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Rape by South African police & 90% prison deaths due to AIDS.
Unctad, 30 Sept 2004

Excerpt from UCTAD report, 30 Sept 2004 - from section on South Africa: "Turning to torture and other cruelty, the report noted that the (SA) Constitution's Bill of Rights prohibited this. "However, some police officers beat, raped, tortured, and otherwise abused suspects and detainees. Some incidents of torture and ill-treatment by police and the South African National Defence Force occurred during interrogation, arrest, detention, and searches of persons' homes," it added. "In September, the ICD reported 23 incidents of torture and 16 rapes committed by police officers between April 2002 and March. During the year, the government investigated these allegations and prosecuted some offenders. "On prisons, it said South African institutions did not meet international standards, and prison conditions did not always meet the country's minimum legal requirements. " "Severe overcrowding in some prisons led to poor health; as many as 75 inmates may occupy a cell designed to hold 40 inmates," it said. "Correctional Services reported that in March 2003 there were 131 604 prisoners in custody, with 58 144 awaiting sentences, in facilities designed to hold only 111 241. Prisoners often were required to sleep in shifts because of a lack of space. "Aids was the leading cause of natural death in prisons; in 2002, there were 1 087 deaths, 90 percent Aids-related. In the first seven months of 2001, 1 101 inmates died of HIV and Aids. The natural death cases in country's prisons have increased 500 percent since 1995 and continued to grow. "Prison employees and other prisoners abused and assaulted prisoners physically and sexually, the report said. Press reports indicated that some detainees awaiting trial contracted HIV and Aids through rape. Food frequently was of poor quality and insufficient quantity. "There were improvements in prisoners' access to health care during the year with 24-hour health care service available to all offenders. "Problems remained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre, the largest detention facility for undocumented immigrants in the country, particularly as a result of occasional overcrowding."