Reducing prison congestion and costs using technology

THIS was written shortly after the National Movement for Social Justice conducted a webinar on problems with remanding practices in the aftermath of the neurologist and her daughter being remanded. But now that the question of remanding President Wickremesinghe is front and centre, completion cannot wait.

- By Prof. Rohan Samarajiwa

Congestion caused by remandees

According to the World Prison Brief, the total number of prisoners Sri Lankan prisons can hold was 13,241 in 2025. But the prisons held 32,747 persons in inhumane conditions. Worse, two thirds of these prisoners had not been convicted; they were pretrial detainees/remand prisoners. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of pretrial detention in the world.

Food, sanitation, and security are inadequate, according to a 2020 study by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Overcrowding forces prisoners to take turns sleeping or to sleep inside toilets as they do not have enough space to lie down. Drug use and violence is rife, subjecting detainees to danger. The prisons are unbearably hot and infested with large numbers of rats, pigeons, and bed bugs.

This is why many high-profile remandees get transferred to the prison hospital. This may contribute to understanding allegations of bribery associated with the prison hospital (and why the former Deputy Director is currently in remand).

If something can be done to stop incarcerating persons awaiting trial at the excessive rate our judges do, the pressure on the system giving rise to corruption may be relieved. But short of that, there may be a technological remedy worth trying.

Electronic monitoring