income of a regular employee, during their sentence. Prisoners currently engaged in a work release scheme return to prison at the end of each work day, even though the scheme does allow prisoners to be held in accommodation outside the prison. Medical officers informed the Commission that prisoners categorized as unfit for work during the initial assessment by doctors continued to be employed in prison work despite their recommendations to the contrary. Inmates of certain prisons also complained they are required to work even when they fall ill. 13. Early Release Measures The ultimate purpose of the rehabilitation process is to incentivize good conduct and reformative behaviour in prisoners, for the chance to be released early from prison. Prisoners sentenced to death and life imprisonment must first be commuted to a specific term of imprisonment, so they are able to benefit from early release measures like other convicted prisoners. These measures include remission and the system of evaluations and convicted prisoners may be released early on license, subject to their behaviour during Home Leave. 13.1. Commutation Committees Commutation committees are appointed by the Ministry of Justice to recommend the commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment and then life imprisonment to a sentence of 20 years, and are sent to the President for approval. Commutation was formerly undertaken regularly, in conjunction with the evaluation process mentioned above, but routine commutations were also disbanded along with evaluations. Ad hoc committees are now established at the discretion of the Minister. The offence committed by the prisoner is considered immaterial to their subsequent rehabilitation and instead factors, such as the prisoner’s disciplinary record in prison and participation in vocational training during their sentence, etc. are utilized to determine if they have been rehabilitated. A number of shortcomings are inherent in the process of commutation. The present procedure to appoint members of the committee is not transparent as the establishment of a new committee is carried out in an ad hoc manner, at the discretion of the Minister. The lack of an established working practice and criteria may cause arbitrary decisions to be made and different factors may be prioritized by different committees. The prisoner also does not have the right to appeal the decision of the committee, as ‘commutation is a privilege and not a right’ according to the Commissioner General of Prisons, and no reasons for rejection are provided. xvii