Nairobi — Castration of male inmates, bloody attacks resulting in broken teeth, fractured bones, impaired eyesight and hearing are some of the chilling cruelties exposed in the latest damning survey on torture in Kenyan prisons. Apart from detailing the brutal colonial era torture methods, which present day prison warders have perfected, the survey captures saddening, dehumanising acts such as strip searches.

In fact the warders perceive the act of stripping inmates, especially the elderly, and running fingers over their frail contoured body muscles as most torturous - not only to the inmates but also to them.

"At times we are forced to search inmates who are old enough to be our parents. This is totally un-African and it affects us psychologically," confesses one officer.

These and more revelations are contained in a special dossier titled, "Who Is Responsible For My Pain", a report on torture in Kenya prisons undertaken to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture being observed today.

Over the years, inmates have been subjected to all manner of vicious attacks. Apart from the physical torture, the latest study details other forms of mistreatment including instances where inmates spend the nights next to a bucket of human waste, being ex-communicated from others and being chained and hung upside down.

Others, shot at point blank, suffer from gun-shot wounds and are denied treatment. However, it is the chaining of sick inmates onto hospital beds that has over the years elicited public outrage.

Appalled by the practice, a former minister in charge of Medical Services, Dr Amukowa Anangwe, stormed the Meru Provincial General Hospital in February 2001 during an abrupt inspection and ordered a prisons officer to remove handcuffs from five prisoners.

The report shows that most inmates were assaulted by fellow prisoners. The nature of attacks suffered from fellow inmates included beatings, representing 31 per cent of all the cases and being robbed, bitten, slapped, abused or subjected to discrimination.

Sexual harassment was cited by five per cent of the respondents. This figure includes those sodomised, forcefully introduced to other sexual orientations such as homosexuality and being stri-searched.

The study carried out by the Nairobi-based Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) was conducted in 29 prisons across the country in men, women and juvenile institutions and targeted 948 respondents.

Even as Kenya joins the international community to support victims of torture on this day, members of the civil society want the Government to observe the rule of law in regard to confinement and detention of prisoners.

The law in Kenya provides that a person can only be held in a police cell for 24 hours for any non-capital offence and up to 14 days for capital offences before being charged in court. The LRF survey reveals that prisoners detained for longer periods had more complaints of torture.

Although locational chiefs are not allowed by law to hold suspects, they still held a total of 54 suspects of the number interviewed before being taken to court.

The survey identifies the chief's camps as the prime spots where torture of suspects is perpetrated. Curiously, suspects held in police cells for less than two days were only 14 per cent, compared with 63 per cent at the chief's camps.

Even before being charged, several inmates suffered at the hands of arresting officers. The most prevalent type of mistreatment was beating, representing 83 per cent. This was followed by what inmates simply referred to as torture (20 per cent) and harassment, nine per cent, respectively.

Of the respondents who suffered, 20 per cent had broken bones and 17 per cent had swollen body parts. Eleven per cent got lacerations (cuts), another 11 per cent sustained internal injuries, eight per cent sustained head injuries, six per cent had injuries in their private parts including castration, while five per cent suffered mental or psychological torture. A further two per cent sustained soft tissue injuries.

Among the witnessed cases of mistreatment in prison, 72 per cent of the cases were perpetuated by the warders while 28 per cent was perpetuated by the inmates themselves.

Mistreatment by fellow inmates is largely regarded as some form of orientation to prison life and the longest serving prisoners are the biggest culprits of this.

According to the study, instances where warders mistreat inmates could be due to their terrible working and living conditions, which include poor housing, minimal earnings and lack of other benefits such as leave days and allowances.

On the reasons of mistreatment, 39 per cent of the respondents say they were tortured while being forced to confess to having committed crimes. Eleven per cent were intimidated, a further nine per cent were manhandled during the search for evidence and exhibits and six per cent were forced to sign statements. Most of the inmates were tortured for disobeying the officers.

The attacks and torture incidents notwithstanding, the sad story is that the helpless inmates have limited reliable avenues of seeking redress.

"There are cases where one has been tortured by a prison warder. However, he does not report as there is the feeling that 'these people work together' so there is nothing that can be done to that effect," the report quotes one respondent. About 54 per cent of the respondents said they reported attacks to authorities.

Among the remedies suggested by the researchers, is that officers in charge of prisons be empowered to reject prisoners who have obviously been tortured elsewhere.

They also opine that the judiciary should make returns on the number of torture complaints made in their stations and indicate the action taken. Updates should be given on the same until the matter is finally resolved.

Further, a transparent torture reporting mechanism and record should be maintained in every prison, indicating the nature of complaint, and the action taken. The LRF also advocates for a more in-depth training of new recruits on human rights with a particular emphasis on the rights of inmates and the international standards prevailing.

And they want prisons expanded and the recruitment of more prison warders.