FIJI COUNTRY PAPER

INTRODUCTION

Fuji consists of 300 islands only 100 of  which is inhabited. This has a total and area of 18,272 square kilometers. Our total population stands at 775.000. Our imprisonment rate per 100,000 populations stands at 152.3, which is slightly higher than the rate in New Zealand, which is 152.2 against the population of 3.7 million.

The Fiji Prisons Service Administers 14 prison institutions located in the mayor centers around the country. Of the 14 institutions, there are 8 Receiving centres and 6 classified Prisons. Our total prisoner population stands at 1,055 compared to a capacity room for 950 prisoners.

NATIONAL REPORT ON CENTEMPORARY ISSUE IN CORRECTIONS

OVERCROWDING

Overcrowding in prison is a real problem in Fiji. This is obvious from statistics available that prisons closer to densely populated towns and cities always exceed the authorized capacity of prison. The following statistics for example illustrates the apparent  overcrowding in the few selected prisons.

Apparently it can be concluded from the above figures that there is an imbalance in the prisoner/ staff ratio. While the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of offenders depicts a ratio of 1:4, this is not the case in Fiji. If we remove officers that are not physical contact with the prisoners it widens the gap further to 1:9 and the implication on security can be detrimental. This ratio imbalance is exacerbated by the fact that additional manpower has not been forthcoming from the Public Service Commission for quite sometimes and its operational implication cannot be understated. It follows that where manpower is a problem the majority of the incarcerated have to be contained in the accommodation cell for longer periods and their idleness leads to developing techniques of escapes. Furthermore being left unattended is in itself a security threat because it develops psychological problems on the prisoners.

HEALTH RELATED ISSUES

Recently a few HIV/AIDS positive cases were detected in prison. It is still unclear whether the disease was contracted in prison or not but it challenges the prison authority to be vigilant in its medical screening process as a strategy toward controlling its spread. Moreover the outdated structural design of the prison institutions is a serious problem as proper facilities are not available inside in particular with reference to the proper treatment of those infected by the disease. Meanwhile lack if awareness seems to be an obvious factor, which triggers animosity an anxiety amongst prisoners and officers alike when any case is revealed. Consequently as a remedy to cushion the animosity with a view to maintaining a harmonious relationship our partnership with the Ministry of Health through training for awareness has seen some significant impact. Along this line a positive step derived from the conduct of such training has re-assuring statement that HIV/AIDS is a disease just like any other epidemic and it is through awareness that it could be properly managed and perhaps controlled.

LEGISLATIVE IMPACT

The Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations introduced the Occupational and Health at Work Act in 1997. Basically the Act prescribes that all work places must improve its standard in conformity with the requirements of the law and any short fall is normally dealt with carefully apportioned punishment within the purpose of such Act. This piece of legislation can only be enforced in prison if the required level of resource is provided to re-align the dormant structures of the buildings most of which were constructed some eighty years ago. In addressing the problem one particular case appeared in July 2001 from a High Court ruling in Lautoka which demanded the improvement of structural design of the Natabua Remand Block to conform to the United Nation Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Offenders and the OHS Act. The underlying issue here is lack of resources and the improvements cannot be immediately addressed without consultation with the appropriate authorities in government if any profound changes is to be realized. There is literally  a confusion arising out of this situation because whilst the law is crystal clear that we must improve the conditions of the buildings there are factors beyond our control that restricts us from complying with the law. Therein lies our dilemma because the OHS Act does not harmonize with the current infrastructure in prison and this is exacerbated by the apparent lack of resources to improve the conditions.

REVIEW OF THE PRISONS ACT CAP 86

The current legislation being used in prison was last received in 1985. Most provisions are completely outdated especially those dealing with the infrastructure, terms and conditions of service and rehabilitation. Recently human rights issues have been raised intermittently especially with the manner of treating prisoners in line with the OHS and UN Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Offenders. These issues have been the subjects of critisms leveled against the Fiji Prisons Service for failing to honour the existing conventions. The UNDP has kindly offered assistance to fund the review of the legislation but consultation with relation to the management of the review and approval from Cabinet is still under process. It is hoped that should everything fall into shape, the project will begin early next year.

DRUG OFFENDERS

The current statistics relating to drug offences has significantly increased recently. Apart from accommodating violent offenders against property and person, drug offenders are also chewing a lot of space. The below contains figures from Suva and Lautoka Prison between 2000-June 2002 in relation to drug offenders.

In another development during the political upheaval of May 2000 many law-abiding citizens engaged in the committal of illicit behaviours that was primarily fueled by the deteriorating law and order situation that prevailed at the time which resulted in mess arrest. The suspects were arrested for criminal offences but were politically motivated. These offenders are new category of prisoners because they were politically motivated to rebel against the state and are not normal criminals. Most of these offenders are skilled soldiers trained in commando combat and leadership roles and have undergone extensive training under extreme difficult situations. Therefore they are not ordinary criminals and it presses for the need to provide new infrastructure and designs with high security gadgets to contain them. This would ultimately require additional resources and an expansion in our custodial responsibilities.

ALTERNATIVES TO IMPRISONMENT

Overcrowding is an on-going problem in as far as Fiji is concerned. The overarching effect of such problem is common in all the 14 institutions in the country. As a solution to overcrowding same alternatives to imprisonment have been identified including the Community Work Act passed in 1996. While the administrative mechanism relating to supervision is identified in the Act it appears that there was a benign neglect on the remuneration package to reciprocate for the supervisors work. This policy relied too much reliance on voluntary work basis but its implication is clearly reflected in the lack of commitment on the part of the supervisors appointed to supervise the hours of community work that an offender is required to undertake by the court. Put simply the Community Work Act is not effective at all.

REHABILITATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FIJI INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COUNCIL

The Fiji National Training Councilm is a statutory body established by the Fiji Government to regulate and control all the assessment of trade training in the various industries in Fiji. This includes building, civil engineering, automotive engineering, plumbing, computing, hotel and catering to name a few. Almost all the tertiary institutions in Fiji are affiliated to the standard required by the FNTC and it happens that as part of our training and rehabilitation development the FNTC has been co-opted to assist in the skill training of prisoners. For the last two years some prisoners have successfully completed trade training in the field of engineering and joinery and were duly a accredited under FNTC standard. This certificate gives the offender equal opportunity for employment in the open market upon release back to society.

CONFORMING TO THE UNITED NATIONS MINIMUM STANDARD RULES FOR THE TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS

In 2001 Justice Jayant Prakash criticized the Fiji Prisons Service for failing to abide with the structural standards taking into consideration natural ventilations, lighting and cell sizes which fall short of the required standard under the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Offenders. The damp, dark and filthy conditions of the cells coupled with the understated specifications and design were serious threats to the lives of the prisoners. As a solution to these problems some improvement are currently being undertaken to improve the condition of the cell.

CONCLUSION

The issues shed to light above have been an on-going debate in the past with the relevant agencies of government in our effort to find solutions to them all. It is our firm opinion that the lack of resources is the impenetrable barrier obstructing our effort in this connection. The Fiji Prisons Services hopes to address contemporary issues raised in the paper by vigorously pursuing with the appropriate authorities.