Recommendations Concerning the Practice of Solitary Confinement in Hong Kong

1. Introduction

Solitary confinement is an outdated and counterproductive practice that directly is causing Hong Kong’s social and economic development to slow down. It poses serious health risks to all prisoners who are subject to it, goes against any modern notion of human rights, flies in the face of research on how to most effectively administrate a prison, and contributes to severe social and economic losses, as it is harmful to prisoners’ rehabilitation and increases recidivism.

As such, Society for Community Organization as instigated this report to investigate the issue related to the practice of solitary confinement and how Hong Kong from a policy standpoint should react to this information. This has culminated in this report and a call for a reformation of the current prison rules. We believe that this is an absolutely necessary step in assuring that Hong Kong maintains its current position as one of the leading territories in Asia in terms of social and economic development.