THE Interior Ministry’s General Department of Prisons said in a report this week that “significant progress” has been made in the Kingdom’s prison reform effort, though it acknowledged the daunting challenged posed by overcrowding.
The ministry’s report comes as rights group Licadho this week published its own document detailing the problem of overcrowding in the Kingdom’s jails and warning that Cambodia could have the most overcrowded prison system in the world within a decade if inmate population growth continues near current levels.
Released at a conference with government officials and development organisations on Sunday and Monday, the report from the prisons department cites improvements in areas including healthcare, rehabilitation and infrastructure. Such gains are threatened, however, by “severe overcrowding” nationwide, the report adds.
“Overcrowding has impacted upon the capacity to maintain the physical facilities, provide adequate healthcare and other services such as water supply, the sewage system, staff roster and routine,” the report states.
The prison department pegs Cambodia’s inmate population as of June at 13,944, a 4 percent increase from December and well beyond the system’s official capacity of 8,000. Prisoners held prior to sentencing formed almost a third of this group.
The ministry’s report comes as rights group Licadho this week published its own document detailing the problem of overcrowding in the Kingdom’s jails and warning that Cambodia could have the most overcrowded prison system in the world within a decade if inmate population growth continues near current levels.
Released at a conference with government officials and development organisations on Sunday and Monday, the report from the prisons department cites improvements in areas including healthcare, rehabilitation and infrastructure. Such gains are threatened, however, by “severe overcrowding” nationwide, the report adds.
“Overcrowding has impacted upon the capacity to maintain the physical facilities, provide adequate healthcare and other services such as water supply, the sewage system, staff roster and routine,” the report states.
The prison department pegs Cambodia’s inmate population as of June at 13,944, a 4 percent increase from December and well beyond the system’s official capacity of 8,000. Prisoners held prior to sentencing formed almost a third of this group.
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