by Vannak LACH
Prison is supposed to be a place where bad people become re-educated in order to return to society as a better person. For Cambodian prisons, this is not true. A few ex-inmates however do claim to have changed – some with the help of god.
“In prison, the convicted grow accustomed to the brutal conditions and they become even crueler,” says Chou Potita. Prison is not a place where people “learn to lead a life without crime.”
Chou Potita should know. The thirty-five year old was just released from Municipal Prison where he spent three years of his life. The embezzlement of a large sum of money from one of Cambodia’s big gas companies got him there; he never denied the charges.
“In prison, people are classified”, says Potita. “The rich have power and get protection from prison officers, the poor always suffer. Discrimination, corruption and unfairness exist just like outside.” This discovery seems to have shocked the man who used to mix with the more powerful and rich himself, before he was imprisoned.
Potita himself became a victim when he was assaulted and humiliated in the prison. He recounts how one day, “I was exercising, when a newcomer with his gang came and took off my shorts in front of a crowd of people and beat me. When the prison guards came they blamed me and banned me from exercising for a month.” His assailants were known to have money, he says, and that was why the prison guards favored them.
“A prison guard once even told me, ‘money, not justice, rules in here’”, says Potita who once served as an officer for the government himself. “I always used my money to influence the people around me. Most of my life, I was the one who had control over others, but in prison, I had no control.” Torn between helpless desperation and great anger, between suicidal thoughts and the wish to do away with others, he finally formed a gang to protect himself.
“I thought that after my release, we could rob and kidnap the rich and use the money to bribe officers to discharge other prisoners, so our gang could grow.” This plan no longer exists, after what Potita calls “the guidance of a Christian missionary” entered his life.
“If prison is not changing us to the better, then we have to start changing ourselves,” says Potita confidently.
“Christ helped me change and allows me to live peacefully.” He says that his belief also gives him the strength to openly admit that he was in prison. If this is why people dislike him, he hopes to change their attitude to him and possibly towards other ex-inmates by living a sober life.
“I never cared about what others said,” he says. “Now, that helps me; I just try to be good.”
The Bright Future Project aims to educate prisoners and help them when they are released. It also provides new hope for Potita. He volunteers with the project under the umbrella of the Community Enrichment Alliance International (CEAI), a Christian organization with South Korean support which focuses on agriculture, healthcare, and education in remote areas. The plan is to create an organization which will focus on educating and training ex-inmates and to help them to find jobs.
“Potita was an aggressive and hot-tempered person before, but now he has changed for the better,” says Ny Sambath who is running the project to which Potita hopes to contribute with his experience and past good relationships with many businessmen. Potita’s ultimate goal is to run an organization which helps released convicts to set up small businesses. “Ex-inmates can work together,” he adds, “we want to help them because we know how they feel.”
Sam Phirum, a 24-year old ex-inmate appreciates such support. He had to give up high school after he was convicted of armed robbery and is now released, looking for a job. In the prison, he says, Potita helped him to deal with frustration.
Potita himself has not found a job yet and says that this is because Khmer society still discriminates against ex-inmates. Now his goal is to create a job for himself as well as for other prisoners after their release.
Around 30 students are already undergoing training in English, computers, publishing and music, he says. But their goal is more than that. Potita and Sambath work very hard to strike against discrimination and to prove to society that they are strong enough to stand by themselves and to gain respect through honorable work.
“One day all people will acknowledge us for making a change and becoming good people, and no longer look at us as prisoners.”
###
Advertisement
