Daily News Editorial

Correcting the prisons

16 February 2017

Serving time in a prison is no enjoyable experience, but prisons have the unenviable task of reforming even hardened criminals so that they would not repeat their offences. But the conditions at our prisons leave a lot to be desired and most prisons tend to be overcrowded. The Government has vowed to address this problem and the first steps in this direction have already been taken.

There was a dire need for a more spacious prison complex with all facilities for the inmates. With the Bogambara Prison already vacated and the magazine prison in Colombo too slated to be moved elsewhere along with the planned replacement of the Tangalle prison, Angunukolapelessa was chosen as the best location for a new prisons complex. Another aim of these moves is to free up valuable real estate in the major cities now occupied by prisons.

Work on the prison complex in Angunukolapelessa is almost complete. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera recently inspected the prison complex. The new prison which will replace the Tangalle Prison has accommodation for 1,500 inmates and is equipped with a gymnasium, swimming pool and a playground. It has been built in keeping with international standards to treat prisoners in a humanitarian manner.

This will certainly be a new experience for our justice and prisons systems. A prison’s main objective is to “correct” the inmates and in fact, in many countries prisons are known as correctional centres. There was a proposal earlier to rename the Sri Lanka Department of Prisons as the Department of Corrections to highlight this purpose, but what became of this proposal is not clear. It is worth considering again.

Prisons too are changing with the times and the concept of locking up prisoners in tiny cells for 20 hours a day is passé. Most countries now have virtually open-air prisons where the inmates are given more time to learn new things, read, play and enjoy each other’s company through which they gradually begin to abhor their mistakes and the lives they led previously. Some countries have experimented with radio arm bands affixed to the prisoners’ wrists, which warn the jailors if their charges try to leave a defined area. Usually, when the prisoners leave the prison at the end of their sentence, they are fit enough to join the society as useful, law-abiding citizens.

Our prisons, including remand prisons, are overcrowded mainly because many people cannot afford to pay the fines imposed by courts for minor offences. This is a huge burden on the prisons system. The authorities must explore the possibility of having other mechanisms to reform such individuals.

We hope that with the opening of new prisons complexes, the authorities will be able to tackle the scourge of corruption in prisons. It is no secret that narcotics are smuggled into prisons regularly. Many prisoners are also reported to be using mobile phones inside their cells, which is a strict no-no in prisons. There have been reports of crime lords directing contract hits from their prison cells via mobile phones. The prisoners should have no access to phones or SIM cards. Any corrupt officials must be dealt with severely.

There is also a widespread notion that so-called elite prisoners including politicians are treated differently from ordinary prisoners. We have seen many instances of politicians who attend the courts by ambulance and go straight to the prisons hospital or even the Merchant Ward of the National Hospital without spending even an hour inside a cell. This erodes the very credibility of our justice system and calls into question the concept of equality and fair play before the law. Rich or poor, powerful or powerless, the law should apply to all equally.

A spike in crimes including murders has again prompted calls for the restoration of Capital Punishment, which has not been carried out in this country since June 1976. However, the Prisons Department is still maintaining the gallows and recently recruited two executioners after a lengthy process. There is a raging debate in society and the media about the effectiveness of the death penalty because violent crimes rates have not gone down significantly even in countries where the ultimate punishment is active.

Most Human Rights organisations are actively opposed to the death penalty, which has also been blighted by several cases of wrongful convictions. That is one mistake that cannot be undone. On the other hand, a life sentence gives the offender no respite from his own guilty conscience and a non-offender does have the chance of proving his or her innocence even years later as more forensic technology and techniques become available. In fact, several people convicted wrongfully have proved their innocence following fresh DNA or forensic evidence.

But the best approach is to prevent crime altogether. Many say that a society bereft of moral values has led to this situation. If everyone follows the moral precepts advocated by the great religious leaders, there will be no impetus for crime. That is one goal that we should collectively strive to attain.