• A violation of fundamental rights 

In 2023, the average annual cost per prisoner was nearly Rs. 400,000. However, with the prison population standing at over 280% of its capacity, inadequate infrastructure and resources continue to violate the fundamental rights of incarcerated people. 

The prison statistics report of 2024 notes that from the estimated Rs. 11,296,430,000 recurrent expenditure for the Prisons Department, only Rs. 10,902,178,069 was spent. Although the capital expenditure was estimated at Rs. 1,034,000,000, the actual capital expenditure was Rs. 531,703,316. 

The average annual cost per incarcerated person has nearly doubled since 2019, from Rs. 235,580 in 2019 to Rs. 395,551 in 2023. The 2023 figure is a slight dip from the 2022 cost – Rs. 447,796. 

These fund allocations do not resolve the issue of overcrowding and mismanagement inside prisons, notes Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) Executive Director Senaka Perera. 

According to Perera, multiple reports have noted that issues inside prisons are propagated due to overcrowding and recommendations have been made to resolve the issue. Despite this, no action has been taken by administrations over the last few years to adequately address the issue. 

As a result, incarcerated persons sleep according to a shift, or sleep in the temples and churches inside prisons, and do not have adequate access to health and sanitary facilities. 

“This results in double the punishment. The report of the Nambuwasam Committee, which inquired into the Welikada Prison riot of 2012, recommended that congestion should be corrected. The committee that inquired into the 2020 Mahara Prison riot also noted that overcrowding was a problem, negatively impacting the incarcerated and impacting the notion that prisoners are human beings. But there has been no programme to resolve it. Their fundamental rights as human beings are being violated,” said Perera. 

The Committee of Inquiry into the prison incident of 2012, headed by retired High Court Judge Wimal Nambuwasam, handed its report to then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 9 June 2015. The committee report on the Mahara Prison incident was handed over to former Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC on 30 December 2020. Twenty-seven inmates were killed in 2012 and 11 were killed in 2020. 

Measures to combat overcrowding 

Prisons Spokesperson Gamini Dissanayake said that the necessities of all inmates were being adequately provided, but added that there were challenges due to shortcomings in the infrastructure, especially those related to space. 

In an effort to combat the issue of overcrowding, the Prisons Department is currently in the process of relocating the Welikada Prison (currently at a capacity of 3,000) to a larger complex in Horana which can hold about 12,000 people. 

The Welikada Prison currently holds 2,800 people, but Dissanayake acknowledged that this was still ‘overcrowded’ according to international standards. 

According to the Performance Report of the Department of Prisons for 2023, other measures to reduce overcrowding and improve inmates’ residential facilities include:

• Construction of quarters at the new Dumbara Prison in Pallekele
• Construction of a prison building at the Pallansena Correctional Centre for Youthful Offenders
• Preliminary approvals and planning for the construction work of the Gampola lock-up 
• Kitchen renovation and construction of an inmates’ visitation room at the Negombo Prison (completed)
• Compilation of a Prison Brief consisting of international recommendations and guidelines made for Sri Lankan prisons by summarising local legal framework (completed)

Multiple attempts to contact Ministry of Justice Additional Secretary – Prisons and Rehabilitation Affairs H.M.N.C. Dhanasinghe and Director C.N. Lokuhetti proved futile.

Auditor General’s observations 

Nevertheless, the Auditor General’s 2023 report observes that prisoners are being detained beyond prison capacity in cells and wards. Despite introducing modern technology, improving physical resources, and developing infrastructure to reduce congestion, overcrowding in prisons has become a major problem in managing the prison system. 

The provision of residential facilities for detainees with spaces suitable for their mental and physical fitness in accordance with recognised international standards and existing legal conditions has become difficult due to overcrowding in prisons. 

Additionally, the insufficient space for female inmates in cells and wards in the Negombo and Vavuniya Prisons as of 1 July 2022 is 240 and 141 square feet, respectively. It was also revealed in the audit that the 14 prisons have 108,689 square feet of insufficient space for male inmates. 

Prison review programme as a solution?

Perera further criticised the lack of an adequate review process for good behaviour as leading to overcrowding. 

“If that happens properly, good behaviour can be checked and punishment can be reduced, thus reducing congestion. Only the presidential pardon is being used to pardon people whom presidents want to pardon. It’s used very partially, according to their personal relationships,” said Perera. 

However, Dissanayake said the prison review programme was continuing as usual, recommending sentence reductions by a third. He does not see it having a significant impact on overcrowding, instead noting that the lack of space was the main issue. 

The Performance Report notes that to combat the issue of overcrowding in prisons, apart from a general amnesty policy process, a special amnesty mechanism was introduced through a review process, under which a committee was appointed to make recommendations to consider reducing sentence periods and granting special amnesty to short-term prisoners. The committee  has given its recommendations regarding 154 prisoners under this method.

Over capacity 

Although prisons can only accommodate 10,395 people in total, as of Friday (18), there were 29,157 incarcerated persons in total. 

This is 280% over the capacity. 

Perera criticised the ‘Yukthiya’ operation carried out by the Sri Lanka Police last year, saying: “All it did was fill up prisons.” 

The ‘Yukthiya’ operation commenced in December 2023, with the Police stating that it was a bid to eradicate drug trafficking and organised crime. Leading to mass-scale arrests, the programme garnered serious allegations of human rights violations.

Average cost of food per individual in a prison 

Year

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Annually (Rs.)

55,068

76,493

87,372

176,115

167,790

Daily (Rs.)

151

209 

239 

483 

460