The government’s singular attempt to address overcrowding can only be characterized as missing the point: In April 2011, authorities in Bantey Meanchey transferred 38 accused drug users from prison to a local “drug treatment” center run by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSAVY) – essentially another prison. A Human Rights Watch report described similar facilities run by the same ministry as being havens of torture, physical and sexual violence, and other depravity.
All of this means that Cambodia’s prisons are still bursting at the seams. At least 12 facilities are at or near double their intended capacity, and some are allocating less than one square meter of cell space per inmate. Construction of new prisons and cells continues, but it is clearly not enough.