Cambodia: Wealthy prisoners can soon pay for cushier digs

by Asian Correspondent Staff | 30th March 2016

The prison cell believed to have once been occupied by the infamous gangster Al Capone. Image for representational purposes. Pic: Nicolas Raymond / Freestock.ca

PUTTING a new twist to the phrase, “paying for your crime”, Cambodia’s wealthier criminals may soon be able to pay for upgraded facilities at a soon-to-be-built private prison complex in the country’s capital, Phnom Penh.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng proposed the plan last week, saying that it had already received a stamp of approval from Prime Minister Hun Sen, wrote the Phnom Penh Post.

“The prisoners and the families who have money, they can [pay] rent and stay there,” Kheng said, adding that such a facility would also help the government generate revenue.

According to Kheng, the idea to have a privately-run prison as a means to address the problem of overcrowded prisons was inspired by Australia’s penal system.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Prisons, Nuth Savna, approved of the proposal, saying it was a good idea to build additional facilities for moneyed prisoners, as they could afford to pay for more comfortable lodgings while serving their prison term.

“They are used to living in good conditions and they may want to continue living in good conditions. So they have that option,” he said.

However, experts have chimed in with their doubts about the plan’s efficacy.

Speaking to Phnom Penh Post, University of Canberra School of Law and Justice associate professor Lorana Bartels questioned whether private prisons were more efficient than their government-run equivalent.

In addition, Australia National University criminology professor Roderic Broadhurst had ethical concerns over whether it would be fair for private contractors be in charge of an detainee’s punishment, particularly if wealthy prisoners could pay for better treatment.

Human rights lawyer Keo Bunthea concurred, saying that the government should fulfill its duty to all Cambodian prisoners before attempting to outsource the service.

“They need to provide adequate services for all inmates, not just the wealthy,” he added.