Umavathni Vathanaganthan from the Collective of Applied Law & Legal Realism (CALR), a pro bono law initiative, said one of the key areas of improvement that needed to be addressed was the overcrowding of prisons and detention centres.

“Nationwide, prisons have a total capacity of 61,242 inmates, while immigration detention centres have a total capacity of 12,530 detainees,” she said at the launch of human rights NGO Suaram’s report on reforming prisons and places of detention.

Umavathni, who was one of those involved in drafting the report, said that based on these statistics, prisons in the country had exceeded their maximum capacities as far back as 2018.

She said there were three factors that contributed to overcrowding – incarceration for minor drug offences, unbalanced discretion between police and the judiciary, and indefinite periods of detention in immigration detention centres.

In 2018, she said, 55% of inmates were minor drug offenders, and by 2021, the figure had increased to 63%.

Umavathni said efforts to acquire official data regarding immigration detention centres were ongoing.

“To date, we are unable to find official data for immigration detention centres, which is quite concerning,” she said.

Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who was present, said there was a lack of accountable and transparent data regarding prisons and detention centres.

She said data was important not only to address the plight of prisoners but also to ensure the officers who were charged with their care upheld certain standards.