Recommendations ❖ NHRIs in Southeast Asia should use regional platforms such as SEANF and ASEAN to advocate for and come up with strategic advocacy for the reform of prisons and review of the criminal justice system in the region. ❖ NHRIs to support prisons and detention centres through visits and inspections to address budget and funding issues which is crucial in sustaining the reform of prison. SESSION 5: INVOLVING PARLIAMENT IN SUPPORTING PRISON REFORMS 6.1 Mr. Liew Chin Tong, Vice Chairman, Vice Chairman, All-Party Parliamentary Group, Malaysia (APPGM) Looking at Malaysia as a nation looking at drugs and prison reform, we should ask whether a kinder State is a safer State post-pandemic? By doing so, we must go back to look at ways we run the State how we run our State. The war on drugs started with Richard Nixon in 1971, with many people of colour experiencing the effects of the war on drugs. In Malaysia, the Malays or majority suffers the most. Why we need to involve parliamentarians and wider society is because whatever we do here requires new political consensus from the government or those in the opposition. Without political will, whatever Pakatan Harapan or other political parties do will be criticised by the others. Reforms should be built through the parliamentary process. Hence, we should find a new way and ethos for the State to explain to the public that a kinder State is a safer State. Last year, Dato’ Sri Azalina Binti Othman Said, ,Dato’ Sri Rohani Abdul Karim (Women Welfare Minister) and others had formed the APPGM on prison and detention. We met the Ministers such as Senate Speakers in Dewan Rakyat and the Minister of Home Affairs to push a fast-track agenda. We were not successful, but we had already highlighted that prison overcrowding is something that we should pay attention too. This involves the judiciary and a wider sphere of stakeholders. We need to do more with the Well-Being Committee in the Senate. It was formed this year, an appealed to do more on prison overcrowding. Unfortunately, prison reform is not an appealing issue. Thus, they just named it the "Well-Being Committee". The Parliamentary Select-Committee on Security hopefully can look at the prison reform as important as the war on drugs. MPs should visit prisons to understand the prison and help the prison department to highlight the issues to their relevant Ministries. This is something that we should do together. The Prison Department should look at MPs as partners in the long-term. Some Royal Commissions should also be appointed to examine specific issues, for instance prison overcrowding could 60