Programme News
7 August 2015
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is alarmed at the use of derogatory and offensive remarks made by Deputy Police Minister Makhotso Sotyu during a memorial service for slain police officers on Tuesday, 4 August 2015.
The tragic death of SAPS officials is indeed cause for alarm and we commend the stance in strengthening efforts to ensure their safety. The fact that 54 officials have been killed since...
7 August 2015
(News)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has condemned Deputy Police Minister Makhotso Sotyu’s remarks on the recent police killings.
Speaking at the memorial service for slain police officers on 4 August 2015, Sotyu told mourners that “our strategic implementation plan must always intend to treat heinous criminals as outcasts, who must neither have place in the society nor peace in their cells...
6 August 2015
(News)
A police officer shot and wounded in Mitchells Plain may have been targeted, this according to Mitchell's Plain police.
The policeman was shot at a petrol station in Rocklands and was rushed to the nearest hospital.
Mitchells Plain cops say the off-duty officer was filling his car at a fuel station on the corner of Cedars Avenue and Boshof Way when he was shot by an unknown attacker.
Police...
21 July 2015
(News)
Allegations of beating and electrocution of prisoners in North West has sparked calls for torture charges to be laid against prison authorities.
The alleged assaults are being investigated by human rights lawyers, the Wits Justice Project, police and the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services.
Inmates at the Losperfontein prison outside Brits were allegedly beaten with batons, doused in...
17 July 2015
(News)
An imprisoned rapist has been sentenced to 10 more years in jail for another three rapes‚ but he may not spend any more time behind bars in the end.
Magistrate Hleziphe Nkasibe said in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on Thursday that the sentence was sufficient in serving the purposes of retribution and rehabilitation.
Nkasibe was sentencing Jacob Mokoele‚ 35...
30 June 2015
(News)
The Kutlwanong Democracy Centre was launched at the end of May. The centre is located at 357 Visagie Street in Pretoria.
The national director of Lawyers for Human Rights, Jacob van Garderen told De Rebus that the centre is a unique hub for civil society in Pretoria. He said it brings together a range of organisations working in human rights, social assistance and development.
Services offered at...
9 June 2015
(News)
Many of South Africa’s correctional facilities, and most acutely its remand detention facilities, are overcrowded, creating dehumanising and dangerous conditions.
Detainees are frequently compelled to remain in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. There are even incidences of detainees being permitted to exercise for only one hour in an entire month. Overcrowding, poorly trained employees...
5 June 2015
(News)
Many of South Africa’s correctional facilities, and most acutely its remand detention facilities, are overcrowded, creating dehumanising and dangerous conditions.
Detainees are frequently compelled to remain in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. There are even incidences of detainees being permitted to exercise for only one hour in an entire month. Overcrowding, poorly trained employees...
29 May 2015
(Press release)
The newly revamped and launched Kutlwanong Democracy Centre (KDC) has undergone a transformation. The KDC, owned by Lawyers for Human Rights, provides a unique hub for civil society in Pretoria, bringing together a range of organisations working in the areas of human rights, social assistance and development.
The opening and revamp of the historically significant KDC was addressed by FIDH...
28 May 2015
(Press release)
For the first time in its history, FIDH has opened an office in Pretoria, South Africa. This office, located in the headquarters of its member organisation in South Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), at the Kutlwanong Democracy Centre (KDC) in Pretoria, will be officially launched on May 29.
“The decision to open an office in South Africa was motivated by the inspirational human rights...