By Pujanee Galappaththi and Dinithi Gunasekera
Following the incidents in the Mahara Prison premises on 29 November, there are now discussions in the public domain of the pressing need for drastic prison reforms. Among the many limitations of the state prison system, the most acute according to many, is the overcrowding of the prison population.
[caption id="attachment_108714" align="alignleft" width="278"]
Family members of inmates cry to the authorities demanding that they reveal the condition of their imprisoned relatives (PHOTO PRADEEP DAMBARAGE)[/caption]
A statement by State Minister of Prisons Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte revealed that given the present congestion in prisons due to the rising numbers of inmates, the Government intends to reduce the number by at least 8,000 before 31 December 2020. At present, he noted that 28,915 inmates are jailed in the 28 prisons across the island.
Speaking to Rattawatte, The Sunday Morning found out that the Government is actively working on settling the situation in the Mahara Prison and working on reducing the congestion of prisons.
He said: “The situation in the Mahara Prison is completely under control at the moment. About 2,000 inmates were tested for Covid-19 and we are currently taking all the necessary steps.
“As per the steps taken to reduce the congestion of prisons, we are doing everything that can be done. There are many who are unable to pay their fines and will end up getting remanded. However, these people can be given a levy with a statement from the Minister of Justice, so we are trying to have this in place. Further, we are working on releasing the people who are unable to pay out their bail by using personal bails.”
He further added that the Ministry is targeting releasing over 8,000 inmates by the end of the year. “We have over 25,000 inmates and only 7,000 of them are convicted. The rest are in remand. Therefore, legal procedures are accelerated and procedures are put in place to sort this out. We are aiming to introduce new laws to make this possible. After presenting this strategy in Parliament, I will be willing to talk about this in detail with the media,” he added.
The Mahara Prison Unrest[/caption]
Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya, in an exchange with The Sunday Morning, confirmed that the main cause for the riots was the rapid Covid infection among inmates due to overcrowding of the prison and the anxiety of the inmates of disease contraction. He also added however, that the riot was escalated by inmate groups who were notorious for substance abuse.
Speaking to the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP), the non-governmental, non-profit body that advocates for the rights to life of prisoners, Attorney-at-Law and Chairman of the Committee Senaka Perera expressed how the particular incident itself is an exhibit for the very cause they stand for, involving threats of violence to inmates including severe limitations in basic welfare that limits rights entitled by inmates as per the Sri Lankan Constitution itself and as per the Prisons Ordinance and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (The Nelson Mandela Rules).
According to Perera, a proposal with detailed potential methodology to minimise and prevent the spread of Covid among inmates was presented to the President by the committee (16 March 2020), which was not met with a favourable response.
The proposal, according to the Chairman, identified population density in prisons to be the root cause of the rapid spread of Covid and thereby included clauses to free, under certain conditions or separate, those charged with minor offences, those who are unable to pay fines, and those aged above 70 years, as per the Prisons Ordinance that allows such conditions.
“There are such international examples for this in England, Scotland, and Iran due to the difficulty in following health guidelines in a prison context. A prison is a place in which congestion is, by multiple times, more than recommended. The Sri Lankan prison system holds 30,000 prisoners in total and in every prison, there is congestion and overcrowding. There are bare minimum sanitary facilities with about 100 people using the same toilet facilities,” noted Perera.
In the first wave of Covid, there was a similar smaller-scale prisoner protest in Anuradhapura. In the Mahara incident, prisoners brought from Welikada had a high probability of being tested positive. As a result, prisoners, out of fear, requested the new inmates to be removed from the premises but received no response.
“On 2 December, there was news that the deceased would be cremated with no identification and no postmortem investigations. We introduced a motion in the Wattala Magistrate Court, requesting a suitable command to mitigate this crime,” Perera said.
“It is now confirmed that there would be investigations conducted by a multi-disciplinary panel.”
Family members of inmates cry to the authorities demanding that they reveal the condition of their imprisoned relatives (PHOTO PRADEEP DAMBARAGE)[/caption]
A statement by State Minister of Prisons Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte revealed that given the present congestion in prisons due to the rising numbers of inmates, the Government intends to reduce the number by at least 8,000 before 31 December 2020. At present, he noted that 28,915 inmates are jailed in the 28 prisons across the island.
Speaking to Rattawatte, The Sunday Morning found out that the Government is actively working on settling the situation in the Mahara Prison and working on reducing the congestion of prisons.
He said: “The situation in the Mahara Prison is completely under control at the moment. About 2,000 inmates were tested for Covid-19 and we are currently taking all the necessary steps.
“As per the steps taken to reduce the congestion of prisons, we are doing everything that can be done. There are many who are unable to pay their fines and will end up getting remanded. However, these people can be given a levy with a statement from the Minister of Justice, so we are trying to have this in place. Further, we are working on releasing the people who are unable to pay out their bail by using personal bails.”
He further added that the Ministry is targeting releasing over 8,000 inmates by the end of the year. “We have over 25,000 inmates and only 7,000 of them are convicted. The rest are in remand. Therefore, legal procedures are accelerated and procedures are put in place to sort this out. We are aiming to introduce new laws to make this possible. After presenting this strategy in Parliament, I will be willing to talk about this in detail with the media,” he added.
The Mahara riot in a nutshell
The uprising among inmates, supposedly over a surge of coronavirus infections, left 11 dead and at least 55 wounded after fights broke out with the guards, the kitchens were set alight, and the wardens were briefly taken hostage. According to other media reports, 600 officers, including 200 police commandos, were deployed around the premises. [caption id="attachment_108715" align="alignright" width="395"] The Mahara Prison Unrest[/caption]
Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya, in an exchange with The Sunday Morning, confirmed that the main cause for the riots was the rapid Covid infection among inmates due to overcrowding of the prison and the anxiety of the inmates of disease contraction. He also added however, that the riot was escalated by inmate groups who were notorious for substance abuse.
Speaking to the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP), the non-governmental, non-profit body that advocates for the rights to life of prisoners, Attorney-at-Law and Chairman of the Committee Senaka Perera expressed how the particular incident itself is an exhibit for the very cause they stand for, involving threats of violence to inmates including severe limitations in basic welfare that limits rights entitled by inmates as per the Sri Lankan Constitution itself and as per the Prisons Ordinance and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (The Nelson Mandela Rules).
According to Perera, a proposal with detailed potential methodology to minimise and prevent the spread of Covid among inmates was presented to the President by the committee (16 March 2020), which was not met with a favourable response.
The proposal, according to the Chairman, identified population density in prisons to be the root cause of the rapid spread of Covid and thereby included clauses to free, under certain conditions or separate, those charged with minor offences, those who are unable to pay fines, and those aged above 70 years, as per the Prisons Ordinance that allows such conditions.
“There are such international examples for this in England, Scotland, and Iran due to the difficulty in following health guidelines in a prison context. A prison is a place in which congestion is, by multiple times, more than recommended. The Sri Lankan prison system holds 30,000 prisoners in total and in every prison, there is congestion and overcrowding. There are bare minimum sanitary facilities with about 100 people using the same toilet facilities,” noted Perera.
In the first wave of Covid, there was a similar smaller-scale prisoner protest in Anuradhapura. In the Mahara incident, prisoners brought from Welikada had a high probability of being tested positive. As a result, prisoners, out of fear, requested the new inmates to be removed from the premises but received no response.
“On 2 December, there was news that the deceased would be cremated with no identification and no postmortem investigations. We introduced a motion in the Wattala Magistrate Court, requesting a suitable command to mitigate this crime,” Perera said.
“It is now confirmed that there would be investigations conducted by a multi-disciplinary panel.”