Manila, Philippines - Government and other concerned agencies were urged by prison chaplains and jail workers to look into the situations of the prisoners in the country particularly the implementation of the "UN Standards, Principles, Covenants and Recommendations on the Treatment of Prisoners".
The group, in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website issued the call convinced that the problems of the prison situation are far more serious now than before. Among the problems cited by the group are ventilation, hygiene and food inside the congested prisons.
Other concerns raised are: putting young offenders together with adult offenders inside the jails; punishment and torture; and lack of access to a good defense of the cases. "There were also corruption in the criminal justice system not to mention the biases and discrimination against vulnerable sectors of society; long and life sentences; executions and death penalty; and increase in number of foreign prisoners due to drug trafficking and large scale migration trends," said the group. Said issues and concerns were tackled in the recent 6th International Prison Chaplains' Association Worldwide Conference held at the Clarion Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden.
