In a leader titled ‘Prison reform needs joint approach’, two years ago, Times of Malta argued that Corradino Correctional Facility inmates should be able to contribute to society once released.

It also called on the two large political parties to address this national, non-partisan issue in a bipartisan manner.

It was wishful thinking. Indeed, comments made a few days ago by the prison’s former legal office paint a very worrying picture.

“The corrective class focuses a lot on the punitive aspect and, therefore, retribution. Meanwhile, the professional class pushes for rehabilitation. Those two cultures, more often than not, clash,” lawyer George Camilleri, who resigned his post recently, remarked.

He acknowledged that the prison infrastructure was getting better when compared to the time former military officer Alexander Dalli led with an iron fist. Dalli had suspended himself but was not reappointed when an inquiry reviewing suicide prevention measures and evaluating the support to drug dependents was concluded.

He was succeeded by former Red Cross official Robert Brincau but he, too, was replaced after being found guilty of a range of offences, including injuring a man and carrying a gun without a licence. Christopher Siegersma, the prison’s first welfare commissioner, then took over.

Yet, judging by what Camilleri said, there is still a lot more work to be done to have the sort of prison the inquiry aimed for. The inquiry board had called for inmates to have a better voice in the promotion and upholding of their rights. It also laid stress on rehabilitation and urged a crackdown on excessive punishment.

As in Dalli’s time, it seems the problem is coming from the very top. Indeed, though having no problem admitting he trusted Brincau’s management, Camilleri openly declared he could not say the same for Siegersma’s ways.

The present prison director did not reply to the lawyer’s e-mails and avoided speaking with prisoners. “The thing that bothered me the most while I was there, was that my superior instructed me to not speak to the prisoners. How can a lawyer not speak to prisoners? As a principal legal officer,

I am obliged to listen to prisoners’ qualms before they take the issue to the [welfare] commissioner. I think I was seen as too proactive,” Camilleri said.

The “negative aspects of the system” that existed in the past evidently remain. As if that is not bad enough, Camilleri spoke of what he graphically described as “a sense of helplessness” to address the “punitive culture”.

This state of affairs indicates that, though losing no time to nominate a new prison director after the fall from grace of both Dalli and Brincau, the home affairs minister did not lose much sleep in pushing for a rethink of the way in which the so-called correctional facility was being run. Neither did he insist on the new prison leadership to ensure the inquiry recommendations are implemented. The minister is either still undecided on what sort of prison this country should have or he tacitly agrees the emphasis should be on punishment.

Worldwide, the idea of the prison’s main aim being the preparation of inmates to reintegrate within society once they serve time is increasingly gaining support. To do that, of course, there needs to be education, training, therapy and counselling, among other interventions. Inmates must, therefore, be treated with dignity and offered opportunities for personal growth and development.

The Corradino prison is still very far from being a facility for reform and rehabilitation… and the powers that be do not seem too bothered.