Lives matter, including prisoners

 

MP SPEAKS | It is shocking to learn from the media that three prisoners were put together in the same cell as their inmate who later died from Covid-19 on Oct 5.

It grieved me to hear that the lives of prisoners are treated with no respect, care, or compassion. Regardless of their alleged crimes, the lives of prisoners matter, and it is our duty and responsibility to protect the right to life for prisoners.

We certainly do not want to wait for a prison riot to happen as what took place in Indonesia where prisoners protested on Apr 12. They rioted against crowded cells in Manado Penitentiary, on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, as they feared the spread of Covid-19.

The issues in prisons are not only overcrowding in small prison cells but also understaffing and the lack of sufficient space for social distancing. Cramping several prisoners into one cell is the antithesis of social distancing. If prison cells are unhygienic and if systematic testing is not carried out, then it is not surprising that prison cells become Covid-19 incubators.

The increase of Covid-19 cases in prison is a clarion call for the much-awaited prison reforms to take place. These include, but are not limited to, the following proposals:

1. Healthcare services as a basic right of all prisoners

There need to be regular visits by medical staff to treat illnesses as well as to check on the mental health of prisoners. In times of crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic, greater care needs to be taken to ensure all prisoners are tested and that social distancing is implemented to ensure the safety of the prisoners as well as the frontliners such as the police, social welfare, and health officers.

2. Governance that respects human rights

Establish a Prison Council that will oversee the key issues such as overcrowding, alternative punishment for prisoners, parole, the basic needs of prisoners who are held under long periods of imprisonment while waiting for trials, as well as being tasked to promote a humane perspective towards police officers as well as prisoners.

The Council must be inclusive as the issues cannot be resolved singularly but require the cooperation of the Home Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, police, Immigration, Social Welfare Departments, and NGOs working on prison reforms.

The issue of rehabilitation must be taken seriously and implemented with the aim to reduce repeat crimes. Rehabilitation must be innovative with genuine awareness and involvement of officers, prisoners, as well as families, as they would be the support community once prisoners are released into society.

3. Empowerment of frontline officers and personnel related to the prisons

The Prison Council should also develop and implement awareness programmes among frontliners on governance and human rights perspectives so that they can operate the prison with more humanity and compassion. This will help end deaths in custody, long-term imprisonment without trial, and so forth.

4. Infrastructure and facilities

Given the overcrowding and unhygienic conditions of prisons, there is much that needs to be done structurally which includes the renovation of old prison buildings, rebuild new ones to accommodate overcrowding, making spaces for rehabilitation programmes (within or outside of the prisons) and basically to rebuild an environment that prioritises the prisoners, enable officers to serve better, as well as to provide healthcare services for all.

5. Reform of laws related to prison, detention, and treatment of prisoners so as to end deaths in custody, sexual abuse of prisoners, and other abuse of powers.

6. Involvement of civil society

Involvement of civil society, employers, corporations, and government agencies to work towards a prison reform that works for the better.

According to the World Prison Brief, the number of prisoners in Malaysian prisons is at 68,603 as of August 2020 (Ministry of Home Affairs). The challenge now is – can the government reduce the prison population by 30 percent by 2025?

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MARIA CHIN ABDULLAH is the Petaling Jaya Member Of Parliament. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.