The Fiji Human Rights and Anti‑Discrimination Commission says it has made a request to the Fiji Corrections Service for the Commission to visit two inmates who were allegedly assaulted by arresting officers during their re-capture last December.

A complaint had been lodged with the Commission by the mothers of serving prisoners, Peniasi Qalibau and Mesulame Waqabaca who escaped from the Naboro Maximum Security Complex last December.

Commission Director, Ashwin Raj says in the interim, they have also advised the inmates through their families who have been in constant communication with the Commission to raise allegations of assault in Court.

He says the Commission is equally mindful of the fact that inmates can be susceptible to reprisals and therefore investigations conducted by the Commission will be done so in private.

Raj also confirms receiving and intervening on a complaint of denial of visitation rights by the Fiji Corrections Service.

He says their close family members were able to visit the two inmates at the Fiji Corrections Facility as the Commission had been working with the Fiji Corrections Service in ensuring that visitation rights of the two prisoners were respected.

In a court appearance in February this year, Qalibau and Waqabaca struggled to walk in their crutches and heavily bandaged legs.

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