A move by Justice and Prison Reforms Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, to have prisoners of old age and ailing to be released under a Presidential Pardon is a positive step, considering the massive overcrowding of prisons and their parlous conditions.
According to the Minister, a panel of doctors is already conducting medical tests on prisoners to ascertain their health condition but they have so far recommended only 12 such prisoners for release while over 100 inmates are deserving cases due to old age, feebleness and ill health. Among the prisoners recently released under a Presidential Pardon is a former LTTEer who was suffering from cancer.
Prison overcrowding has been a perennial topic over the years, but nothing seems to have been done to redress the problem. It is now being disclosed that overcrowding in the country’s prisons has increased to a staggering 260 percent whereas in some prisons this percentage is over 400 percent beyond their real capacities. All prisons in the country can hold up to a maximum of 11,762 inmates while presently there are 26,791 inmates. Of this number 17,502 are remand prisoners, of whom 10,470 are held for drug related offenses while of the 26,791 total inmates 9,289 have been convicted by Courts.
This indeed is an appalling situation. No wonder our prisons are described as hellholes and rather than rehabilitating inmates held for minor offences, what the system is doing is driving them to a life of crime upon release. Immediate steps should be taken to address the situation. Prisoners are also human and it is due to the force of circumstance that most of them find themselves behind bars. They deserve to be treated humanely by making prisons livable.
If the prison system is meant to rehabilitate prisoners to put them on the right path, it is the opposite that can be expected under the present circumstances. Is it any wonder that our prisons have become repositories of crime, sleaze and other dark deeds? How can any supervision be exercised on the inmates if our prisons are bursting at the seams? Some remedy should be found to ease the congestion.
Since the Government has decided not to build any more prisons, as a first measure, steps should be taken to release all minor offenders and those held due to their inability to pay fines. Such a plan was mooted by former Prison Reforms Minister Lohan Ratwatte but for some reason this was not implemented. Instead, those held for minor offenses are released on Independence Day, Vesak or Poson. In between these special days others keep on getting added, so there is no decrease in the number of inmates. Steps should be taken by the authorities to systematically release minor offenders after studying their cases. In the alternative, a special rehabilitation programme should be launched targeting this lot, away from the prisons.
In advanced countries, the concept of prison is undergoing drastic change. Offenders are no longer being shoved into prison buildings but live in open air spaces in a conducive environment and allowed to interact with families.
We too should think of such an arrangement if more prisons are not going to be built. This will also remove the stigma attached to the children of prisoners who under the present circumstances are liable to suffer due to follies of their elders. It will also make the inmates be better prepared to enter society, once released.
Ideally, the authorities should think about a scheme whereby tabs are kept on the children of prisoners to ensure they are not neglected and go astray and especially their education is not hindered, lest the children also take after their parents who are behind bars and become an added burden to the State. What is needed is an innovative programme to make our prisons habitable and a conducive environment created for the inmates to lead a comfortable existence free of hassle and harassment and as decent human beings.
While prison overcrowding is a serious issue that has to be urgently addressed, the shenanigans that are going on inside the prison walls too deserve the attention of the authorities. As already mentioned, our prisons today are reeking of sleaze and dark deeds. In fact there is today a subterranean life in our prisons for which much aiding and abetting is being provided by corrupt prison officials.
The frequent detection of mobile phones among the inmates tells a tale. For most inmates, the prison has become a home away from home. There is a flourishing drug business that is being carried out from behind the prison walls. In fact, recently, the media highlighted how well-known Lankan drug lords operating from abroad, having direct links to their local agents now serving prison terms but wielding enough clout with prison officials to continue with the drug business from behind the prison walls. Going by this, it is evident that our prisons, rather than functioning as a correctional centres meant to have offenders rehabilitated, have themselves become hives of criminal activity for which remedies have to be found by the concerned authorities.
