Jails should not be another crime zone

IRREGULARITIES and corruptions in jails have become a regular phenomenon, especially when the concerned authority shows inefficacy in maintaining the law and order situation inside the jails. The New Nation on Sunday reported that the committee formed early this year submitted its report in the Cabinet meeting hold last Wednesday with 20 recommendations to improve the conditions prevailing in the jails around the country. Any effort to develop the human rights situation in the prisons is outwardly praiseworthy. Therefore, we hail the initiative and hope that the government would improve the jail scenario in a way which would enhance the respect shown to prisoners.
As per the report, substandard foods are served among the prisoners, and the financially solvent prisoners manage hospital beds pretending serious illness and good accommodation inside the jails by bribing the authority concerned. Regrettably, the financially weak prisoners are not taken into accounts and they are routinely ill-treated. Besides, some listed convicted criminals control the crimes done outside the jails through their agents or hired goons. This apprehension leads the criminologists to think whether the prisons in Bangladesh are subsidized only to create criminals.
The prisons of Bangladesh have accommodation for about 27,300 prisoners. But the total prison population in Bangladesh (including the detainees in jail awaiting trial, but not those detained in police stations) is approximately 85 to 90 thousands which is 3.5 times greater than the maximum prison capacity. As a result, prisons have become incompatible for prisoners and providing proper services and facilities has become a tough task.
The prisons are governed by laws, which date back to the 19th Century. Many people, particularly, the poor become entangled in the penal system where they face violations of human rights. Many prisoners languish in jail awaiting trial and spend several years imprisoned without any legal support.
Though it is very common on the government part not to admit keeping political prisoners, however, opposition parties and human rights monitors are claiming many political arrestees are convicted on unfounded criminal charges. More surprisingly, the country’s underworld is ruled over from the jails. The hardened criminals most often take shelter in jails as it has become a haven to operate their operations around the country as they remain safer under government custody.
The punitive actions through jails do not signify the rule of law in the country. Rather it mocks the failed efforts of the authorities concerned while curative or reformative measures are not taken to rehabilitate the wrongdoers. Therefore, propensity of crimes are not reduced, rather it induces many to take illegal paths. The authority meanwhile resorts to grabbing power unlawfully and oppresses the opposition through jail. It may be defined as just another crime zone which too often violates the human rights of the masses.