplorable, however for women the situation is even worse as there is a severe lack of women's facilities, and in many instances these are overcrowded and in wretched condition. Contributing to the overcrowding are the large number of Pakistani women detained awaiting trial, due to the slow judicial process and lack of legal aid. Several sources have stressed the fact that the Hudood Ordinances do not differentiate between a rape and adultery case, which routinely means rape victims are found guilty of adultery and consequently imprisoned.

Women have also suffered torture whilst in police custody. Methods used on women do not differ from those used on men and include electrocution, beating and hanging upside down. In addition women also suffer gender specific abuse n the form of sexual harassment, public undressing and rape. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture stated that 'when the alleged perpetrator of rape is a member of the police, army or other government official, the police often refuse to register a complaint, or pressure or bribe the victim into dropping the charges'.

Sri Lanka

The treatment of Tamil prisoners in Sri Lanka has been the concern of human rights activists for some time. Tamil inmates in Sinhalese areas suffer miserable living conditions and discrimination. Torture and abuse is rife in Sri Lankan detention centers and is often directed at Tamils suspected of terrorist activities or links to the LTTE. These inmates are not separated from Sinhalese prisoners and were often beaten by fellow prisoners. A frightening example of the insecure security for Tamil inmates is the massacre of 29 detainees by Sinhalese rioters, whilst prison guards did nothing to protect them.

Uganda

Despite the end of formal hostilities in Uganda, numerous security forces remain, with some of these security forces operating without any legal status for example, Internal Security Organ and Joint Anti-Terrorist Task Force. These ad hoc security organs are able to conduct illegal arrests and detention with impunity. The existence of these security organs contributes significantly to the use of torture within the country. One aspect of the work of these forces is the use of ungazzetted and unacknowledged places of detention. Ugandan Parliament abolished these unofficial detention sites or safe houses, but they continue to operate with no official condemnation or effort to close them down. The use of such facilities shield security forces from judicial oversight and scrutiny. An individual can be taken to a 'safe house' for questioning for an undisclosed amount of time and without being formally charged.