Four doctors for 9089 inmates: Human rights violations rampant at Dhaka Central Jail
Shahariar Islam Sovon :
The total number of convicts in the country’s 68 prisons is more than one lakh. In Dhaka Central Jail (DCJ), the total number of prisoners is more than 9089.
Due to inadequate facilities and a lack of physicians, nurses, and ambulances, prisoners at Dhaka Central Jail do not receive enough medical care, which violates human rights as well.
Giving the dismal defiction the Deputy Jailer of Dhaka Central Jail said that there are 9089 detainees in his prison. But only four physicians, including one dentist are to attend them.
He further stated that doctors are uninterested in being appointed to the jail. As a result, there are not enough doctors to care for the convicts.
“It is simple to expand the number of physicians by appointing them to the jail for better health treatment if the government appoints them directly to the hospital, but it is not good manners to assign them directly to the prison,” he said to The New Nation.
According to the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolution 663 C under Article 11, all prisoner accommodation, particularly bedrooms, must fulfill all health criteria, with particular attention devoted to climatic conditions, including cubic content of air, minimum floor area, lighting, heating, and ventilation.
However, according to the Deputy Jailer of Dhaka Central Jail, 3-5 convicts are kept in a single room known as the ‘Shapla Building,’ but there is considerable uncertainty in this sector as to whether this environment is suitable for the prisoners’ health care or not.
However, he said that the prison is fairly large and that prisoners sleep on the floor.
When asked about the issue, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Dr. Tania Haque told The New Nation that each institution has its own set of laws and regulations and that any violations of those standards will have an impact on individuals.
“Overcrowding and a shortage of doctors are not good for the prisoner, and we will work on this issue with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and we will be focused so that prisoners’ human rights can be protected,” she said.
Md. Abdur Rahim, Assistant Professor and Head of the Law and Human Rights Department at the University of Asia Pacific, told The New Nation that the right to health’ is both a human and a constitutional right for a citizen, hence the government has a fundamental duty to provide for it.
Additionally, he said that “the majority of prisoners are not mentally stable because they are denied the love and care of their family members, which has an adverse impact on their health.
” “With overcrowded jails and limited healthcare facilities, the government’s ability to uphold international human rights standards for inmates grew more difficult,” he also added.
Without any doubt, the human rights of prisoners are a concern for society at large. In addition, several important international mechanisms exist to safeguard their rights.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) both forbid torture and other forms of inhuman treatment.
Earlier, The High Court ruled in January that prisoners in jail have a right to health care and that it must be provided.
The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali made the observation when the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Prof. Dr. Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, appeared before it in response to a writ petition regarding the recruitment of 48 doctors to vacant posts in the country’s prisons.
The court also directed the DG to take the appropriate steps to guarantee that individuals have access to health care around the clock.
