The prison system must be fundamentally reformed from a place of punishment into a “school of transformation,” stated Minister of Justice and National Integration, Harshana Nanayakkara. “We will take steps to transform the prison from a hopeless torture chamber into a workshop that ignites hope for life,” he declared.
Speaking at a ceremony held at Angunakolapelessa Prison on 5th November for the passing out of a batch of 177 prison officers (168 male and 9 female), the Minister stressed that reform is a “primary responsibility” of the government.
Minister Nanayakkara pointed to the backgrounds of inmates, noting many come from “disadvantaged social backgrounds,” with the majority having dropped out of school early. “The roots of crime are often not the actions of an individual, but social inequality, poverty, and discrimination,” he said.
The goal, he stated, is for every inmate to leave “as a skilled, disciplined, and humane citizen.”
The Minister outlined a new reform program focused on rehabilitation. Key priorities include:
- Reducing prison overcrowding.
- Focusing on education and vocational training with certification.
- Strengthening mental health and counselling services.
- Creating a legal framework for social reintegration.
- Eliminating corruption and drugs from within the prison system.
Addressing new prison officers, the Minister said their success “is not measured by how many prisoners you control, but by how many lives you help transform.” He concluded that prisons must become places that “correct people and reflect the ideals of humanity, not places of punishment, oppression, and humiliation.”
This focus on reform is strongly welcomed by civil society initiatives like the Fair Justice Campaign of the Right to Life Human Rights Centre, which has been actively highlighting the crisis of severe remand overcrowding and the “inhumane conditions” faced by inmates.