Welcome to the United Nations 
OHCHR 
Ending Torture: Legal Victory Upholds Dignity Behind Bars
26 March 2025
Five prisoners in South Africa have set a groundbreaking legal precedent through a lawsuit involving torture of inmates at Leeuwkop Maximum Correctional Centre. Delivered a year ago, the High Court verdict, a decade in the making, marked the first time the country’s Prevention and Combating of Torture Act was applied successfully in post-apartheid South Africa.
On August 10, 2014, five prisoners – Abel Phasha, Benson Qibi, Mthokozisi Sithole, Llewellyn Smith and Xolani Zulu – refused orders by prison authorities and jammed their cell door. Guards responded with brutal violence, including electric shock, prolonged restraint and beatings.
“They had been severely beaten and also psychologically tortured by being placed in solitary confinement,” said Nabeelah Mia, head of the Penal Reform Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), a local Non-Governmental Organisation and public interest litigator, who led the case against the government. LHR is a grantee of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, which provided funding for the plaintiffs’ legal defence.
“This is a huge win, but it can never undo the harm and the pain and the suffering that it has caused and continues to cause our clients,” Mia said.
A struggle for justice
As the lawsuit worked its way through the legal system, lawyers would face a multitude of obstacles.
Initially, while prison records showed evidence of assault, there was no medical evidence of torture, so essential to the case.
“They’d been examined by prison doctors and the injuries were simply not recorded… Without private doctors’ reports, we would not have been able to go to court. There was a complete cover-up,” said Advocate Heidi Barnes, senior counsel for the plaintiffs.
The case was extremely long to prepare and involved nearly 100 days of hearings. Finally, after delays and disruptions, including from COVID-19, the High Court held that “assaults inflicted on the victims rose to the level of torture.”
Advocate Heidi Barnes was senior council for the plaintiffs in the suit. © Kirsty Teichert/OHCHR
To Clare Ballard, the former Head of the Penal Reform Programme at LHR, and attorney who first brought the case, going to court was inevitable.
“It was too stark and too alarming and too egregious to ignore. And if you've got legislation that addresses this very thing, it would have felt deeply incongruous had I not responded,” she said. South Africa has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and although it has its own national legislation against torture, this had not been comprehensively enforced prior to the High Court ruling.
The court decision demonstrates how the past continues to cast its shadow on South Africa.
“It is rather sad and disturbing that some of the events that took place during the dark days of Apartheid continue to take place in our beloved country at correctional facilities,” the presiding judge ruled.
The court affirmed that prisoners, even convicted criminals, are human beings and deserve protection under the Constitution.
A call for systemic reform
While the High Court ruling is seen as a major milestone in ensuring the government complies with its legal obligations, the battle is not over.
“Many torture victims are still in custody. They need mental health support to deal with their horrific experiences. They also need support to help become part of society again,” said Wayne Ncube, national director of LHR.
Wayne Ncube is the National Director for Lawyers for Human Rights, South Africa. LHR is a recipient of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. © Kirsty Teichert/OHCHR
According to Ballard, South Africa’s correctional system needs improvement, including South Africa heeding the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee and Committee Against Torture to establish efficient, effective, and inexpensive complaints and redress mechanisms for survivors.
“There is no swifter mechanism for (addressing) wrongdoing (by correctional officials), something that doesn't involve litigation. It is now 10 years on and my clients haven't been able to receive treatment,” Ballard said.
Reforms are particularly important if South Africa is to comply with the obligations under the Convention Against Torture and its Optional Protocol, committee recommendations and UN’s Common Position on Incarceration, which calls for justice reforms that prioritize individualized sentencing and emphasize human rights.
At a recent high-level event, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif echoed this, stressing the need to centre justice on people’s needs.
“Systemic deficiencies in criminal justice systems… fuel sentiments of injustice and inequality, often leading to violence and further deterioration of rights and of the prison system.”
The road ahead
Though the 2023 decision was a major victory, the case now awaits a hearing in the Supreme Court of Appeal. Some anticipate it may even reach the Constitutional Court, though Ballard is doubtful.
“I don't see (any) Constitutional Court hearing a matter like this simply because I don't think a constitutional matter is questioned in a crucial way that isn't addressed fully by the high court's judgment.”
The case is a reminder that signing a treaty does not guarantee change – effective national mechanisms must follow.
For Mia, the court ruling sends a clear signal.
“This serves as a wake-up call to the institutions charged with overseeing and preventing torture that they need to be stronger. They need to be empowered to be able to realize justice for people who are deprived of their liberty.”
