Prisoner complains of ill treatment
GALE NGAKANE
Correspondent
| Friday June 13, 2008 00:00
In two letters smuggled out of the prison and which were respectively addressed to the South African High Commission and to the Police Divisional Commander-North and which were subsequently handed over to Mmegi, Ben Nthaisane says he is being regularly assaulted by prison warders.
A few months ago, Mmegi was also given another letter smuggled from the prison and addressed to the Commissioner of Prisons detailing how Nthaisane was being subjected to assault, discrimination, torture and other forms of abuse by the prison warders.
He alleged further that on requesting to know why he was being beaten, the officers told him it was because he wrote to the Commissioner of Prisons reporting them about his previous assault and threats yet they had warned him before not to write to the Commissioner again after they confiscated the first letter he wrote and the other one he had given to an inmate to post for him.
The Commissioner of prisons could not respond to our enquiry at the time.
Efforts to talk to the High Commissioner were futile as, by Monday this week when we called, an attach at the High Commission said the High Commissioner was not in Gaborone, but she (the attach) promised to pass on our message and that we would be able to talk to the Commissioner on Wednesday morning. Subsequent efforts to talk to the Commissioner failed before going to press.
Mmegi wanted to establish whether they knew a South African prisoner by the name of Ben Nthaisane and whether they have had any correspondence from him.
The attach, who later said she was not entitled to speak to Mmegi on the matter, had initially said they were preparing a schedule of prison visits by the High Commissioner in the foreseeable future. The Divisional Commander-North could also not be reached for comment. In the letter to the Commander, Nthaisane wrote that he was enquiring about the progress of the case he reported at Central Police Station on October 9 last year. Said the letter: 'The reason for this inquiry and for enquiring from your office is that I am being repeatedly mocked by the same officers who assaulted me... they say: 'you are a prisoner and we are officers and you expect that you can report us to fellow officers and think the matter will go to court. If you think so, you are foolish; you will wait and get tired of waiting. The matter will never proceed to court.
''This is your medical report; we won't give it to you, nor to the police to prove to you that your case is dead'.'
In the letter to the Commissioner, Nthaisane introduces himself as 'a South African citizen serving a lengthy sentence in Francistown Maximum.' 'As a citizen (of South Africa) I believe it is right to inform you about the treatment I am receiving here in Botswana prison, as I truly need assistance from you as I have been officially told by the kitchen storeman and officer-in-charge that it is the duty of my country to care for me.
'I was, on different days, repeatedly assaulted, abused, put in solitary confinement, denied access to my lawyer and access to open an assault case and occasionally starved.
'In fact I have been treated like dirt and I truly need justice in this matter. The reason for all the above is because I requested for equal fair treatment with other inmates who are on the same special diet like me as we were all recommended to be on diet by the doctor. 'However, only the other inmates are cared for and when I requested to be cared for, the officer in charge (name withheld) told me that the citizens (Botswana) are being cared for and given the recommended food because they (prison warders) don't want them to die.
'This signifies they do not care about me...they want me to die.
'On a different day, I requested for green vegetables instead of cabbage as recommended by the doctor, and I was severely and repeatedly assaulted by a senior officer (name withheld). He assaulted me mainly on the head with a baton for making the request. 'Thereafter, I was taken to hospital outside prison at Area W. The civilian doctor diagnosed the assault and said since I had been injured I should be taken by my escort to the police station to get a medical report,' the letter says at length.