Independent council to monitor Hong Kong prisons needed to protect inmate rights, lawmakers and activists say
Group releases report saying wages for inmates, who work a minimum of six hours per day, are too low and they cannot afford basic necessities
An independent council should be set up to review and monitor the operation of Hong Kong’s prisons, detention and rehabilitation centres run by the Correctional Services Department to protect the basic human rights of prisoners, a group of pro-democratic lawmakers has said.
The group, led by social welfare lawmakers Shiu Ka-chun and Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, released a study of the prisoners’ rights and conditions on Tuesday, which was based on the experiences of 16 young activists who were or are currently jailed, with visits carried out by the lawmakers since last May.
Shiu said the 12-page report was a “proposal of goodwill” for the department, which has been responsible for the “important and difficult” work.
“We only wish for faster and more substantial changes so that the values of humanity and rationality – which are written in the Hong Kong Bill of Rights and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners – can be realised,” Shiu said.
Hong Kong’s prison system explained
The Legislative Council’s security panel, chaired by pro-establishment lawmaker Gary Chan Hak-kan, is set to visit Pak Sha Wan Correctional Institution on April 10. Shiu, a member of the panel, promised to follow up on the prisoners’ welfare issues by requesting to inspect places not included in the institution’s presentation during the visit.
We need an independent committee to lead the reform of the whole correctional services system