The prisons are getting overcrowded and failing to prepare the inmates for life after their release, the NGO Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl said today. It noted that a young man recently died of a drug overdose just hours after his release from Corradino, and said the case raised a number of questions.

Despite the good work being done by those who ran the prison, the system was still failing, the NGO said.

Instead of healing the inmates and setting them on the right path, the system was, in many cases, making the situation worse .

It said the prisons were overcrowded and, for the first time, in some cases cells were holding two prisoners instead of one.

Clearly, the NGO said, there was need for effective reforms to prepare the inmates for life outside the walls.

The situation today was that the authorities were concentrating on the day-to-day running of the prisons.

There was need for more trained people and more programmes for the inmates. Only that way could the prisons become a correctional facility .

The NGO warned that the forthcoming introduction of parole would not be successful unless such programmes were in place.