Reforms, not Task Forces

Prompted by the protest marches in the US, there is a wider call around the world to look at different methods of policing and law enforcement, which can be done in a way that improves protection for vulnerable groups, is community based and promotes universal rights. 

The Presidential Task Force appointed recently led by the military and police was given the mandate of instilling more discipline in the prisons system, including cracking down on drug operations conducted behind bars. On the surface this may appear as a positive move, but in a country that has had at least one prison massacre, the most recent being in 2012, there is a grave need to look at holistic prison and legal reforms rather than just increasing force.

Sri Lanka’s prisons are notorious for being congested, poorly supplied and badly funded. United Nations Special Rapporteur Juan E. Mendez, during an observation visit to Sri Lanka in 2016, criticised the prison system as being characterised by very deficient infrastructure and pronounced overcrowding. As a result, there is an acute lack of adequate sleeping accommodation, extreme heat and insufficient ventilation. Overpopulation also results in limited access to medical treatment, recreational activities or educational opportunities. Mendez insisted that these conditions combined resulted in a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people. 

He also observed levels of population exceeding capacity by well over 200% or 300%. Vavuniya Remand Prison in particular was a striking example of overcrowding. One of its halls hosted 170 prisoners when Mendez visited, which gave 0.6 metres of space per person. 

Congested prisons are a direct result of lengthy sentences for non-violent and drug-related offences. Suspects are subjected to lengthy remand periods with many being detained for years and some even up to 10-15 years. He urged Sri Lanka to consider measures to make more non-violent offences bailable and to experiment with alternatives to incarceration. The absence of a formal complaint mechanism available to inmates was also pointed out by him as a serious issue in introducing accountability and transparency within the prison system. 

The UN representative also recommended that each prison install a bank of phones so that prisoners had a way to communicate with their families, especially if they lived far away. This would also reduce the demand for mobile phones that are routinely smuggled into prisons.  

Successive governments have preferred to use more force to prevent convicted drug smugglers from directing operations within prisons. However, this is largely due to a corrupt and inefficient system that had many failures and oversights across the system. Sri Lanka’s focus on punitive rather than restorative justice, coupled with a sluggish legal system that takes years to hear cases, outdated laws and an underfunded prison system make dealing with crime extremely challenging. 

Allegations of jailors or prison administrators supporting illegal activities have cropped up sporadically for years but there is little transparency on investigations, discipline and training.  Prisoners also have rights and these are part of a larger social commitment to justice. Not all prisoners should be treated as hard core criminals. In the US and beyond there is a growing discourse on taking the funding for police and investing it more in social services, job programmes, and community based law enforcement. 

Sri Lanka’s police is already underfunded but it is clear only more holistic approaches will yield genuine long-term solutions for the country’s own set of judicial problems.