Questions/Answers

The Mauritius Prison Service (MPS) envisions a safer Mauritius through best correctional practice. Our mission statement is to keep prisoners in safe, humane custody and help prepare them for a useful life. The MPS have around 2400 prisoners and women account for around 5% of the total prison population. In line with its 10-year Strategic Plan (2013-2023), the MPS has identified various constraints and challenges which are currently preventing to increase prison performances. Some of those constraints and challenges are rising cost of imprisonment; poor physical infrastructures; high rate of re-imprisonment and lack of facilities for women prisoners compared to their male counterparts. Since early 1960s, male prisoners had an open facilty called the Richelieu Open Prison where prisoners assessed in the minimum security category were located and it proved to be an ideal place for rehabilitation. Women prisoners irrespective of their security ratings were all located in one single facility which was of a maximum security category. Under the Rehabiltation and Resettlement Pillar, the Prison Authority decided to build an Open Prison for Women which would housed women detainees under well-defined criteria. It is a no-smoking prison. The Facilty was operational since December 2015 and is bringing positive results. It is an ideal place to engage women prisoners in constructive programmes through the concept of Dynamic Security which is also faciltating those women towards their resettlement in society.

To promote gender responsive service in line with our National Gender Policy Framework and our Strategic Plan (2013-2023). Under the Pillar, Integrated Detainee Management of our Strategic Plan it was proposed to set up an Open Prison for women in order to ease the tension which prevailed at the Women Section of the Central Prison at Beau Bassin. The Women Prison was for many years the only facility for women. Their male counterparts on the other hand enjoyed more facilities in terms of rehabilitation programmes under different regimes of Maximum, Medium and Minimum security prisons. An Open Prison for Men known as the Richelieu Open Prison was established in 1960 under the British Rule. It offers a range of rehabilitation programmes with additional privileges. The concept of an Open Prison is based on a statement made by Ian Patterson who said "You cannot train men for freedom in conditions of captivity".

The idea of setting up an Open Prison for women is related to the policy of our government to create and operate institutions which promote gender equity. Despite the fact that women detainees represent only 5% of the total prison population; the competent authorities in Mauritius have never hesitated to proceed with this initiative as in the long run it will definitely have a multiplier effect.

With the operationalisation of the Open Prison for Women in 2015, detention conditions for women have improved considerably. A new approach to rehabilitation of women detainees is being adopted especially with the concept of Self-Care. More space is now available for the implementation of rehabilitation programmes in the two facilities for women detainees. Women detainees from all categories including foreigners are allowed to participate in the rehabilitation process put in place by the Mauritius Prison Service. The new facility does not discriminate on any grounds when it comes to rehabilitation and resettlement of a detainee. As a matter of fact detainees of foreign nationals are also given the opportunity to spend part of their sentence in open conditions. In 2016, the Prison Management took a bold initiative to allow women detainees to participate in a national tree plantation campaign outside the prison walls as a community service; putting to earth endemic plants by the side of public roads. Under the Egg Laying Project, one woman detainee was provided with a Battery Cage upon release to allow her to embark on a micro business project of her own.

This initiative was materialized at the right time being given that this facility was limited to adult male prisoners only. Women detainees were not having this privilege and it was acting as a barrier towards their resettlement in the society. The Prison Authority had to convince the central government to allocate relevant resources that would help to address this initiative. The project was in line with the policy of the Government as we had the collaboration of the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Family Development. This project had eliminated some sort of discrimination that previously existed with respect to treatment and rehabilitation of prisoners in Mauritius.

This laudable initiative promotes treatment and rehabilitation which are in line with international standards. The Prison Department is not working in isolation in this project. Women prisoners are being empowered by Prison Staff and with the collaboration of the civil society including governmental organizations, religious groups and other non-state actors. There is well established protocol to allow the civil society to work with those women while they are in custody. Major improvements have been made to enable those women to have better contact with the outside world. They are enjoying contact visit; telephone facilities and Skype. The feedbacks received from their relatives are very welcoming as they enjoy calling on visits. The fact that the environment is conducive; it relives much anxieties from both prisoners and their relatives and ultimately to staff and society at large. It is a win-win situation.

Mauritius is undergoing a remarkable transformation. If we are to achieve our collective ambitions we must not leave any stone unturned. In order to have a safe society, criminality must be kept at bay. The degree of civilization of any society can be judged by the way its criminals are treated. Prisoners are among the vulnerable groups of the society as there is a great correlation between imprisonment and poverty. The SGDs embrace the need for economic development that leaves no one behind and gives everyone a fair chance of leading a decent life. This initiative is in line with gender-equity. The prison context is very unique as prisoners are one of society’s most marginalized and excluded groups. Besides, when women are in prison they have more specific issues to address compared to men. The need to have such an initiative in Mauritius was felt since long by various stakeholders and its implementation has already started to bring astonishing results in the lives of those women and their families.

This initiative is unique and original in the prison context in Mauritius. It may be available in other prison jurisdictions around the world but it has to reflect with the reality of the local context and which meets its needs and aspirations. The regime does not prevent detainees who are foreign nationals to be enlisted in the programme. It is definitely original in the local context as women detainees admitted thereat are not allowed to smoke and they have to participate in all programmes according to their sentence plan. We have not adapted our project based on other prison jurisdictions but rather established one facility for women based on the existing male facility with some improvements.

Financial and human resources were made available through budgetary provisions from the central government with the approval of our parent ministry. The MPS also took the initiative to use prison labour (prisoners and staff) in this project to minimize cost through its different workshops available in the various prisons in Mauritius.

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The initiative may be adapted in other countries taking into consideration the constraints and challenges of the specific jurisdictions. Government officials from various countries in the region visited this facility in Mauritius and were impressed. They stated that they would definitely duplicate this initiative in their respective prisons in Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, Congo, South Sudan and others.

The prison in Mauritius is playing a significant role within the Criminal Justice System as in other jurisdictions with a view to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda. This initiative is a vivid example of a project highlighting specific issues addressed in the targets and indicators. The commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ in implementing the SGDs must include people in prison who are overwhelmingly from poor socio-economic backgrounds. They are more likely to have lived below the poverty line. The impact on marginalized people is still bigger and women prisoners are one such group. The ‘feminisation of poverty’ has been identified as one likely cause for the increase in the women prison population despite being not alarming in Mauritius. There is a much higher prevalence of blood-related disease, substance dependency and mental illness among prisoners both as a cause and consequence of imprisonment. This initiative needs to be sustained and reviewed over time if we want to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.

This initiative has eliminated some sorts of discrimination as it was available for men only. This was made possible as it was initially earmarked in the Strategic Plan of the Mauritius Prison Service (2013-2023). It became a policy decision and budgetary provisions were made as it was respecting adherence to international standards. The prison staff posted thereat had to follow an Adaptation Course as they were previously in a high security facility. A Standard Operating Procedure has also been developed to allow staff to operate in a standardised way which would ultimately lead this ambitious project to be sustainable.

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Since the operationalization of Open Women Prison in 2015, formal visits and inspection have been carried out by internal and independent external mechanism. Internally supervisory grade officers working at the Open Prison for Women and representatives of top management including Commissioner of Prison regularly inspect the facility, talking with staff and inmates, while getting their feedbacks they put up their observation and recommendation to the Office of the Commissioner for consideration and follow up. There is also an external mechanism established under the Human Rights Act of Mauritius known as National Preventive Mechanism Division. This an independent inspection mechanism which was given unfetted access to the facility for inspection, interview and investigation on complaints made by detainees.

During its two years existence, both internal and external inspection mechanism have not registered any major complaint. There is a good rapport between staff and detainees as well as the relationship between management and operational team.

The following indicators were used: I. All those women detainees who have been released from this facility have not returned to prison II. Women detainees under this initiative find it easier to reintegrate society III. Staff posted to this unit are experiencing high job satisfaction with very insignificant absenteeism rate IV. No cases of escape from this facility and disturbances have been registered V. Level of hygiene and environmental issues

The prison plays a significant role in society and within the Criminal Justice System. It cannot function in isolation. In order to prepare prisoners for their social reintegration and provide them with adequate social support when they are released there is a need to enlist the services of organizations within the civil society. These may include academic institutions, training centers, governmental organizations, religious bodies and other non-state actors. Pre-Release training starts as soon as the sentence starts. Contacts with community agencies should be made while the prisoner is still in prison. This process definitely helps to investigate towards the possible existence of individual difficulties that might contribute to the pattern of offending and dealt with in time. The resettlement difficulties of prisoners released into the community are significantly reduced if the network of family , friends and support remains intact.

The concept of an Open Prison for Women in Mauritius was developed in a context of a nation-wide awareness on gender equality and gender- based violence. This initiative of the Mauritius Prison Service was fully supported by the Parent Ministry and other partners, governmental and non-governmental. With this project, a new concept of Prison Management and a new culture of gender equality are being adopted in the Mauritius Prison Service at all levels. With the implementation of a Quality Management System in two sections of the Department, namely Induction Unit (ISO Certified in 2013) and Training Unit (ISO Certified in 2016), a system of continual improvement is being followed. We are encouraging our staff to improve their skills and knowledge through a continuous process of learning from best practices. For instance Open Prison for Women is based on a concept of self care which is a Western Australian model. Staff at all levels is also encouraged to come up with new ideas related to the improvement of the new initiative.