NCJ Number
135676
Date Published
1989
Length
12 pages
Annotation
All prisons in Malaysia are overcrowded, although some new facilities are being built and alternatives to imprisonment are being implemented.
Abstract
There are about 22,000 prisoners in the country's correctional facilities, and the average annual rate of increase is estimated at 8.6 percent. Originally built to hold fewer than 600 prisoners, some of the oldest prisons have 2,000 to 4,000 inmates. As many as 500 inmates are herded together in one cell block. Correctional administrators are concerned about prisoner rehabilitation and re-entry into society. The Public Works Department recently built a new prison headquarters and has been authorized to build four new remand centers, an open prison, a drug rehabilitation center, and two new prisons. When completed, these facilities will be able to accommodate the current number of prisoners until the year 2000. Efforts of Malaysian officials to reduce prison overcrowding include pardons, fines, compulsory attendance centers for first offenders, pretrial detention, and community service. A community-based approach, known as the Ibrahim System, is employed to help prisoners return to society as responsible and gainfully employed members. This program seeks to integrate and socialize prisons, nurture positive values among inmates, eliminate inherent social stigma of prisoners by involvement in social work, and instill in the general public the need to help inmates lead a normal life after prison. The selection of inmates for this program and its operation are detailed. The planned construction of new prisons built with prison labor and the recent announcement by the Malaysian Government that more funds will be allocated to the courts and judiciary are noted.