Life in Prison: Social Demise or Birth of a New Hope?

The reformative theory of punishment has gained much popularity over the last couple of centuries with the radical changes in social values, increased concerns for human rights, developments in criminal science and growing interest in the psychological causes of crime. The proponents of this theory advocate for treating the offenders as victims of society and urge to make efforts for their rehabilitation. And the institution expected to play the foremost role in putting this theory into practice is prison.

With the steady growth in support of the reformation of offenders, there have been demands for reformation of the prison systems all over the world. In order to make the wrongdoers confront their conscience, repent their actions and comprehend their consequences, prisons must be transformed to act more like a rehabilitation center than a penal institution. To ensure true reformation and  to eliminate the possibilities of relapse, programs must be designed for the post-release reintegration of the offenders. Many European countries like Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland have successfully reformed their prison system and are working for its further improvement. Independent institutions like Howard League for Penal Reform and CURE, initiatives like Right On Crime and various international corrections standards and guidelines also reflect this recent trend of reformative treatment of the offenders.

However, what has been the response of Bangladesh to this call for reformative treatment of prisoners? Has there been enough effort to elevate the existing prisons to international standards?

Regrettably the answer is in the negative. The existing prison system in Bangladesh is in a dire situation. The services, facilities and overall accommodation standard of the prisons are alarmingly poor. The government is struggling to secure even the basic rights of the prisoners let alone formulating effective programs for their reintegration. The list of challenges that must be overcome to modernize the prison system and meet the international standards are pretty long—overcrowded prisons, outdated laws, inadequate legal assistance, corrupted authorities, deficiency of budget, shortage of manpower, political influence, absence of strict monitoring system and awareness among officials about the rights of the prisoners.

In light of the above situation, reformation of the overall penal system of the country seems indispensable for the reintegration of offenders after they have served their sentences. Some internationally recognized frameworks and correctional outlines for the application of reformative principles are—separate prison based on age, sex and history of the offenders, educational program, vocational training, community service, religious activities, psychological and sociological tests, interaction with family, parole and probation. Along with these traditional programs, some unconventional and innovative mechanism are also being experimented with. And some of these are proving to be quite fruitful, for example-

1. training based on age, sex, health and history of convicts, nature and degree of his offence;
2. distinguishing prisoners reflecting on their actions from the ones following prison rules simply for the sake of parole or probation;
3. special training on social recuperation;
4. building relationship among the prisoners and the corrections, parole, probation and welfare officers;
5. denying convicts the opportunity to repeat their offence etc.

There have been a few initiatives on the national level to improve the prison system. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Prison Directorate have initiated a project with German Government to address the overcrowding situation of prisons.The higher authorities have also expressed their intention to formulate rules and policies for the improvement of prisons.  The progress of these initiatives are, however, too slow to bring any significant change to the current situation anytime soon.

Compared to the government, the non-governmental organizations have been doing some impressive work  for  promoting the rights of the prisoners. The Public Interest Litigation cell of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) has filed several writ petitions for the protection of the rights of the offenders and obtained favorable judgements. Recently it has conducted a study on the probation system of the country and submitted policy recommendations.

Reformation of the overall prison system through implementation of rehabilitation programs is not an easy undertaking. It will entail extensive policy making and a comprehensive overhaul of institutional framework. But the result it will bring in is equally rewarding. It will give the wrongdoers the opportunity to make the right choices and re-establish themselves as reformed and productive members of the society once again.

Citations:

Farah Sonda, “Life in Prison: Social Demise or Birth of a New Hope?”  (DHLR Blog, 5 September 2014) http://www.dhakalawreview.org/blog/2014/09/life-in-prison-social-demise-or-birth-of-a-new-hope-300

Farah Sonda Member since August 28, 2014

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Farah Sonda is a law student and a passionate writer. She loves to watch anime and writes series reviews online regularly. The academic achievements of Farah are equally raving. She received a gold medal from the education minister while in high school and the prestigious Shamailla Rahman Scholarship while in university. Farah has completed LLB and LLM from University of Dhaka.

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