Report Calls For Overhaul Of Prison Rules

Pro-democracy lawmakers and activists have released a report on the living conditions of local prisoners, saying many improvements are needed.

They say the rights of prisoners shouldn't be overridden or ignored for security reasons, and greater effort should be made to prepare inmates for life after prison.

Also among their recommendations is the setting up an independent complaints body, to replace what they consider to be the ineffective mechanism currently in place.

Activists who have spent time in prison – including Demosisto leader Joshua Wong, who has been jailed twice for offences related to the 2014 Occupy movement – detailed the many problems that inmates face.

The report said inmates aren't given enough warm clothing or blankets in winter and aren't compensated well enough for the work they do. It said educational and training courses are irrelevant to them, or prisoners have insufficient opportunities to take them.

Wong said even though these people are locked up in prison, they are still entitled to basic rights.

The lawmakers and activists said inmates are reluctant to make complaints, because the complaints mechanism is run by the Correctional Services Department. Visits to prisons by justices of the peace or lawmakers are also arranged and monitored by CSD officers, making direct complaints difficult, they said.

Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung said there is a lack of transparency and accountability in the prison system, and independent oversight is needed.