Cyprus Mail columnist calls on Cyprus to build new prisons due to overcrowding
In Cyprus, columnist Dina-Perla Portnaar called on the authorities to urgently build new prisons because of overcrowding at the Central Prison and the placement of people in police detention facilities. In Cyprus Mail, she argues that delays in expanding the prison system may create risks for detainees, law enforcement officers and public safety.
Overcrowding in detention facilities
According to Portnaar, one police detention facility designed for 40 people holds approximately twice as many. The author writes that men there sleep on the floor, while cells are kept locked because detainees allegedly cannot be safely taken out to the exercise yard.
She also notes that evacuation plans in the event of a fire need updating and that detention rules have repeatedly been violated. According to the author, warnings about the problems were recorded in official logs and passed on to management, but there was no response.
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Places for prisoners and rehabilitation
Portnaar writes that overcrowding at the Central Prison has spread to police stations across the island. According to her, police facilities hold convicted people and people awaiting trial.
In the author's view, overcrowding contributes to humiliation, tension, violence and despair and may threaten the safety of detainees and law enforcement officers. She also links the shortage of places to the risk of people being released from custody early because of insufficient capacity.
The author believes that funding rehabilitation, mental health assistance, education and alternatives to imprisonment does not eliminate the need for proper prison infrastructure. She called for sufficient institutional capacity, lawful conditions of detention and rehabilitation programmes.
