So now we have it from the minister himself. Minister Byron Camilleri was reported saying the majority of deaths in prison over the last months were a result of natural causes. He then proceeded to qualify such statement.

He explains that he made this statement on the basis of magisterial inquiries concluded to date. However, he clarified that a number of such inquiries are still pending. He makes it very obvious that, in cases where a magisterial inquiry is still pending, he has no idea about the prisoner’s cause of death. Very comforting isn’t it?

What’s more telling, however, is that, with his statement, the minister has confirmed that a number of deaths in our prisons over the last months were not deaths resulting from natural causes.

We’ve had deaths in our prisons which could and should have been avoided. By the minister’s admission, there are prisoners who, were it not for sheer incompetence, mismanagement and neglect, should be alive today.

In most instances, the official statement on the day of a prisoner’s death is that “he died of natural causes” and, guess what, “the prisoner had underlying health conditions”.

Let’s set the record straight. The amount of deaths over the last two years amounted to 11. Eleven inmates died in custody, inmates as young as 25, 26, and 45 have been found dead in their cells over the last months. Most of the times, details about their deaths were, and still are, scarce.

Family members are left in the dark as to what happened

Family members are left in the dark as to what happened to their loved ones. I have been personally approached by family members, wives, children, mothers, brothers and sisters, who have lost people close to them while in custody. Family members  who have not been contacted by the competent authorities, who have not been informed as to what had led to the death of their loved one.

I am sure you agree this is totally unacceptable. This should not be happening in a country which prides itself with being a democracy, which respects the fundamental human rights of every living person.

Unfortunately, not all is well in our prisons today. And my appeal to the minister is to address this very delicate situation screaming out for action.

I am aware that speaking up for dignity for prisoners may not be in sync with this era of fuelled populism.

I am aware that some may believe in the mantra of keeping prisoners locked in their cells for ever. ‘Just throw away the keys,’ they say. Love me or hate me, I do not subscribe to this. I believe that if you commit a crime you have to do time. This, however, does not preclude each prisoner, a human being, from his basic fundamental human rights, dignity and respect: the right to basic sanitary conditions; the right of access to your lawyers, the right to have an expedient judicial system; the right to healthy food, the right not to live constantly in fear; the right not to be put in a cell with another three, four or five inmates when it is designed to hold one or two; the right to reform yourself and bounce back into society as a reformed person once you do time.

Minister, you know not all is well in prison. You know well enough that adopting a military prison system, based on fear, is reminiscent of some mid-1970s Latin American system and such a system is doomed to fail. I am sure you agree with me on this. All you need is now the courage to address this situation. You have to address the elephant in the room. You have to take control of a situation that has slipped out of your hands. You have to trim egos and eliminate fiefdoms.

Then things will change. Minister, we will support you if you do take action. We shall, however, keep chasing you if you, helplessly, try to ignore us. Minister, do pluck up some courage before it is too late.

Beppe Fenech Adami, shadow minister for home affairs