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Monday 31 March 2014

JAIL WARDERS SEXUALLY ASSAULT KIDS

Warders at a juvenile jail in Swaziland stripped naked, handcuffed and beat children in their care. They inserted fingers into girls’ private parts and forced one boy to drink his own urine.

The revelations at Malkerns Industrial School follow reports in 2013 that warders at the same juvenile jail assaulted children systematically for more than five hours.

The latest revelations are contained in an inspection report called Malkerns Industrial School Students Violence Probe which was leaked to the Observer on Saturday newspaper in Swaziland.

The newspaper reported there was violence at Malkerns Industrial School on 18 June 2013, when one of the boys fought and stabbed another offender with a sharpened toothbrush.

The newspaper reported, ‘The aggressor was instantly beaten without a hearing and all boys known to be his friends were handcuffed and beaten in the still of the night.’

It added, ‘The next morning all teachers were ordered to conduct a strip search, apparently an order coming from the commissioner himself who is alleged to have said ‘uma kufanele, isende lomntwana alibanjwe’ (squeeze their testicles).’

The Observer said the investigation reported there was sporadic use of force at the juvenile industrial school dormitories, ‘which is protected by the head-teacher and remains unreported mainly because the administration also participates in the violence’.

The Observer reported that female correction officers,inserted their fingers into the girls’ private parts using one glove on all the students, exposing them to risks of contracting infectious diseases’.

The newspaper also reported that one child, ‘was beaten such that he urinated and was later forced to drink his urine.

‘“I drank it because of the beatings I received,” the boy reportedly said.

Another child said, ‘My hands and testicles were pressed by the officers who were wearing their boots I thought they were killing me. My only sin was that they found tattoos on my body.’

The Observer reported another child said, ‘I was bleeding from the ears after I was kicked all over the body by the officers.’

This is not the first time violent behaviour by warders has hit the headlines. In 2013 it was reported that children at the industrial school were systematically assaulted for more than five hours by warders.

Some of the children were forced to strip naked for beatings by the officers who used belts, sneakers, open hands and feet to assault them all over their bodies.

The Swazi News newspaper reported at the time that 15 officers were involved and more than two thirds of the 430 pupils at the school were assaulted from 8.30 am until after 2.00 pm, during one day.

One child interviewed by the newspaper said, ‘They were using belts, open hands and an All-Star (sneaker). We were ordered to strip naked before being assaulted all over the body, indiscriminately.’

The attack was also described by another as being worse than police torture known as ‘lishubhu’.
Another said, ‘Besi bulawa (we were being murdered).’

When asked why they were assaulted, one pupil responded, ‘Watsi lomunye thishela basi faka luvalo (one of the teachers told us that they were instilling fear).’

The pupils said they did not report the matter to the police because they feared being victimised.

See also
KIDS WHO COMMIT NO CRIME LOCKED UP
BOY, 12, JAILED FOR INSULTING GRANNY

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