Arrangements being made for Electronic Surveillance
To relieve the overcrowded Thai prisons, the Ministry of Justice is working on the introduction of Electronic Surveillance (ET) for certain categories of prisoners. Critics fear arbitrariness or think that drug addicts, serious criminals and political prisoners are being released prematurely.
Thailand's 143 prisons currently hold 260.000 inmates, while they are designed to hold 190.000. The Department of Corrections already has plans to combat overcrowding with shorter prison sentences and by exempting the elderly and the seriously ill from prison. But that does little to help, because it only concerns a small number.
Responding to criticism of the scheme, Wittaya Suriyawong, director of the Office of Justice Affairs, says four groups are eligible for ET.
- Elderly and seriously ill detainees, who are likely to die in captivity, when serving their entire sentence.
- Prisoners who have the care of their parents in cases where the parents would suffer in their absence.
- Prisoners in constant need of medical care.
- Prisoners eligible for reduced sentences, such as psychiatric disorders and pregnancy.
In ET, prisoners are given an ankle or wrist strap. They are only allowed to move in a certain area and may also face a curfew. When they violate those conditions, bells ring at a central location.
Two lecturers from the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University have conducted research into the application of ET in 18 countries, including the Netherlands. They find two problems. The people who live with or near the released prisoners are not happy about it (think pedophiles) and the suspects are stigmatized, which undermines their self-confidence. A poll of Thais showed that half had never heard of ET.
Justice for Peace Foundation Director Angkhana Neelapaijit opposes ET because it has no effect on prisoner rehabilitation. "The question is how the population benefits and whether people feel safe with detainees roaming free," he says.
It is not clear which groups of critics the newspaper is targeting in the second sentence of the report.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Apr 1, 2013)