The Detention Justice Forum (DJF) on Tuesday welcomed the release of a report by Constitutional Court Judge‚ Justice Edwin Cameron on his visit to the Pollsmoor Remand Detention Facility and Pollsmoor Women’s Correctional Centre earlier this year. Justice Cameron stated in his report‚ “The extent of overcrowding‚ unsanitary conditions‚ sickness‚ emaciated physical appearance of the detainees‚ and overall deplorable living conditions were profoundly disturbing.”The DJF said the judge also described “the failures of the Department of Correctional Services to comply with basic standards required by the Bill of Rights and the Correctional Services Act. These failures had resulted in appalling conditions for the men and women in remand detention.” “The visit was undertaken in April‚ as part of the Constitutional Court’s prison visiting project‚ and the report details the ‘sickening conditions’ he and his clerks witnessed.”Justice Cameron had found that cell conditions were so filthy that detainees had “boils‚ scabies‚ wounds and sores from lice-infested bedding that has never been washed”.“Detainees are sick and can’t access medicines due to persistent stock-outs of basic supplies‚ including tuberculosis medication. Little HIV testing occurs‚ and inmates who require anti-retroviral treatment remain undiagnosed. Detainees are locked in their cells for 24-hours a day and some are only given a chance to exercise once a month.“Toilets do not flush and inmates cannot take showers due to broken plumbing. Stuck in conditions that are 300% overcrowded‚ detainees are extremely idle and frustrated‚” he wrote.The DJF said that the judge had also found that detainees were treated “worse than animals”.In addition‚ people detained solely due to their alleged status as “undocumented migrants” were held in the same cells as the criminally accused‚ against international standards.Justice Cameron’s visit was conducted together with the Department of Correctional Services regional commissioner‚ Delelike Klaas and other senior correctional officials‚ who “worryingly‚ seemed just as shocked as the Constitutional Court Judge and his clerks by the conditions”‚ said the DJF.The forum said the report contained clear and achievable recommendations for urgent implementation.“These seek to ensure compliance with elementary standards and Constitutional requirements‚ such as clean bedding‚ three meals a day‚ access to medicines‚ reading materials‚ daily exercise‚ and separating alleged undocumented migrants from other detainees.“Justice Cameron has also made recommendations to address systemic causes of the abusive conditions in Pollsmoor. These include inadequate resourcing‚ staff to inmate ratios‚ overcrowding‚ access to health care‚ improved cooperation with the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services‚ and addressing infrastructural failures‚ the DJF said.“The members of the Detention Justice Forum would like to register their deepest condemnation of the state of affairs described in the report‚ and call on all South Africans of good conscience‚ especially those working in the branches of the justice system‚ to ensure such human rights violations are stopped.”The forum said it would use the report to hold the Department of Correctional Services accountable to the plan of action detailed therein.“The forum also encourages other judges and magistrates to follow the example set by the Constitutional Court judges and to visit on a regular basis prisons in their jurisdictions.The DJF consists of civil society organisations concerned with detainees’ rights. It was established in March 2012...