“Individuals are sent to prison for a specific purpose – to correct themselves,” Albertin said. What few of the inmates know is that the Sri Lankan prison system is actually defined as “correctional”, indicating that, officially, reintegration into society is a priority. “There are no attempts at rehabilitation. “We eat, bathe, sleep, wake up and begin all over again,” she said. “There are 650 of us in the female ward though it was built for 150 people,” she added, suggesting that, in the women’s ward in particular, actual numbers outstrip the conservatively estimated occupancy rates of 200 per cent. She described the female ward of the Welikada prison as “hell” – including maggots in the food, a complete absence of beds, mats or pillows and no fans, despite the 33 degrees Celsius heat. “Everyone receives the same abuse,” the female prisoner said, “whether we have murdered someone or simply failed to pay back a loan.” “More than 50 per cent of these are remand prisoners and 50 per cent are incarcerated due to non-payment of fines,” Albertin said, adding that “petty criminals” are jailed alongside and sexual offenders and perpetrators of heinous crimes. “Now, the ministry says that though the “institutional capacity is 11,000 prisoners, the current total prison population is over 30,933,” Albertin said. “Most Sri Lankan prisons were built over 100 years ago by the British, at a time when the country’s population was about three million,” Albertin explained. ‘Most Sri Lankan prisons were built over 100 years ago by the British, at a time when the country’s population was about three million.’Ĭristina Albertin, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and CrimeĪccording to Cristina Albertin, a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the New Delhi-based regional office for South Asia, Sri Lanka has the second most overcrowded prison system in the region after Bangladesh, which has an occupancy level of 302.4 per cent. Secretary to the ministry of rehabilitation and prison reforms, A Dissanayake, last week told the leading English language Daily Mirror that Welikada currently houses 4,500 inmates in a facility intended for 2,000, admitting to 220 per cent overcrowding. Over the past several weeks the plight of prisoners in Welikada, Sri Lanka’s largest incarceration facility, has resurfaced in state and independent media, with reports of overcrowding nudging their way back onto newspapers. Recently, one of the inmates was bitten and had to be rushed to the hospital for an anti-rabies shot.” “An open drain infested with rats runs the perimeter of the room. “About 150 of us sleep in a cell designed for 75 people,” she added. “We are treated as far less than human,” said one of the female prisoners, speaking under strict condition of anonymity. ![]() This monthly ordeal is emblematic of the prison system itself – chaotic, overcrowded and inhumane. ![]() On the other the inmates, in white prison clothes, shout to be heard over the din. On one side, mothers, fathers, children and relatives jostle for standing room. A tiny room, measuring 10ft by 7ft, is divided in half by a mesh counter. Monthly “visiting hours” at the female ward of Sri Lanka’s notorious Welikada Prison are as traumatic for the inmates as they are for their family and friends. Although Welikada is technically considered a ‘correctional’ facility, there are serious doubts about whether or not any rehabilitation occurs inside before the women are released
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