While the focus on the nation and the world was fixated on former President Ranil Wickremesinghe being remanded, many had missed the unfolding crisis within the correctional system of Sri Lanka. Our prisons system – which only comes into the spotlight when there is a jailbreak, custodial death, or an organised crime boss is being interned, or on the odd occasion a politician is remanded or incarcerated – has been struggling to support the overcrowded population it is responsible for.
A study in 2020 by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka highlighted the magnitude of the issue, with concerns about food, sanitation, and security being inadequate. Space was also a key concern, with reports that overcrowding forces prisoners to take turns sleeping in their cells, or to sleep wherever they could, like inside toilets as they do not have enough space.
With a capacity designed for just 12,000 inmates, Sri Lanka’s 36 prisons are currently housing a population that far exceeds this number. This has led to staggering overcrowding with the cumulative population of prisons standing at 260% capacity. This dire situation not only compromises the basic human rights of inmates but also cripples rehabilitation efforts and poses immense management challenges for the authorities.
As of June, the total prison population in Sri Lanka stands at approximately 31,150 inmates. This figure comprises 29,820 males and 1,330 females. A significant portion of this population, specifically 21,996 individuals, are remandees or prisoners who are not convicted (20,868 males and 1,128 females) and awaiting trial. In contrast, 9,154 individuals (8,952 males and 202 females) are convicted prisoners.
Aligning with the latest statistics of the disproportionate number of remand prisoners, a senior Prisons official stated: “If you consider the fact that only 9,000 of the prisoners are convicted, the remainder are remandees.” This high percentage of individuals awaiting trial underscores a critical bottleneck in the legal system, prolonging the detention of those presumed innocent.
During the 2021-2023 period, the then-Government explored the possibility of introducing a house-arrest system, aimed at reducing prison congestion. However, as of late 2024, the process of making laws and procedures to implement a house-arrest system by the justice authorities, was still in its initial phase. Its progress thus far has not been publicly acknowledged. At the time, the plans were aimed at implementing a house-arrest system for those convicted of civil offences. Another approach has been to give Judges discretion regarding placing narcotics abusers in rehabilitation programmes at dedicated centres, instead of remanding them. While it is a progressive idea, the challenge is that like the prisons system, Sri Lanka’s rehabilitation system and its infrastructure is both outdated and filled to the brim in capacity.
Another option which may be considered, if there is political will and funding to do so, is to introduce an electronic tracking and monitoring system for suspects, who can be legally restricted to a designated area, such as their home, or apartment complex. The practice is widely used in many countries and is often referred to as electronic monitoring (EM) or wearing an ankle monitor. It uses a device strapped to a suspect’s ankle or wrist to track their location and to alert the authorities if they leave a designated area. Such areas can be established digitally and are often referred to as geo-fencing. It uses a virtual, digital boundary around a real-world geographic area, allowing software to trigger automated actions when a GPS-enabled device enters, exits, or remains within that defined space.
Given the current overcrowding of prisons, and the public expenditure to keep suspects incarcerated until they are convicted, the electronic monitoring system would likely be a cheaper option for use with judicial oversight. It may also be beneficial to improve rehabilitation efforts of drug abusers who must be equipped and supported to reintegrate back into society and, ideally, not relapse. Such systems are already in use in the US, Europe, South America, and the United Kingdom, and will be implemented in Southeast Asia soon. Since the organised crime situation and drug abuse crisis will likely be prevalent for some time to come, such options – carefully studied and well resourced – may be one way to reduce the inhuman overcrowding in our prisons system.