Prisoners Dilemma
Prisoners aren't high up in our priorities. I mean, there are orphans to be housed and there are children to be educated and the hungry to be fed. So if a bunch of men stuck in a jail cell are moldering there because of having stabbed and raped and shot hapless members of our community, then there's really less sympathy to be wrung for that unfortunate circumstance, right?
Except, apparently, when they're all dragged into an open courtyard, ordered stripped to their birthday suits, and then photographed by strangers.
This was the scenario last week in Cebu's provincial jail when, in the course of a drug crackdown, hundreds of inmates were made to go through exactly what I just described above. That certainly made a lot of people sit up. Certainly, press attention snapped up, and again, our country is in the international news. And then came the condemnation.
Amnesty International protested, saying that this was cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. Not far behind came Human Rights Watch, which opined that the rights to privacy of the prisoners had been violated. I don't doubt that Chito Gascon, our Human Rights Commissioner, will say the same, although he is neck deep in the more important task of addressing the frightening rise of extra-judicial killings.
The local drugs czar, PDEA Region 7 Director Yogi Ruiz, was quick to take responsibility, saying this had been done to ensure their "safety". General Isidro Lapeña elaborated, saying that this was a judgment call made to prevent possible casualties.
This brouhaha should mean that this is the last we will hear of it, as presumably, this is a lesson learned by the authorities. (Next time, no cameras?)
This incident brings the spotlight on to prisoner rights, though. What treatment do they deserve to be given? From a continuum of baking hot cells to air-conditioned lairs, from non-functional showers to jacuzzis, what's the bare minimum that should be extended?
Thailand has more than 250,000 prisoners crammed in cells built for 100,000-plus occupants, the result of Thaksin Shiniwatra's equally relentless drug war. Reuters estimates that for a nation that only hosts ten percent of the region's population, Thailand's prisoners clock in at forty percent of the grand total. The military-ruled kingdom has probably also added to the ranks of the prisoners.
In western countries, penal facilities have been privatized, and their management turned over to be run as businesses. In the US, with 2.2 million incarcerated adults (as of 2013), more than half of jails are reported by The Guardian to be in private hands. That way, more professional standards are, in theory, employed to run the cells.
Would this formula work in our country? Would private management result in more decent treatment of prisoners, and therefore, in their more successful reformation? Would this prevent more drugs and weapons smuggling into jail cells? Less privileges for the well-connected and wealthy, and a more even-handed application of rules and standards?
The critics argue otherwise, saying it has actually incentivized businesses to keep more prisoners so they get paid more cash by the state. Prisoners were also neglected, and given late if no medical attention. So there are arguments against it as well.
Perhaps, with the furor over Cebu's dancing inmates, now is the time to look into these questions. But certainly, there is room for improvement over what we have now.
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