Audit report points to increase in imprisonments last year leading to major overcrowding of prisons

Overcrowding in Sri Lankan prisons is so dire that they hold twice the number of inmates than there is space for, while more than half of the inmates are being held over drugrelated charges, a government audit has shown.

Although the number of prisoners who can be housed according to capacity as of December 31 last year was 11,291 inmates, there were a total of 26,176 inmates in all of the country’s prisons--a gaping difference of 232 percent, the National Audit Office (NAO) says. The “Performance Audit on Management of Overcrowding in Prisons” has highlighted the country’s prison system and its shortcomings. It states that 53 percent of total inmates were incarcerated on drug-related offences with the majority of prisoners being between the ages of 30 and 40.

Physical inspections showed that the prisoners were detained beyond prison capacity in cells and wards; and that there was an unusual increase in the number of inmates last year with a 15 percent rise in the average number of detainees (from 19,295 in 2021 to 22,097 last year).

The government also incurred a whopping Rs. 8.3 billion for the maintenance of prisoners last year as the current prison system lacked effective strategies to ensure their security, sanitary facilities, rehabilitation and labour, the NAO said.

Owing to problems arising from the economic, social, political and legal environment, an increase in imprisonments caused by increased criminal activity, has caused overcrowding, the report said, explaining the sudden increase last year.

“... criminal activities can increase by encouraging people in society to commit wrongdoing due to the breakdown of the family economies of poverty-stricken, illiterate or limited-education, unemployed and homeless sections of society and facing devastating consequences from the activities in socioeconomic environments using drug and alcohol abuse,” it said.