AMID the hullabaloo over the five inmates who were recently deported into the country from the United States of America (USA), His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) Commissioner General Phindile LaMakhosini Dlamini says the department is ready for any eventuality.
She was responding to questions about the facility’s capacity in the event that requests for more deportees are received by Eswatini.
This follows that last Friday, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini said in the event that the U.S. has a need to transfer more inmates to the kingdom, they would have to make formal requests before Eswatini could consider those requests based on its capacity and security assessments.
Currently, Eswatini is home to five hardened criminals from Vietnam, Laos, Jamaica, Cuba, and Yemen. These were deported by the U.S. last Wednesday through King Mswati III (KMIII) International Airport.
The offences for which the inmates are serving time for included second-degree murder, burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, homicide, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, among others.
These are reportedly kept in isolated cells at undisclosed facilities operated by His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS).
“I can’t say how much capacity we have, but I can assure you that we’re ready for anything,” said Dlamini.
When asked if the five international inmates are treated the same as local ones, especially in terms of meals that they eat while in confinement, ComGen said all inmates, including the five, get the same treatment.
This is despite the fact that the prime minister, during the press conference, said the U.S. government footed all costs associated with the inmates while in Eswatini government’s custody.
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Such costs included transportation and food.
On another note, the premier allayed fears of a national security threat, stating that the inmates were housed in isolated units reserved for high-risk prisoners, under the same stringent security protocols applied to the country’s most dangerous offenders.
When assuring the nation which had concerns about the country’s correctional infrastructure, he said, “Local correctional facilities routinely manage inmates with severe criminal profiles and have the resources to maintain high levels of security.”
On this note, he insisted that the public faced no danger from their presence.
Likewise, the HMSC commissioner general emphasised that there was nothing to worry about, more so because the offences that the five were convicted for in the U.S. were not entirely foreign.
She said even in the kingdom, there were citizens who were also serving time for similar cases, and those who were labelled hardened criminals. In this regard, Dlamini made an instance with convicted serial killer David Simelane whom the HMCS facility had managed to contain for years.
“We are still adjusting to having the international inmates, but I can assure the nation that they are safe. Security is available at the facilities,” emphasised Dlamini.
While the Kingdom of Eswatini has expressed its preference to have the individuals repatriated to their countries of origin as soon as possible, the prime minister said in a worst-case scenario, they would remain in the country for up to 12 months while administrative and diplomatic processes unfold.
Meanwhile, members of parliament (MPs) had also registered their concerns in the matter in which the acceptance and arrival of the five inmates was handled by government.
They said since the issue had caused uproar, not only among Emaswati, but international spectators, the country’s leadership should have at least addressed the concerns.
They were against the issue being handled by the acting government spokesperson.
Even after the prime minister had spoken about the issue during the press conference, some of the legislators who were contacted by this publication yesterday said they were eagerly looking forward to today where they expect to meet with the premier so that he could furnish them with much needed answers.
However, they said they could not divulge what further questions they have for the prime minister as they said they had kept them for today’s meeting.
Eswatini Observer Press Reader
