Creating a better citizen through rehabilitation, our aim - Minister of Prison Reforms

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

The prison system in the country is one that has undergone severe criticism in the political circles and the media for decades and they have become more vulnerable places in the most critical stages of the country in the past. The recent incident in Vavuniya prison and many other incidents in other prisons became hot topics among the public during the past few weeks.

Though we consider these places only as places to hold prisoners, the role of the prisons also contributes a lot to create a better society in the country. The methods used there to correct the wrong doers is more vulnerable in the process of creating a better economy and better society as that process in the prisons failed that will affect the whole efforts of the society to create a better country after entire country was liberated from the clutches of terrorism in 2009.

Therefore, the Sunday Observer interviewed Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera to get a better idea about the prison system and their future plans to move better citizens out of these prison. Following are the excerpts of the interview.

Q: We very frequently talk about Prison Reforms. Can you give us a brief idea about the status of the prison system in the country and why we need such reforms to the prisons?

A: Within the 107 years of existence of the Prison Department after it was made a separate Department, the administration structure has not undergone full changes. Therefore it needs major reforms. The existing prisons were established under the three pillars Custody, Care and Correction.

At present the number of prisoners entering these prisons are on the increase. But if we take the recent past there is no such major increase on an annual basis. But per year there are about 100,000 prisoners entering and exitting from the prisons. Out of this number 50 percent are remand prisoners and the balance is convicted prisoners.

Therefore we can say at present the prison population is around 27,000 to 29,000 in all prisons scattered in the country. Out of that figure 50 percent are remand prisoners. Out of them also 70 per cent are sent to prisons due to drug related offences and of them also 35 to 40 percent are for using narcotic drugs.

Therefore, major section of people in prisons is for drugs related offences. In addition, there are other prisoners for murders, thefts, burglary, child abuse, sexual abuses, and rape cases.

Q: What are the methods used for the rehabilitation of these detainees?

A: For our rehabilitation programs we have to make use of various aspects such as counseling, religion, environment, arts, creative activities, sports, aesthetic activities etc. What we have observed in this process is, many of those who have participated in this process are returning with a good mindset after undergoing the rehabilitation process.

Through our activities we have found a lot of creativity among them. They were the ones who created the biggest Vesak Pandal, the longest New Year Greeting Card and Deyata Kirula exhibition. What they requested from us was to improve their skills.

Q: Do you have a separate program to uplift the education level of these youths as well as the other prisoners?

A: It was with the intention of continuing the disrupted education of these youth prisoners we decided to establish a separate Prison school. We have signed a MoU with the Education Ministry and laid a foundation stone for this school at Watareka.

Under this program we are expecting to provide education for those who could not complete their O/L, A/L and undergraduate courses. We are going to provide them facilities to have residential education to restart their education from the point they were stopped.

They will also be given opportunities to improve their artistic skills and creativity, sports and other skills also. We are also getting ideas from them and also planning to have this school, taking an example from them.

We have also signed a MoU with the Youth Affairs Ministry to improve the skills of other prisoners too. We are providing them a training, enabling them to get National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). Once they get this certificate they can do a job anywhere in the world.

This is continuing successfully in the prisons in the country. Along with that program we have also initiated a program to provide informal education for the female prisoners and others such as domestic affairs, handicraft and other skills. This program is being successfully continuing in Jaffna, Weerawila and Pallekele prisons.

Q: What is your final aim through initiating such programs at prisons?

A: Through these programs we have thought of dedicating one prison for one product. We have given economic targets for each prison. We are expecting them to contribute towards the national economy. Through that also we are expecting to have better rehabilitation for them.

Through our experience we know that these prisoners are having major changes in their life when they engage in these activities and closely associate with a better environment. When we take Thaldena and Weerawila we have better gardens and there we have prisoners with drug related offences. We thought that it is better to rehabilitate them without giving them punishments.

Most of them are drug addicts and we thought of considering the addictiveness not as an offence and channel them towards rehabilitation process along with the Dangerous Drugs Control Board.

We are continuing a program along with them. If we are able to rehabilitate 70 percent of them we can effectively reduce the prison population; because most of the prisoners repeatedly returning to the prisons are drug addicts. So we can reduce that number effectively.

Q: It seems that the existing prisons are not having enough room to accommodate the number of prisoners. What is the program you have to ease the congestion in prisons?

A: As a whole there is huge congestion in the prisons due to large number of prisoners coming to these prisons. To solve this issue we have to expand the existing prisons. There are difficulties in expanding the prisons in the original locations itself. So, we have thought of shifting these prisons from the congested areas. Accordingly we have planned to shift the Welikada Prison to Watareka and Mahara.

We are shifting the entire prison but keeping the remand prison in Colombo. For that we are now in the process of identifying a suitable location. Accordingly, we are shifting the Bogambara prison to Pallekele. Now we are in the process of constructing the Pallekele Prison for this purpose. We are aiming to complete this project by the end of this year. We can hold nearly 3,000 prisoners in Pallekele prison. We are expecting to complete this by September this year.

When implementing this program we are focusing on having more open air prisons as this would help us for the rehabilitation process of prisoners. Therefore we are trying to get locations with more space.

Q: People are talking about the prisons in terms of a burden to the national economy. What do you have to say about this?

A: We are trying to get the prisoners to contribute towards the national economy. Whatever said and done, we have been able to reduce the expenses for the meals of the inmates.

Last year we gave them a task to reduce that expense by 50 percent by cultivating their own crops for food. That year we were able to reach close to 50 percent target. Through activities in the prisons we have been able to contribute Rs.145 million for the Treasury in the past year. Apart from that, from coconut shell charcoal we have been able to contribute several lakhs and from the laundry section Rs. 4 million.

Within the first half of this year we have been able to contribute more than 4 million to the Treasury through our activities. That is why we consider this prison population as a major economic power house. If we can consider the human resource we have in these prisons, they are more people who have various talents. If we can make use of this human resource through their talents we can make use them as major contributors to the national economy. That is what we are focusing through the rehabilitation process.

Q: We hear about protests and other violent incidents in prisons. What are the reason for these incidents and don’t you have mechanisms to control such incidents?

A: Prisoners have no right to engage in protests because there is an official procedure within the prisons to forward their grievances. They have to forward their complaints to the welfare officers and that should go to the Prison Superintendent and to the Minister through the Ministry Secretary. Only if such mechanisms failed that they have the right to launch such protests. They can have hunger strikes and other peaceful protests on roof tops or any place but they don’t have any right for them to take prison authorities as hostages. If they violate this process, that is an offence under the Prison Ordnance. We have a Tribunal in the Prison Department and they can be punished for violating those procedures. Their prison term can be extended by maximum of six months from this tribunal.

Q: Recently there was an incident at the Vavuniya prison.

A: The incident in Vavuniya was due to the transfer of one inmate to Boossa on a Court order. The inmates in Vavuniya prison were engaged in a fast demanding that the said inmate should be brought back to Vavuniya.

They have taken three officials at the prison as hostages to stage this protest. Generally, the prison authorities do not have powers to change a court order. There are court procedures for that purpose. They can appeal for that.

Without adopting that procedure if the inmates are engaged in violent activities, they should be punished according to the law.

To avoid that situation the prison authorities did not have enough manpower. Therefore, we had to seek Police assistance and rescue the three officials who had been taken as hostages by the inmates. But in this incident they have been able to successfully complete the operation without using a single bullet and get the three officials released.

Q: In your opinion what was the motive behind this incident and how did your Ministry and the Prison Department control that situation?

A: When such incidents occur in the prisons there is a tendency for people to panic. Some media have highlighted the incident as saying that the LTTE has taken over the prison.

There is tendency to arouse communal feelings among the people through such news. We have taken effective measures to avoid such situation by deploying special security arrangements for the prisons where there are LTTE inmates.

We have 10 such prisons where LTTE inmates are kept. We have given strict instructions to our officials to avoid any incidents in those prisons. Because there were elements who wanted to create another black July. I have to emphasise this fact that some people needed to create yet another Black July and take those dead bodies to arouse the communal feelings.

The communal groups are in the North and South are readily lined up for such activities. If our officials did not respond to this situation in a responsible manner, today the entire country would have been in flames. I am of the opinion that there was a big conspiracy behind this incident.

They expected our officials would assault the LTTE inmates in other prisons and kill them. We avoided that situation. Our officials acted in a much disciplined manner. We gave the LTTE inmates a very good security and were able to avoid any unfortunate incident.

Q: But some political parties and the Human rights groups are pointing a finger at the Government for the death of LTTE inmate Nimala Ruban.

A: The final verdict of the postmortem held into the death of Nimala Ruban has not been given. The Magistrate Inquiry will be held till July 19. Without a final verdict of the post mortem no one can say how his death occurred. The Prison Authorities have reported to us that he has been a patient who taken medication in the past also. But none of us can say the exact reason for his death. That has to be revealed only at the Magistrates Inquiry. But some people are speculating that he has been assaulted and put to death. Some people are trying to take a political mileage out of this situation.

If we really wanted to kill him during that operation itself, we could have done so to save the lives of other officials. The Government had the legitimate right to save the lives of the officials taken hostage through an offencive operation. But we did that even without using single bullet. There is no need for the Government to kill one such person after engaged in an exemplary rehabilitation process to rehabilitate the LTTE cadres.

Q: In the prisons there are LTTE cadres with pending hearing of their cases. What are the steps taken to expedite the process of hearing their cases and channel them for rehabilitation?

A: The Government has also taken initiatives to speed up the hearing of cases against these LTTE inmates after establishing special courts in three places. The Justice Ministry will start the Mannar High Court this week as they have already appointed the Judges and the relevant staff for this. From next Monday they will start the hearing of cases. In Anuradhapura there will be a special unit for the hearing of the LTTE cases. That will also be started in this month. In Vavuniya High Court too there were plans to expedite the process of hearing of these cases. With the incident, there is a problem with regard to expediting the process. But we will expedite this process also very soon.

Apart from that, out of the other LTTE inmates around 400 inmates have given their consent to undergo rehabilitation through letters to us. We have informed this to the Justice Ministry, Attorney Generals Department and the Police Department.

Therefore, they will identify those who should undergo the rehabilitation, and the Rehabilitation Commissioner under our Ministry will have a great responsibility to rehabilitate them.