The country’s capital is getting smaller by the day. With more than 150,000 people living in Thimphu, the number of cars and permanent structures has been increasingly taking up much of the space. The situation is no different in the detention centre of the Thimphu Central Police Station. The centre has more inmates than its capacity despite establishing two facilities at the North and South Police Stations.
Located in the heart of the town, the detention centre is a grim reminder of what will happen if you break the law. But the message seems to be failing since the facility is never short of guests. The facility can accommodate a little more than 60 inmates. However, there are close to a hundred inmates crammed there as of Thursday.
The police claimed the daily intensive patrolling they conduct also contributed to the high number of detainees at the facility.
According to the police, they are closely observing the entertainment centres to keep crime under control in order to reduce the number of prisoners held in detention in the future. Records with police show that the crime rate as a whole has decreased but there is an increase in youth problems like battery and assault.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly visited the detention centre last year to study the situation of the centre. As part of their parliamentary duty, the committee visits prison cells from time to time to understand the situation and provides recommendations to the government.
During their visit, they found that the centre was housing inmates beyond the given capacity and police are under stress. They said it’s high time for the government to look into the matter and allocate a budget for separate detention. They recommended addressing the issues urgently.
While opening another detention centre might solve the overcrowding issue for quite some time, it is safe to say that this will not be the longtime solution. People coming into conflict with the law will keep on increasing burdening the detention centre so long as they are not educated to understand the law and the implications of breaking the law.
Pema Seldon Tshering
Edited by Sonam
