DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/I
19
separated from the rest of the room by a low wall and are equipped with a sink, a
mirror and a toilet. Other sanitary installations with showers and toilets are usually
accessible from the exercise courtyard.
However, it should be noted that some inmates have complained about the lack of
shelter to protect them from the sun in the courtyard (Windhoek). Furthermore, the
windows of the cells and dormitories are louvered. The delegation found that in a
number of prisons the glazed windows were damaged (Windhoek, Walvis Bay).
Prisoners cover the gaps with blankets in order to protect themselves from the wind
(Windhoek central prison). Shards of glass could be a risk for the inmates and staff
(mutilations, aggressions towards staff). The delegation saw no broken glass on the
floor or anywhere else in the course of its visit.
The Special Rapporteur has great concerns regarding the situation of some inmates
held in solitary cells for administrative reasons (section D of Oluno prison, individual
cells of Hardap prison). These concerns refer not only to the duration of isolation
(from 3:00 pm to 08:00 am ) but also to the very restrictive regime to which these
prisoners are subjected. The juveniles held in Walvis Bay prison complained about
being totally isolated from 3:00 pm to 8:00 am. The delegation noted that at Oluno
prison a person who was on remand was kept in total isolation and did not
participate in any of the prison's activities, either individually or collectively. This
person only leaves his cell on the days that he is seen by the judge. In the Hardap
prison, a person asked to be separated from the others because he was being
harassed. The total absence of structured or communal activities is not favourable
for the rehabilitation of a prisoner, nor for his/her mental and physical health as the
living space is too confined.
Finally, the Special Rapporteur noted, at the time of her visit to Oluno prison, that a
much larger number of prisoners than the cell was intended to hold could be locked
in a cell from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. This is what happened in Oluno prison, section
N, on the day of the visit. The Special Rapporteur found that during the prison
guard's lunch break 28 persons had been locked in a cell which usually held 16
persons. Whatever the reasons, it would seem that such overcrowding may be
dangerous and this practice should be discontinued.
In the police stations, defendants are detained in cells next to closed courtyards
with bars across the top. One cell is also used as a reception cell.
In most of the stations visited, the cells lacked ventilation, which was sometimes
aggravated by putting corrugated iron over the windows at a very small distance
from them, preventing the air from circulating properly. Prisoners live crammed
together. The courtyards are entirely surrounded by walls; they are neither covered
nor sheltered, but bars to prevent escape cover the top. People who sleep in the
courtyard take refuge in the cell when it rains or when the sun is too hot, if they can.
In Rundu police station, overcrowding is such that prisoners must sleep outside the
main building, in a courtyard covered with bars, without shelter or toilets.
In the women's cell in Wanaheda police station it is very stuffy, and the layout of the
premises is both dangerous and very uncomfortable. In fact, the prisoners have to
heave themselves on to a sort of mezzanine without protection to dry their washing.
This cell, which is independent from the others, used to be a reception room or a
place for temporary reception of less than a day's duration. It has no sleeping
facilities. The prisoners have no access to an exercise courtyard. A concrete bench
along one of the walls is used as a bed by some of the women. The others spread
their bedding on the floor.
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