Assignment 02
Khulna University
On
The Prison System in Bangladesh
Course Name: Criminology
Course Code: LJ 3151
Date of Submission: 10 May 2022
Prison System in Bangladesh
Vision: Keep safe, show the way of light
Introduction
A prison is a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment. Historically the prisons of Bangladesh are primarily concerned with punishing offenders through incarceration. Bangladesh is far behind in conforming to international standards for prisons. It has not yet been able to implement all the recommended reforms. Bangladesh is committed to treating "all persons deprived of liberty with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” Bangladesh is also committed to segregating under-trial prisoners convicts and juveniles from adults, bringing prisoners as early as possible to trial, and ensuring the humane treatment of all persons in custody. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners provides guidelines for the fair treatment of prisoners and the management of prisons. It requires states to observe the fundamental principles of security of life, health, personal integrity, and non-discrimination in the treatment of prisoners, and to create conditions that allow prisoners on release to adjust and integrate into normal community life. It further requires the jail administration to respect prisoners’ right to information regarding jail regulations, as well as rights to religious belief and communication with the family, and to notify the family of a prisoner's death illness.
Definition of Prison:
The word prison is the Synonym of the word jail or gaol or penitentiary that has been defined as a place properly arranged and equipped for reception of persons who by legal process are committed to it for safe custody while awaiting trial or for punishment. In Prison individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of personal prison are conventional institutions which form part of the criminal Justice System of the country, such that imprisonment or incarceration is a legal Penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of crime.
Background of Bangladesh Prison
The existing prison system of the country was introduced by the British rulers. It came into being as a weapon of control and suppression to protect the colonial interest of the British rulers. It was never designed as an institution for correction. In course of time, the colonial rulers felt the necessity to bring some reforms, but that also was limited mostly in the management aspects than in the system itself. A series of prison reform committees were formed in 1836, 1864, 1889, and 1892. The recommendations of these committees were consolidated in 1894 and later in 1900, it appeared as the first-ever Prisons Act of the region. In line with this Act the first ever jail reform took place in 1937. The present Jail Code of 1864 is the compilation of orders, internal circulars, and notifications issued from time to time since 1863. The laws governing Bangladesh prisons, namely-the Prison Act of 1894, its accompanying Rules, and a range of internally issued circulars, notices, and orders Jail Code of 1920; The Civil Procedure Code,1908 the Penal Code 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, the Lunacy Act 1912 and the Children's Act 1974 The Special Power Act,1974
Types of Prisons
There are eighty prisons in Bangladesh of which nine are central jails, fifty-five are district jails and sixteen jails are at the Upazila level. Apart from these formal prisons, vagrant homes and juvenile correction centers are the extended forms of prisons. At present there are six vagrant homes' ' and two correction centers in the country run under the control and supervision of the Department of Social Services. People apprehended by police on different grounds of vagrancy etc. and alleged juvenile offenders are kept in these institutions until their legal guardians are found or terms of detention are over or are “properly rectified”. There are nine central Jails in Bangladesh. Dhaka Central Jail Dhaka Central Jail Unit-1, Kashimpur, Gazipur, Dhaka Central Jail Unit-2, Kashimpur, Gazipur Dhaka Central Jail Unit-3, Kashimpur, Gazipur 2. Chittagong Central Jail 3. Mymensingh Central Jail 4. Rajshahi Central Jail 5. Comilla Central Jail 6. Jessore Central Jail 7. Sylhet Central Jail 8. Barisal Central Jail 9. Rangpur Central Jail
The 80 prisons in Bangladesh can be divided into two major types:
Central Jails: Central Jails are for the confinement of prisoners under trial, administrative detainees, and convicted prisoners sentenced to a term of imprisonment, including imprisonment for life, and the death sentence. There are nine such central jails, which could also be called maximum-security prisons.
District Jails: District Jails located at the district's headquarters are used for the confinement of all categories of prisoners, except those convicted prisoners whose sentence exceeds 5 years. District jails also hold long-term convicted prisoners if ordered by the Inspector General of Prisons/Deputy Inspector General of Prisons. There are 55 such district jails, which could be called "medium security prisons." There are other two kinds of Jails in Bangladesh Sub Jails- Sub Jails are located at the administrative headquarter of a sub-division. They mainly hold the under-trial prisoners and short-term convicted prisoners. The design capacity ranges from 70 to 200. In addition to central and district jails, there are 16 Thana jails, known as "detention houses," located at 16 Thana headquarters. If Thana jails are included, there are some 80 jails in Bangladesh.
Prison Administration
The Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Directorate of Prisons, exercises overall responsibility for the proper management of the prison system. One Inspector General works as the chief of Bangladesh called IG prison. There is also a post of Additional Inspector General in each prison administered by sergeants, guards, and other prison staff, under the supervision of the Superintendent of Jails. In the districts, the highest civilian official, the Deputy Commissioner, oversees the working of the jails and is expected, along with district judicial officers, to visit the jails to supervise their management and receive complaints, if any, from the prisoners. Health services to them are provided by the staff of the district hospital.
The hierarchy of Prison Administration
Inspector General of Prison
Additional Inspector General of Prison
Deputy Inspector General of Prison
Senior Jail Super
Junior Consultant Sub-Jail
Assistant Sergeant Jail
Chief Deputy Superintendent Jail
Superintendent Metron Jailor Jail
Jail Guard Instructor
Jailor Guard Inspector
Source :( Justice for Children, Annual Report 2001)
The government has recently established a new jail in Kashimpur of Gazipur to reduce the pressure on the over-crowded Dhaka Central Jail, on 120 acres of land with the capacity of 2000 male and 300 female prisoners. Some 200 prisoners have already been transferred to Kashimpur jail. Constructions of new jails are also in progress in the new districts.
All the jails in Bangladesh can accommodate a total of twenty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-eight (24, 538) prisoners. In an estimate (in 2001) a total of sixty-four thousand eight hundred and ninety (64,890) prisoners were staying in the jails, which means the number of prisoners in the jail is three times higher than the actual capacity. Of them, 1,827 are women, and 1029 are children, including 129 girl children. In 1991 the figure was only forty thousand. In the last decade, the number of total prisoners has increased twenty-one thousand, whereas the capacity of the jails increased only by about three thousand. In 2001, a survey was conducted in different jails to find out the actual number of women and their children living in the jails against the capacity of the jails. Women and Children living in different jails in 2001.
Obstacle Of the Prison System
The prisoner has faced that Problems:
Bangladesh’s prisons are severely overcrowded with people who have yet to be convicted and are awaiting trial. They make up a staggering 72% of the prison population. These prisoners rarely have access to legal assistance. The length of pre-trial detention is often extended with many prisoners spending months or years awaiting a court date. Many will stay in prison for far longer than the sentence they would have served if they had been convicted of their accused crime. It is also a common occurrence for people to be detained for minor offenses – which can be associated in many cases to poverty.No doubt, the sheer number of prisoners in the prison services’ most pressing issue. Ten years ago, there were 44,000 prisoners; today the number has risen to approximately 70,000. However, the prison system was designed to house a mere 28,969 inmates. The country is incarcerating more than two and a half times as many. The severe overcrowding in the prison system prevents resolving issues that with a smaller population could be tackled. For example, crowded prisons are renowned across the world for contributing to high levels of infectious disease. The lack of space impacts upon resources available for rehabilitation; there is only a very basic education available in Bangladesh prisons and the availability of work or vocational training is inconsistent.
Within a prison system that is struggling with such daunting challenges, the young, the mentally ill, those addicted to alcohol or drugs, and women suffer the most. Prisons are simply not designed to support vulnerable inmates such as these. It is accepted practice in Bangladesh to hold vulnerable people in “safe custody”, where they will be imprisoned for their “safety” rather than because they have committed any sort of crime. Furthermore, there are neither procedures to assess the needs of prisoners nor the risks they may pose to others. Many prisoners are treated as ‘high risk’ when they may not need to be, wasting precious resources and money.
Prisoner, Lost in jail:
Thirty-two-year-old Rahim (not his real name), a CNG driver and the main wage earner for a seven-member family, was arrested on accusation of theft in 2007. The case was filed with a local police station and he was taken to jail – and forgiven.
Rahim is a victim of the “on call” situation prevalent in Bangladesh. When the court announced a date for his trial, they issued a production warrant to the prison authority. However, the production warrant never reached his prison. When the case date arrived, Rahim failed to appear in court and was thus recorded as an absconder. Oblivious to his court order, Rahim was in prison awaiting his court date. This went on for three years. Rahim’s story is only one among hundreds of others who languish in prison without a trial; 72% of inmates in Bangladesh are untried and therefore legally innocent. In most cases, they are poor people with no lawyers to defend them and no idea about their legal rights.
Political Prisoners:
The government stated that it held no political prisoners; however, opposition parties and human rights monitors claimed the government arrested many political activists and convicted them on unfounded criminal charges; NGOs did not have access to prisoners. On April 30, a Dhaka court granted bail to and released Salah Uddin Shoaib Chaudhury, who was detained at the airport for his attempted 2003 travel to Israel. The ordinance also gives the government the authority to prevent phone operators from delivering messages, in the interest of national security. In cases of national emergency, the government can revoke any permit to provide communications services, without providing compensation to the holder of the license. The ordinance went into effect during a recess in parliament, but must be approved as soon as parliament returns to become permanent law. Police, even in cases not affiliated with the SPA, rarely obtained warrants, and officers violating these procedures were not punished. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) claimed that police monitored journalists’ emails. The Special Branch of the police, National Security, Intelligence, and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence employed informers to report on and conduct surveillance on citizens perceived to be political opponents of the government. The censor board requested the deletion of a line in the movie “My Architect” that misidentified the country as the poorest in the world during an August screening of the film. In April 2004 the government confiscated the April 2 issue of the Indian magazine, Desh, for using indecent words about Adam and Eve. In April 2004 the government forbade Time magazine from being placed in government establishments, including on the national airline, because of its negative portrayal of the country.
Capacity of Prisons in Bangladesh
The Prison of Bangladesh has accommodation for about 27,300 prisoners. But on average 80-90 thousand prisoners live in those prisons. As a result of holding more inmates than the capacity, prisons become incompatible for prisoners and providing proper service and facilities became a tough task.
Here is a scenery of prison of Bangladesh
A jail is designed for short periods only, it tends to have fewer amenities than a prison. Individuals who are being housed in jail have access to bathrooms and are provided with food and water, and in a low-security jail, they may be able to socialize in common areas during certain periods of the day. Most jails are designed to hold a very small number of criminals and have relatively lax security when compared to prisons, although in areas prone to violence, a jail may be run along very strict lines. A jail houses people who have been convicted to serve a short sentence, individuals awaiting trial, people who have not yet paid bail, and detainees who have just been picked up on suspicion of committing a crime. The criminals are processed through a booking procedure, and the criminal justice system decides what to do with them after that.
Steps in the right direction for Prisoner:
Despite these issues, the Government of Bangladesh has shown commitment to improving the situation in prisons and considering the overall reform of the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Prison Directorate is working with the support of the German Government through the Deutsche
In three pilot prisons (out of 68 prisons in total) these paralegals have been able to identify a large number of prisoners who should not be in prison, either because they have already been imprisoned for longer than their supposed sentence or because they are innocent. The work of the paralegals has had a significant impact on reducing overcrowding in these pilot prisons. To date, 1057 prisoners have been released. The approach is therefore likely to be rolled out to further prisons in Bangladesh in the future.
Conclusion
Failure to improve the living conditions in Bangladesh prisons may lead to extreme anguish among the prisoners, and may direct them to take violent public attention drawing activities, like hunger strikes, selfmutilation, rioting, and other forms of dissent. Anyway Reforms, particularly prison reforms to deal with human security in our prisons, are understandably difficult to achieve. However, they can be brought about if concerted efforts are made by both governments. agencies in charge of prison administration and NGOs and civil society to improve prison systems. The govt. has taken up some projects to promote welfare of the inmates and bring them back to be integrated in society. Hopefully all concerned will take it as a moral commitment for upgrading human dignity.
A prison is capable of handling far more prisoners than a jail is, and the prisoners are typically segregated on the basis of the types of crimes that they have been convicted of, as a safety precaution. In addition, in countries which still have capital punishment, a prison maintains facilities to carry out capital sentences, along with housing for criminals sentenced to this type of punishment. In general, the prison facility as a whole is very tightly secured, even if not all the criminals inside are violent, to prevent escapes or potential violence between wings of the prison. Prison staff are specially trained to work in a prison environment, and a board of governors appointed by the state oversees prison management.
Relevant Codes:
The Jail Code,1894
The Civil Procedure Code,1908
The Penal Code,1860
The Criminal Procedure Code,1998
Reference:
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Norman, S. (2018). Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency under the Criminal Justice System in Bangladesh: An Overview. Build Law Journal, 3(2), 53-81.
Noman, S., 2018. Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency under the Criminal Justice System in Bangladesh: An Overview. Build Law Journal, 3(2), pp.53-81.
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