Latest resources

Submission to the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry

CSPRI made a submission to the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha and a breakdown in relations between the community and the police in Khayelitsha. Bearing in mind the obligations under the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, the recommendations touch upon meaningful independent oversight, including at the provincial level; improved training of law enforcement officials; prompt and impartial investigations of allegations of torture; and public co-operation.

Submission by the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the National Prosecuting Authority Annual Report, 16 October 2012

This one page submission speaks to the relationship between pre-trial detention and the right to liberty in South Africa

Press release to ratify International Socio-Economic Rights Covenant

Almost eighteen years after the South African government signed the ICESCR, Cabinet has approved that South Africa will ratify the ICESCR. This press release is ssued by the ICESCR Ratification Campaign Driver Group, 12 October 2012.

Statement submitted to the 52nd session of the African Commission

This statement calls on the Commssion to start the process of developing a guideline on the use and conditions of police custody and pre-trial detention for Africa.

Press Release: South Africa to ratify international socio-economic rights covenant - 12 October 2012

South African Human Rights Groups welcome Cabinet’s approval of South Africa’s ratification of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Almost eighteen years after the South African government signed the ICESCR, Cabinet has approved that South Africa will ratify the ICESCR. This important decision to ratify, which means that the ICESCR will be legally binding, was included in a statement issued yesterday on Cabinet’s ordinary meeting held in Pretoria on 10 October 2012. The Cabinet statement describes how the ICESCR is a “key international treaty which seeks to encourage State Parties to address challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty, which are critical to the strategic goals of governments.”

Submission on the JICS Annual Report 2011/12

With this submission, CSPRI wishes to draw the Portfolio Committee’s attention to the fact that since its establishment in 2000, the JICS has not been the subject of a review process scrutinising whether it is indeed advancing prisoners’ rights in South Africa. CSPRI submits that continuous and regular review is necessary in order for state institutions to adapt to changing needs and improve efficiency and effectiveness. The submission discusses the independence of JICS and the current investigative regime and encourages JICS to include recommendations, based on national and international law and jurisprudence, whenever it reports concerns.

Rwanda: Shrouded in secrecy Illegal detention and torture by Rwanda’s military intelligence

Amnesty International began to receive reports of enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment by Rwandan military intelligence in March 2010. This spate of human rights violations happened as military intelligence launched investigations into threats to national security in the run-up to the August 2010 presidential elections. Grenade attacks, rare in recent years, multiplied after February 2010. Some security analysts attributed them to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed opposition group based ineastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Growing tensions within the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) following the departure of the former army chief, General Kayumba Nyamwasa, in February 2010 also allegedly raised the spectre of potential security threats from within the army. As part of the Rwandan authorities’ investigations into security matters, individuals were arrested, often arbitrarily, by the military, sometimes acting in collaboration with the police. Those arrested were almost exclusively men aged between 20 and 45. Most of the cases documented here are of civilians, including demobilized military. Other cases include members of the Rwandan army or individuals suspected by the Rwandan authorities of belonging to the FDLR. After their arrest, the men were detained incommunicado and interrogated by military intelligence.

Submission on the DCS Annual Report 2011/12

This submission deals with human resources, staff training, children in prisons, discipline and turnstiles. Many of the problems facing the Department of Correctional Services are longstanding and the Portfolio Committee is familiar with these. CSPRI expresses concern about the persistence of these problems. For reasons that are not always clear the same issues undermine performance in the Department without a solution in sight. CSPRI makes a number of recommendations as to how to address the concerns noted.

ESR Review, Volume 13 No 2, 2012

This second issue of 2012 focusses on monitoring of state performance relating to the realisation of social and economic rights using the Social and Economic Rights Fulfilment Index, an interview with the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and updates on the recent ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers 2011, and the International Labour Organisation Social Protection Floors Recommendation 2012.

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku September 2012

This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from August 2012 on governance and corruption, prison conditions and escapes, as well as prison related news from other African countries.

Seminar Programme for Special Needs Housing Policy Framework in South Africa

This seminar took place in the Townhouse Hotel, Cape Town

Presentation by the Project Preparation Trust of KwaZulu Natal

Presentation on their Special Needs Housing Programme

Presentation by the Gauteng Department of Housing

This presentation was on the Gauteng Special Needs Policy

Presentation by the Socio-Economic Rights Project

The presentation was on the Right to Have Access to Housing for Persons With Special Needs

Presentation by the Centre for Disability Law and Policy

This presentation was on the background to Special Needs Housing

Workshop Report on Special Needs Housing Policy Framework in South Africa

Relevant stakeholders met for a workshop to be presented with the findings of the Special Needs Housing Policy Promotion Project.

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku August 2012

This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from August 2012 on governance and corruption, parole and sentencing, prison conditions, South Africans imprisoned abroad and rehabilitation, as well as prison related news from other African countries.

Rule of Law in Malawi: The Road to Recovery

Report of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), funded by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).

Punished for being poor: Outdated offences in the DRC

by Dignité K. Bwiza, University of the Western Cape. This article discusses the status of out-dated offences in the DRC, and its interconnectedness with imprisonment and poverty.

Newsletter 3: Progress on human rights in Mozambique; Outdated offences in Mozambique; Pre-trial detention in Burundi; 'Frais de Bougie'; Outdated offences in the DRC; Measures to improve custody time limit implementation in Malawi

In this third PPJA newsletter we report on matters related to pre-trial detention in Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, covering issues such as oversight and monitoring of places of detention, outdated offences resulting in detention, custody time limits on pre-trial detention, and abusive practices associated with poverty in African prisons.

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku July 2012

This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from July 2012 on governance and corruption, parole and sentencing, extraditions, prison conditions, South Africans imprisoned abroad and rehabilitation, as well as prison related news from other African countries.

Submissions on the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Bill [B21 of 2012]

CSPRI made the following submissions to Parliament on the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Bill. These submissions represent the views of a group of organisations and address, primarily, whether the contents of the Bill comply fully with the obligations imposed on the state in terms of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). These submissions also include recommendations on what the Bill should include and / or exclude as well as suggestions on how the text could be amended.

Guinea Criminal Code

Loi N ° 98/036 Du 31 Decembre 1998 Portant Code Pénal L’Assemblee Nationale