For those who missed our recent talk on prisoner resettlement, here are some of the interesting figures that were examined.
Some key insights:
1) Mauritius has a high percentage of remand/pre-trial detainees (as a reference - UK has around 10% remand/pre-trial, Rwanda around 7%, Singapore around 12%).
2) Around 82% of admissions in 2017 were for less than 6-month sentences or for non-payment of fines (mostly under Rs5000). Short sentences are increasingly seen as ineffective and offer almost no opportunity for rehabilitation. In Mauritius, a detainee needs to be serving at least 1 year to access the prison-based rehabilitation programmes.
This certainly provides food for thought. What do you think?