CHAPTER 1 inmates, slightly under its gazetted capacity of 3,000 inmates. During the Commission’s visit to Pengkalan Chepa Prison on 21 September to inquire into a complaint of death in custody, the prison was housing 2,500 inmates against its gazetted capacity of 1,500 inmates. While the Commission is concerned over the overcrowding at Sungai Buloh Prison, it also notes that this prison houses two categories of inmates, remand or pre-trial prisoners and convicted prisoners. The overcrowding was observed in the remand facility of the prison as the population of the remand prisoners is very fluid depending on the frequency of cases being heard and disposed of by the courts. The Commission’s visits to some police lock-ups found that many of them were either underutilised or, in areas where there is a centralised lock-up, redundant. It is further noted that in the absence of a centralised lock-up, the practice now is to detain suspects in the District Police Headquarters’ lock-up instead of the police station. The Commission is made to understand that this arrangement is due to the dilapidated conditions of cells in the police stations, and this information is corroborated by the Commission’s own observations. With regard to the immigration detention centre, during its visit to Pekan Nenas Detention Centre the Commission noted that the number of detainees was 1,023, well under the gazetted capacity of 1,500. However, the Commission was informed that at times the number of detainees exceeded the capacity especially when the Government conducted raids against undocumented migrants. Overcrowding in any place of detention would lead to untenable living conditions with little regard for the inmates’ basic human dignity. Overcrowding not only results in limited or insufficient living space but also has impact on the quality of nutrition, sanitation, inmates’ activities, and their physical as well as mental health. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) produced a handbook on strategies to reduce overcrowding in prisons. One significant recommendation is to introduce alternatives to imprisonment in laws and regulations by including non-custodial measures and sanctions which, in turn, would enable the court to exercise its discretion. Alongside this, it is also recommended that for petty and nonviolent cases, the Police and prosecutors could be given the discretion to divert suitable cases away from the criminal justice system. While the Commission finds the above reasonable and acceptable, the Commission notes that these recommendations would need to be carefully considered and assessed to ensure their applicability within the Malaysian legal system. 66 SUHAKAM ANNUAL REPORT 2016 suhakam 2new.indd 66 3/23/17 5:54 PM