Updated 9.15am
Dozens of NGOs, professional associations and academic institutions have banded together to demand a radical shift in Malta’s prison system and more state oversight into what happens behind Corradino’s prison walls.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 38 entities said they were deeply troubled by the lack of transparency and inadequate reaction that has followed a series of suicides within prison, as well as the lack of government action to introduce a “modern and effective corrections model” that is founded on the rehabilitation and social reentry rather than punishment and retribution.
Signatories ranged from human rights NGOs such as Aditus to the National Youth Council, the Church’s Safeguarding Commission, the Malta Association of Social Workers and office of the Dean of Education at the University of Malta.
Thirteen prisoners at Corradino Correctional Facility have died in the past eight years, including two who died by suicide in the past few months. Data compiled by the Council of Europe suggests that the suicide rate in Malta’s prison is among Europe’s highest.
Not all those deaths were suicides: magisterial inquiries into four deaths reported in 2020, for instance, concluded that three of those deaths were due to natural causes. Inquiries into the other deaths have either not been concluded or their conclusions have not been divulged.
The government has previously staunchly defended its prisons model and the leadership of CCF director Alexander Dalli, who has come in for criticism for his hardline methods. But following the most recent death in prison, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri appointed a three-person inquiry to look into internal procedures at CCF.
A former inmate at CCF has since gone public with allegations of mistreatment inside the facility, in an explosive interview published by The Sunday Times of Malta.
Minister defends CCF, acknowledges challenges
Writing on Saturday, Camilleri acknowledged problems within the prison system, though he argued that CCF was functioning far better now than it did during previous "laissez-faire" times.
The minister argued that overcrowding at CCF, as a result of a skyrocketing prison population, was a key problem with the system. But he also admitted that the system's one-size-fits-all approach, which placed hardened criminals together with people who landed in trouble due to addiction problems, was inadequate.
"Perhaps our biggest shortcoming in the past and present is that for many years we put everyone in the same boat, sometimes in beds next to one another," he wrote on Facebook.
Camilleri highlighted plans to introduce electronic tagging and increased resources for prison NGO Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl as examples of what the government was doing to improve the criminal justice system.
PN home affairs spokesman Beppe Fenech Adami reacted to the minister's defence of the prison system by saying Camilleri was "cut off from reality" and defending a system that was a proven failure.
Associations slam 'archaic' methods
In their statement, entities expressed scepticism about the methods being used within CCF, describing them as "more distinctive of a long-gone archaic prison model".
They called on the government to take an active role in monitoring activity inside prison and said that if any incompetence is found, those responsible should be held accountable.
They also recommended the setting up of an ombudsman for prison and probation and said methods such as solitary confinement should be rethought.
Their proposals seek to fundamentally alter the thinking behind Malta’s prison system, away from one based on punishment to one that is focused on restorative justice and victim-offender reconciliation.
“It is imperative that a long-term and deep-rooted review of current practices is initiated, to produce radical reforms that prioritise the dignity of prisoners, their families and the victims. Rehabilitation and social reentry must be at the heart of the service delivery,” they said.
“The current focus on punishment, retribution and disparagement must be critically scrutinised both in terms of its effectiveness and its overall justification by the current facility management.”
The statement was endorsed by the following signatories:
ACT, Aditus, Alleanza Kontra l-Faqar, Doctors for Choice MaltaDrachma LGBTI and Drachma Parents Group, Hearing Voices Malta, Integra Foundation, JRSKNŻ - Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ, Kopin, Kummissjoni Gustizzja u Paci, Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU), LGBTI+ Gozo, manuledelia.com, Malta Association for the Counselling Profession (MACP), Malta Association of Social Workers (MASW), Malta Dementia Society, Men Against Violence, MGRM, Migrant Women AssociationMalta, Millenium Chapel, Moviment Graffitti, National Parents Society of Persons with Disability (NPSPD), Oasi Foundation, Occupy Justice, Office of the Dean of Education, Office of the Dean for Social Wellbeing, Peace and Good Foundation, Repubblika, Richmond Foundation, SĦS - Studenti Ħarsien Soċjali, Social Assistance Secretariat (Azzjoni Kattolika Maltija), SOS Malta, St Jeanne Antide Foundation, The Anti-Poverty Forum Malta (a Forum of 17 NGOs), The Critical Institute, The Safeguarding Commission, Women for Women Foundation, Women's Rights Foundation.