If prisoners are going to live a life
of relative luxury while incarcerated, the chances of
them being rehabilitated are pretty slim.
But, if time spent in prison actually resembles punishment,
I suspect that many would in fact be rehabilitated.
Lets take Niek du Toit for example.
I doubt very much whether Niek will be attempting to
overthrow any governments in the near future.
Du Toit was one of the mercenaries arrested
in Equatorial Guinea for plotting to overthrow the dictator
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in 2004.
When Du Toit was sentenced to 34 years
last year, he had already been in jail for more than
four years.
I agree that the treatment meted out
in the Equatorial prison is extreme, but I am prepared
to vouch for the fact that Niek will not be attempting
to commit any similar crimes soon.
And Niek only served a year and a few months of his
sentence!
According to Nick du Toit,
for five-a-half years, he and the other coup plotters
would be shackled hand-and-foot day-and-night. Most
of that time was in solitary confinement.
They were never taken out to go to the toilet and were
left to rot in their own filth.
A small hole in the ceiling allowed air in, but the
roof above kept the light out. They only time light
entered the cell was when a guard opened the door to
bring them food.
They were given water in bottles, but
their hands were cuffed behind their backs, so the only
way they could drink was to open the bottle with their
mouths, clench it between the teeth and lift their heads.
They lived mostly on rice, dry bread and the occasional
bit of fish, chicken wings or pig's tail.
The bread would be delivered at night
and rats would urinate on it, sparking outbreaks of
typhoid.
You could physically not see what you were eating. If
you didn't see where they put the plate down then you
didn't know where the food was.
Du Toit got malaria six times.
Their treatment of malaria is to give you ten headache
pills
And at night the rats tried to feet
on the prisoners!
Kader Khan
Editor
info@yummie.co.za
