The crime of being poor – images of human rights violations in prisons aim to spark rethink of incarceration

Former Constitutional Court judge and current inspecting judge of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS), Edwin Cameron, was one of the speakers at the prison conditions exhibition hosted by the South African Litigation Centre.

Cameron formally opened the exhibition and shared with the audience that during deliberations among the involved organisations before the exhibition, it was asked, “what about the victims of crimes?” to which he responded that he acknowledged the importance of the question with the greatest of humility and that it was a legitimate debate to be had, but that  “punishment is deprivation of liberty, it’s not the humiliation of overcrowding, abuse and other malpractices in prisons”.

Read full article here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-10-28-the-crime-of-being-poor-images-of-human-rights-violations-in-prisons/

Exhibition Newspaper article
Date:
4 November, 2022
Type of Update:
In the News
Updates from our Partners
Recent Events
Themes:
Alternatives to Criminalisation
Human Rights
Petty Offences
Prisons
Regions:
Africa
Campaign Partners:
Southern Africa Litigation Centre
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The Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status is a coalition of organisations from across the world that advocate for the repeal of laws that target people based on poverty, status or for their activism.

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