The safety and living conditions in the Kajang prison for women, with inmates filling the institution to three times its capacity, must be attended to immediately, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said today.

The prison now holds 1,454 prisoners, which exceeds its maximum capacity of 450. A cell for four inmates crams eight.

"You can imagine how bad the situation is when it is three times more than what it should be. The overcrowded condition makes it harder for prison officials to watch over the prisoners who could also get irritated and aggressive easily due to such environs," said commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan.

Hamdan was met by reporters at his office after leading a nine-person delegation, which included commissioners Asiah Abu Samah and Dr Raj Abdul Karim, to the prison.

The trip which lasted four hours was part of the Suhakam's series of visits to prisons, detention camps and lock-ups nationwide under its complaint and investigation division headed by Hamdan.

Lack of security

Describing the condition as "problematic", the commissioner urged the Malaysian Prisons Department to act immediately.

"There must be urgency although no untoward cases such as death or riot have happened so far. But that is not an excuse, proactive action must be taken."

Hamdan was also worried about security in the prison.

One block which holds 690 inmates was only guarded by four officials one inspector, one sergeant and two wardens, he cited as example.

"Security must be improved and the number of guards responsible for sending out prisoners during proceedings should also be increased," he said.

The prison officials' work is made harder by the fact that almost two-thirds of the inmates are foreigners, with 848 from Indonesia, 145 China, 56 Thailand and 32 Cambodia.

"You can imagine the strain on the staff when carrying out their job. They need to talk to most of the people who do not understand their language and communication is very hard," Hamdan said.

Asked about the medical facilities at the prison, he said there is only one clinic manned by nurses but no doctor.

The prison is also holding 159 young prisoners (age 18-21), 24 HIV-positive prisoners and 10 children under the age of four.

However, the commissioner added that the prison is well-managed in general, in terms of cleanliness, environment and discipline among the inmates.

"I spoke to several inmates, they told me about their unhappiness with the crowded condition. Small quarrels are unavoidable, but we can't anticipate how it would be in the future. Sometimes a little thing can create a riot," he said.

Improvement

Meanwhile, Hamdan said he was pleased as many of the authorities have given due attention to the concerns raised by Suhakam in its past visits, especially on the lock-ups.

"There is much improvement in the lock-ups. We told the authorities repeatedly that the detainees are not criminals; they could be innocent and should be treated better."

In 2002, the commission visited 20 lock-ups, detention camps and prisons, with the aim of ensuring that all prisons in the country abide by the United Nations standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.

The reports and recommendations of the visits will also included in the Suhakam annual report, due for tabling in April.

Suhakam is targetting prisons in the northern states next.