South Africa P.I.G.

Criminal justice shame

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvT2vMQY47uYJo31iCY_EdI7x_jlmkvUcXb-D2PoKQRXZzmnEkaFNStnk1EuLsP02H8aKS35p59bdwIcDLjzKqZf-e3hde1V7mJE0IWQscFpbjME_9WGQm-uCpNU7fbuJCL09piWo1pRI/s1600-h/prison-bunks21.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356933905024474722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvT2vMQY47uYJo31iCY_EdI7x_jlmkvUcXb-D2PoKQRXZzmnEkaFNStnk1EuLsP02H8aKS35p59bdwIcDLjzKqZf-e3hde1V7mJE0IWQscFpbjME_9WGQm-uCpNU7fbuJCL09piWo1pRI/s400/prison-bunks21.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px" /></a>One in four prisoners - 40 000 people - should not be behind bars, according to South Africa's monitor of prisons. This emerged in a searing indictment of the criminal justice system by Judge Deon van Zyl of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, who was briefing a parliamentary portfolio committee on Wednesday. He painted an ugly picture of the state of awaiting-trial prisoners and a police inability to conclude cases, prolonging the detention period of inmates - some facing minor charges. Given the high number of awaiting-trial suspects, it seemed police measured their success on the number of arrests, and not convictions, Van Zyl said. Van Zyl told the multiparty committee he was certain that out of the 50 000 awaiting-trial prisoners, 40 000 would be released because of lack of evidence. The judge said out of the prison population of 165 000 inmates, 50 000 were awaiting trial. "There are too many people awaiting trial," the judge stated. He accused police officers of not properly investigating cases, and postponing matters in the courts for months and even years, resulting in some inmates succumbing to illnesses. "You don't postpone the matter until you know there is a bona fide investigation going on. Why are our magistrates allowing matters to be postponed?" asked Van Zyl. The judge said he would like to see the number of unsentenced prisoners halved as soon as possible to reduce overcrowding in prisons. This could be done through releasing detainees who posed no threat to society. He said he would for the next three years focus his energies in correcting this defect: "I don't want to be a watchdog. I want to play a role in the review of the criminal justice system," Van Zyl said. Lukas Muntingh of the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative said last night that research into three court districts had shown that about half of the cases against awaiting-trial detainees were later dropped. "Why do the police arrest someone in the first case if there is no good case against him? That amounts to arbitrary detention," he said. Muntingh added that people who had been arrested should be offered the option of a plea bargain in the first few hours after their arrest. This could help avoid unnecessary detention and keep prison numbers down. "About half of the awaiting-trial detainees have been in detention for three or four months," he said. He added that he recently heard of a detainee in Pretoria Central prison who had been waiting for nine years for his case to be concluded. On deaths in prison, Van Zyl said 500 prisoners had died in the past six months. Van Zyl told MPs that a number of inmates were raped and sexually assaulted, with some contracting sexually transmitted diseases. There were instances where police arrested a healthy individual who died later of natural causes while awaiting trial. "What is worrying us is that in the first six months (of this year) we have had 500 deaths. We are told those are natural deaths. I would like to see every single death followed by a post-mortem or inquiry. "Why was that person subjected to rape (or) sexual assault on the first day of his arrival, as a result six months later he is dead?" asked Van Zyl. In a previous report, the inspectorate's statistics showed that 37 percent of prisoners who died in custody did so within the first 12 months of custody, and 62 percent had occurred within the first three years.

Criminal justice shame

One in four prisoners - 40 000 people - should not be behind bars, according to South Africa's monitor of prisons. This emerged in a sea...

1:03 PM

Robbers 'shoot baby in the head'

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_0PlBfShw_MpHSSV8K9dXlL5jsQpPbfSHefhkNmoBCpj495DYiS1cwZyhjvlucc_ZlQiAeHQ61qYsG9xPZQt8tIZbjHJzWlIXZFs7PikDuy6MWGzJVhTmLrmfbRQiVGuvc9It9sqND4/s1600-h/cemeteries_002.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356602746153470690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_0PlBfShw_MpHSSV8K9dXlL5jsQpPbfSHefhkNmoBCpj495DYiS1cwZyhjvlucc_ZlQiAeHQ61qYsG9xPZQt8tIZbjHJzWlIXZFs7PikDuy6MWGzJVhTmLrmfbRQiVGuvc9It9sqND4/s320/cemeteries_002.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzNw-CDnH36pwVJf6DgPXOGIwMQDlFbdfwcHmyUQJ6RZdL0qy1N72dOPmSy6iJWcvbsyaNG2OC7h-SbF0CWYIDPKPggAtL277ScdGhR503pzjIeVA-Q2l000MoGBJuzY4ULspTI7b6_U/s1600-h/footprints_gif_small.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356604457782921106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzNw-CDnH36pwVJf6DgPXOGIwMQDlFbdfwcHmyUQJ6RZdL0qy1N72dOPmSy6iJWcvbsyaNG2OC7h-SbF0CWYIDPKPggAtL277ScdGhR503pzjIeVA-Q2l000MoGBJuzY4ULspTI7b6_U/s320/footprints_gif_small.gif" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 108px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 79px" /></a>A 16-month-old baby was shot dead during a robbery in Eersterust, Pretoria, police said on Wednesday. Captain Johannes Maheshu said two gun-wielding men, aged between 20 and 26, broke a window to gain entry into the house in Eeinheid's Place in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The occupants included a man, his wife, their three daughters and the baby. "They woke up the family, tied the husband up and ransacked the house. "They only made off with a cellphone and an undisclosed amount of cash," Maheshu said. He said they were investigating what prompted the men to shoot the baby. According to Beeld newspaper, one of the men shot the baby in the head, after they could not find a cellphone on the wife. The report said the men asked the woman why she did not have a cellphone, as she was too old not to have one. The men reportedly fled after the husband, upon hearing the loud bang of the pistol, broke the bedroom window and threw himself out. Maheshu said they were not investigating any leads yet. - Sapa

Robbers 'shoot baby in the head'

A 16-month-old baby was shot dead during a robbery in Eersterust, Pretoria, police said on Wednesday. Captain Johannes Maheshu said two gun-...

3:05 PM

'Britain more violent than SA' stat vindicates burning of dockets

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYLLcnr2Ulg8gbIbUfjlr5oyNjfvdZysTFJiIA-5Mmz6RAJz6bbnh7U7HS_DK01sV-CXcGK5WuWPCyPh6pmGv4r8sCxAPGK5tv1UGPgXvAOK0BCE7nFmSnXWKBuvGiUC3meAaUS5lUTU/s1600-h/crime-sa01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356182704511250546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYLLcnr2Ulg8gbIbUfjlr5oyNjfvdZysTFJiIA-5Mmz6RAJz6bbnh7U7HS_DK01sV-CXcGK5WuWPCyPh6pmGv4r8sCxAPGK5tv1UGPgXvAOK0BCE7nFmSnXWKBuvGiUC3meAaUS5lUTU/s400/crime-sa01.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 296px" /></a>South African police authorities say recent claims that Britain is a more violent society than South Africa are evidence that the new official policy of burning dockets is working. "All the teens carry knives in the UK," said a spokesman. "Thank God our teens only carry assault rifles." He said that incidents of fatal stabbings with AK-47s were exceptionally rare. "Some of the more conscientious officers at our stations have been expressing concern about burning the dockets," explained South African Police Service spokesman Whatmeworry Ndebele. "We told them to shut up and keep pouring the paraffin or we'd send them to London to get knifed." He added that it had also been easy to keep the SAPS's conscientious, competent and non-corrupt officers in line as there were only nine of them, and they could easily by monitored by colleagues. "This report from the UK proves that we are winning the war on crime," said Ndebele. "Or at least the war on dockets." Asked how it was possible that Britain was more violent than South Africa given the latter's staggering murder- and rape rates, Ndebele explained that murder and rape were not considered violent crimes in South Africa. "Yes, the UK has 900 murders a year while we have about 19,000. "And yes, the UK has 50,000 rapes a year while we have 600,000. "But if you read our operating manual you will discover that so-called "murder" is in fact considered an interpersonal disturbance featuring a non-planned assisted cardiac arrest. "It's really more a medical accident than a violent crime. Malpractice by laypeople, if you will. "And rape, well, if you're asking us to classify rape as violent crime then you're also asking us to consider women to be people, and that's a bit of a stretch." He said that every morning he thanked God that he lived in South Africa with its extremely low rates of assault-rifle stabbing-related crime, and that he was proud to be able to walk down any street in the country knowing that his Kevlar body armour would probably stop most of what was being fired at him, as long as they aimed at his chest and not his head. Meanwhile British police have conceded that the new statistics have come as a shock and that they will have to start emulating their South African counterparts by burning dockets if they are to improve their country's reputation. However, they asked the British public to remember that the numbers had been affected by the different definitions of "violent crime" in Britain and South Africa. They pointed out that the Labour Party under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had reclassified flying the Union Jack as criminal assault, while anyone eating pork products in front of any religion at all, including Jedis, and using the word "patriotism" in any context other than sneering self-loathing, was liable to be charged with assault with intent to do grievous multicultural harm.

'Britain more violent than SA' stat vindicates burning of dockets

South African police authorities say recent claims that Britain is a more violent society than South Africa are evidence that the new offici...

12:36 PM

South Africa P.I.G.

Criminal justice shame

Robbers 'shoot baby in the head'

'Britain more violent than SA' stat vindicates burning of dockets

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