While showing the strains of overcrowding and, in some facilities, understaffing, the Hong Kong prison system has much to recommend it. To begin with, the territory's prisons are administered by an extremely competent and professional corps of correctional officers. Under their vigilance, the prisons are relatively safe and secure, and serious physical violence is a rare occurrence. The physical infrastructure of the prison system is, with the exception of a couple of facilities, in very good shape. The Prison Rules that regulate the operation of the prisons, particularly after their recent amendment, reflect a healthy concern for prisoners' fundamental rights: among other provisions, they do not allow corporal punishment; they carefully limit the use of mechanical restraints, and they specifically enumerate the types of conduct that constitute disciplinary offenses and the ways in which such offenses may be punished.

The Prison Rules set high aspirations for the prisons' operation. They declare, as a guiding precept, that prison officers should "be firm in maintaining order and discipline," while, at the same time, treating prisoners "with kindness and humanity." The high degree of order and regimentation that the Human Rights Watch/Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor observed in Hong Kong's penal institutions leaves no doubt that the first injunction is obeyed. It is largely with regard to the second rule -- which, stated in the broader terms of international human rights norms, means that a prison system should accord due respect for the dignity and humanity of the persons confined within it -- that the delegation had some concerns.

With respect to a few important factors, the Hong Kong prison system is less than exemplary, even though it is generally in compliance with international standards. Overcrowding, which is a problem now and, according to official estimates, will be continue to be problem for the foreseeable future, has stretched the system's resources. Cells that were designed for one prisoner often hold two, and, during times of particularly high congestion, even three prisoners. Dormitories are crowded.

Even though the Hong Kong prison system does a generally good job of keeping inmates occupied, overcrowding means that activities are fewer and less meaningful. Cotton ball and envelope-making, for example, tasks that the delegation observed in several facilities, hardly equip inmates with the skills necessary to find employment upon release. The combination of greater overcrowding and less meaningful ways of passing the time also aggravates the tensions which result in outbursts of inmate-on-inmate violence.

These strains are particularly evident with regard to unconvicted prisoners -- prisoners who are presumed innocent and are supposed to be treated as such. In particular, the unremitting idleness of such prisoners, a problem that the delegation observed in every facility that houses them, is of serious concern.

The prison system's focus on discipline and control, which may even be exacerbated under the pressures of overcrowding, is not an unmitigated blessing. On the positive side, the whole of the prisons, including prisoners' living areas, are exceptionally clean and orderly. The generally good standards of sanitation and hygiene (except for a couple of facilities that lack in-cell toilets) manifest a respect for prisoners' dignity and self-worth. On the other hand, prisoners enjoy little privacy and few opportunities for personal expression. Because of a series of restrictions on personal items and their use, the living accommodations are rather sterile.

More importantly, the prison system still maintains unnecessarily stringent controls over inmates' contacts with the outside world. Among their adverse effects,

these restrictions bode poorly for prisoners' future readjustment back into society, when they will need the social connection of family and friends. For many prisoners, visits are too infrequent and too short. Moreover, prisoners in higher security facilities, who are only allowed "closed" visits, are separated from their visitors by a plexiglass barrier and must speak to them via a telephone/intercom system. The resulting ban on all personal contact does have the intended effect of keeping out drugs and other contraband, which are at the root of many serious problems in other prison systems, but it exacts a high cost, particularly in relations between parents and their children.

Another obstacle to the maintenance of good family relations is the lack of regular access to telephones. This is a particularly important issue for foreign prisoners -- who are numerous in Hong Kong -- and for those whose family members, because of illness, old age, or other reasons, cannot easily travel to the prisons.

Fortunately, some restrictions on prisoners' contacts with outsiders have been greatly relaxed in the past few years. Most recently, in a detailed set of amendments, improvements with regard to prisoners' correspondence and the censorship of incoming materials were formally incorporated into the Prison Rules. Among other reforms, prisoners can now write unlimited letters and can contact representatives of the media and outside organizations.

These are welcome developments, raising hopes that other similar improvements will be instituted in the future. But even now, it should be emphasized, the Human Rights Watch/Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor delegation was favorably impressed with the functioning of Hong Kong's penal facilities. The filth, corruption, extreme violence, lack of adequate food and medical care, and corporal punishments that afflict the great majority of the world's prisoners are not an issue in the Hong Kong prison system. The U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are, to a notable degree, respected.

Unfortunately, the generally good conditions and treatment that characterize the territory's penal facilities were not, in the view of the delegation, equally in evidence at the High Island Detention Centre, a closed camp for Vietnamese asylum-seekers. The prison authorities emphasized to the delegation that Vietnamese detainees are not treated like ordinary prisoners: they are not subject to prison discipline; they are not made to work, and they are allowed to live in mixed-sex family groups. Other aspects of the distinction drawn between the Vietnamese and persons held for penal reasons are, however, less defensible. In contrast to the excellent maintenance of most prisons, the High Island camp was in serious need of repairs. Many mechanical objects were broken and, most notably, the sanitary facilities -- located in filthy, smelly, dark, and bug-infested shipping containers -- were barely functioning.

The problems at High Island, as well as the inevitable uncertainty about future changes, militate in favor of establishing an inspectorate charged with providing outside oversight of conditions in Hong Kong's penal and detention facilities. Although there is a superficial profusion of prison monitoring bodies in the territory -- including the CSD's internal bodies, visiting justices of the peace, and the ombudsman -- the protection provided by these bodies is incomplete. At present, there is no group or institution with full and unrestricted access to the prisons that has the freedom to criticize and, if necessary, to draw public attention to abuses. Because of the pressing need for transparency and accountability in the operation of prisons, an inspectorate would be a great asset to the prison system.