Crowded Torit prison hit by lack of basic services
The Torit Prison administration has expressed concern about the prison’s overcrowding, which has resulted in a lack of basic services.
Torit prison, which was built during the British colonial era, was designed to accommodate 150 inmates. But the Director of the Prison, Maj Gen Bol Ado, says the facility is currently overstretched because more than 250 inmates are being accommodated.
He said the congestion at the facility has made it difficult for the prison service to establish the exact number of convicts.
“There is no accurate number …but prisoners are there,” he said.
“With crime, there are different [levels. There are high-security risks, medium-security risks, and low-risk offenders. They are all in prison. So you cannot say these are the majority because sometimes you don’t know which is which. Sometimes, this level of crime will increase. That one will also come up. It is something like that. “
They have appealed to the state and national governments to construct more rooms for inmates. Bol says the current economic and security situation in the country has hampered the construction.
“It is not the problem of these states alone. It is the problem of South Sudan. Prisons in South Sudan are facing the same issue,” he said.
The officer said the prison also lacks other basic services such as drinking water and that they have been sharing the same water facility with Torit Hospital.
Whenever the supply is cut off, the inmates often travel up to the Kenate River to collect water.
“Sometimes the water is cut for one month. So prisoners have to fetch water from the Kenate River, which is a dangerous place. With the contaminated water, there is the possibility of an outbreak of dangerous diseases, and there is a high risk that once one of them is affected by a disease, the majority of them will also be contaminated, ” he said.
