Sri Lanka, July 9 -- That single reality should compel a serious national conversation.

This is no longer merely a matter of prison administration. It is a crisis of criminal justice policy, public security, institutional capacity, public expenditure and human dignity. It places an extraordinary burden on prison officers, exposes persons in State custody to unacceptable risks, undermines any meaningful prospect of rehabilitation and creates conditions in which a relatively limited disturbance can rapidly become a major security crisis.

When an institution is forced to operate at several times its intended capacity, the consequences are predictable. Human beings are packed into intolerable spaces. Sanitation deteriorates.

When somet...