Cells at Keetmans ‘unfit for humans’

THE Keetmanshoop Police holding cells are disgracefully overcrowded, squalid and unhygienic, says the town’s Magistrate, IIleni Gebhardt.

“The cells are unfit for human occupation,” says Gebhardt. “The standard of hygiene leaves a lot to be desired.”Gebhardt paid a surprise visit to the Police station’s holding cells on Friday to see the conditions under which trial-awaiting prisoners are kept.Gebhardt said inmates were forced to sleep in the area built for exercise purposes.She said the overcrowding and poor hygiene violated inmates’ constitutional right to have safe protection while in custody.Gebhardt said the justice system ensured accused people a fair trial, but then they were packed into crowded, filthy cells while awaiting trial.”What type of balance do we want to maintain, if inmates are kept in custody at places that are unfit for human occupation” she angrily asked.”You can’t have double standards,” she added.Approached for comment, Karas Police Commander Josephat Abel conceded that the station’s holding cells were overcrowded.Abel said the holding cells could only accommodate 60 people, but when the Magistrate was there on Friday, they were holding 98.He blamed a delay in court proceedings for the chaotic situation at the station’s holding cells.”The courts must speed up the process of finalising court hearings,” he said.Abel charged that the refusal of bail to people charged with petty crimes aggravated the situation even more.According to Gebhardt, the Police Station Commander at Aroab once asked her to release trail-awaiting prisoners on warning because of food shortages at the station.Abel denied this.”We have never experienced any food shortages at holding cells across the region,” he said.Gebhardt told The Namibian that a report on her visit to the holding cells would be forwarded to the Ombudsman’s Office and the Ministry of Safety and Security.She warned that similar unexpected visits would be made on a regular basis in the region.”The standard of hygiene leaves a lot to be desired.”Gebhardt paid a surprise visit to the Police station’s holding cells on Friday to see the conditions under which trial-awaiting prisoners are kept.Gebhardt said inmates were forced to sleep in the area built for exercise purposes.She said the overcrowding and poor hygiene violated inmates’ constitutional right to have safe protection while in custody.Gebhardt said the justice system ensured accused people a fair trial, but then they were packed into crowded, filthy cells while awaiting trial.”What type of balance do we want to maintain, if inmates are kept in custody at places that are unfit for human occupation” she angrily asked.”You can’t have double standards,” she added.Approached for comment, Karas Police Commander Josephat Abel conceded that the station’s holding cells were overcrowded.Abel said the holding cells could only accommodate 60 people, but when the Magistrate was there on Friday, they were holding 98.He blamed a delay in court proceedings for the chaotic situation at the station’s holding cells.”The courts must speed up the process of finalising court hearings,” he said.Abel charged that the refusal of bail to people charged with petty crimes aggravated the situation even more.According to Gebhardt, the Police Station Commander at Aroab once asked her to release trail-awaiting prisoners on warning because of food shortages at the station.Abel denied this.”We have never experienced any food shortages at holding cells across the region,” he said.Gebhardt told The Namibian that a report on her visit to the holding cells would be forwarded to the Ombudsman’s Office and the Ministry of Safety and Security.She warned that similar unexpected visits would be made on a regular basis in the region.