I have previously spoken of the urgent need to undergo serious reforms in our prisons; the Prison Department highlighted such a need since 2018. This urgent and relevant call, even more pressing today, is supported by findings from The International Committee of the Red Cross, Malaysian CARE and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysian (SUHAKAM) - regarding the need to improve treatment, security, safety and overcrowding.
Unfortunately without the necessary political will, there will be no change in status quo, leading to possible infections in future, and worse, more unavoidable deaths. As the ongoing pandemic has shown, the virus does not discriminate, although the availability of quality treatment differs across the socio-economic strata.
As such, the Government must proactively deal with a serious health crisis emerging within prisons by proactively testing, isolating and treating inmates, as well as non-prison forms of punitive measures for minor offenders.
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