The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has asked the government to look into the welfare of prison wardens which has been described as 'neglected'.

"There is certainly a shortage of wardens in our prisons but their welfare must be given consideration by the government," commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan told a press conference today.

He said that every time Suhakam commissioners visited prisons to check on prisoners, the wardens themselves would also be coming up with complaints.

According to Hamdan, wardens eat only three times a day, whereas convicts or detainees have six daily meals.

He added that the wardens received allowances not at par with the service provided.

"They normally perform three shifts but allowances given are only for two shifts".

He also said that due to increasing stress at their workplace, it is also necessary to provide counselling for wardens. This would ease off the emotional pressure from the wardens in their dealings with the convicts.

"It is important that the welfare of wardens be taken care of properly. If they are happy, a lot of violence in prisons can be avoided," Hamdan said.

Suhakam commissioners visited the Sungai Buloh prison on March 22 to have a better understanding of the condition in the prison following a complaint from a convict's family, Rastam Talib, who died in the prison on Feb 8.

Don't handcuff sickly prisoners

Rastam 19, died from internal bleeding after what was claimed as a fight with four other inmates in the prison. The family claimed that Rastam was also handcuffed throughout although he was in a coma and it was only removed shortly before he died.

Commissioner N Siva Subramaniam, who also spoke at the press conference, urged prison wardens not to handcuff prisoners who are very ill.

He said that those who were dying should be accorded some dignity and the wardens should be able to use their better judgement in a case-by-case basis.

Based on information from the Sungai Buloh prison, it is home to more than 5,150 convicts and detainees, compared to the gazetted number of 2,500 inmates only. The ratio of wardens to convicts or detainees is currently 1:8 when it should be 1:3.

Given this scenario, Hamdan suggested that unemployed graduates should also be offered jobs as wardens as they fulfill the job requirements.

He urged the Public Service Department to speed up the appointment of more wardens in Malaysian prisons.

"We hope that the PSD will not drag its feet on this matter," Hamdan said.