Reduce prison population as a mitigation strategy

SUARA Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) welcomes the Prisons Department of Malaysia’s initiatives to reduce congestion in prisons to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 among prisoners ( The Star, Oct 7; online at bit.ly/star_prisons) and call for further steps and actions to be developed to minimise and prevent further outbreaks of the disease in its facilities.

In the first outbreak in March, Suaram and other civil society organisations called on the government to reduce the number of prisoners in detention facilities to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 transmission in overcrowded conditions.

The recommendations put forward include expediting parole for prisoners and alternative sentences for prisoners serving short sentences or imprisoned for nonserious offences. Such steps have been adopted by neighbouring countries, including Indonesia, in their effort to reduce risk factors in prisons. Malaysia must also consider similar approaches in handling the Covid19 pandemic.

A failure to contain the spread of Covid-19 in prisons will have drastic consequences, as the virus is not restrained by cell bars or walls and can easily infect staff members on duty who would then spread the virus among loved ones and in the community. Failure to act would eventually cause an outbreak similar to that observed in Sabah’s Tawau prison.

Suaram reiterates our recommendations to the Prisons Department, the Pardons Board and the Parole Board. Failure to act now would be a violation of prisoners’ right to health and undermines all public health initiatives introduced to combat the pandemic.

SEVAN DORAISAMY Executive Director, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram)