A toothless prison watchdog has dragged the Correctional Services Department back to the days of apartheid, when electrocutions, water torture and assaults on prisoners were common. According to Lukas Muntingh, head of the Civil Society for Prison Reform Initiative, the revelation that rogue officers are operating with impunity inside prisons is not surprising."It brings us to a point at which we need to ask how different this department is from the one that existed in 1993?"Do we see the constitutional values and aspirations reflected in the department's operations? Do we see it reflected in how officials are held accountable? The answer is: absolutely not."The Times reported yesterday that officers of the department's emergency support team were being investigated for mass assaults, torture and the murder of inmates.The Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services, the department's watchdog, is unable to enforce any of its recommendations. It is funded by the department.Prisoner rights bodies have criticised the inspectorate, saying its lack of powers allows correctional services officials to escape criminal and internal prosecution.Neither the National Prosecuting Authority nor the police or the department responded to questions yesterday on the number of internal or criminal prosecutions of prison officials.Compounding the failure to hold prison officials responsible for abuses is the government's failure to sign the optional protocol to the UN convention against torture.Ratifying it would force the government to implement legislation to address issues of torture in all detention facilities. It would also allow international observers to investigate claims of abuse.Emily Keehn, co-ordinator of the Detention Justice Forum, said the inspectorate lacked independence."There is no proper accountability or oversight, with little reason to take action against officials."If you look at the law, you would think we would be progressive in promoting detainee rights, but there is little, if any, political will," he said.Muntingh said though prosecutions and disciplinary hearings did take place, they were rare, "even when recommended"."One must accept that there is a tolerance on the part of correctional services management ofviolent behaviour towards inmates."There is weak leadership by the department when it comes to human-rights violations, with some regarding prisoners as subhuman," he said.The government's failure to ratify the protocol showed it was "increasingly allergic to any form of oversight and accountability", Muntingh said...