Improvement of the Real Situation of Overcrowding in Prisons in Bangladesh (IRSOP) [A joint project of Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and GIZ]
Key Statistics December 2018 Official capacity of Actual population in
Prisoners in Bangladesh 36,714 Prisons 90,375 As of 30/11/2018 | Source: Prisons Directorate, Bangladesh
Achievements by the Paralegal Advisory Services (PAS) from March’09 to December’18 Prisoners assisted Released on Bail, 1,22,175 - Discharged and Acquitted* 20,757
Achievements by the Paralegal Advisory Services (PAS) from December’13 to December’18
PAS Interventions Persons assisted in 6,30,333 Court and Police Station 2,70,124
Prisoners released through project interventions from January’09 to December’18 Released on Bail, Name of the Prison Official Capacity Actual Prisoners Under trial Convicted Discharged & Acquitted* Barishal Central Jail 633 1598 1197 75% 401 25% 815 Bogura District Jail 720 2342 2071 88% 271 12% 2447 Brahmanbaria District Jail 504 1652 1366 83% 286 17% 154 Chandpur District Jail 200 1146 1020 89% 126 11% 657 Chattogram Central Jail 1853 10984 10326 94% 658 6% 965 Cumilla Central Jail 1742 3143 2455 78% 688 22% 976 Dhaka Central Jail 4590 11786 10589 90% 1197 10% 5154 Dinajpur District Jail*** 2000 1546 1241 80% 305 20% 285 Faridpur District Jail 719 1219 1086 89% 133 11% 229 Gaibandha District Jail 200 1068 962 90% 106 10% 87 Gazipur District Jail 207 1398 1310 94% 88 6% 199 Gopalganj District Jail 348 380 316 83% 64 17% 620 Jhenaidah District Jail 200 795 667 84% 128 16% 190 Jashore Central Jail 1919 915 794 87% 121 13% 460 Kashimpur Central Jail-I 548 2156 1788 83% 368 17% Kashimpur Central Jail-II 2000 4428 3611 82% 817 18% ** Kashimpur Central Jail-III 200 853 721 85% 132 15% Khulna District Jail 608 1906 1605 84% 301 16% 376 Kishoreganj District Jail*** 245 1424 1145 80% 279 20% 330 Kustia District Jail 600 822 619 75% 203 25% 235 Madaripur District Jail 110 586 548 94% 38 6% 1543 Manikganj District Jail 100 822 670 82% 152 18% 198 Moulvibazar District Jail 316 783 702 90% 81 10% 250 Munshiganj District Jail*** 164 952 815 86% 137 14% 53 Mymensingh Central Jail 996 1976 1541 78% 435 22% 473 Naogaon District Jail 587 1249 1125 90% 124 10% 57 Narayangonj District Jail*** 200 1925 1716 89% 209 11% 80 Narsingdi District Jail 244 1335 1240 93% 95 7% 404 Natore District Jail*** 200 855 550 64% 305 36% 24 Netrokona District Jail*** 400 1023 852 83% 171 17% 6 Noakhali District Jail*** 388 1104 930 84% 174 16% 29 Pabna District Jail*** 571 1682 1360 81% 322 19% 111 Patuakhali District Jail 278 754 646 86% 108 14% 140 Rajshahi Central Jail 1460 3386 2190 65% 1196 35% 1318 Rangpur Central Jail 1279 1541 1074 70% 467 30% 585 Satkhira District Jail*** 400 1097 994 91% 103 9% 76 Shariatpur District Jail*** 200 249 203 82% 46 18% 246 Sherpur District Jail*** 100 678 582 86% 96 14% 28 Sirajganj District Jail 200 1342 1158 86% 184 14% 246 Sunamganj District Jail 435 828 733 89% 95 11% 50 Sylhet Central Jail 1210 2763 1977 72% 785 28% 559 Tangail District Jail*** 467 1431 1152 81% 279 19% 31 Thakurgaon District Jail 168 416 360 87% 56 13% 71 Total 30,509 80,338 68,007 85% 12330 15% 20757 * Project activities started in Dhaka, Bogura and Madaripur from January 2009, Rangpur and Mymensingh from December 2013, Cumilla, Dinajpur, Chandpur, Narsingdi, Gopalganj from August 2014, Chattagram, Rajshahi, Jashore, Barishal, Shariatpur from October 2014, Sylhet, Faridpur, Khulna from April 2015 and Moulvibazar and Kishoreganj from August 2015. Gaibandha, Gazipur, Jhenaidah, Kustia, Manikganj, Pabna, Patuakhali, Satkhira, Sirajganj and Thakurgaon started in April 2016. Tangail, Natore, Sherpur, Noakhali and Munshiganj in March 2017, Brahman Baria, Narayanganj, Netrokona May 2017 and Naogaon, Sunamganj in July 2017. ** Cumulative figure of prisoners released on bail, discharged and acquitted from Kashimpur Central Jail I, II and III are included in Dhaka Central Jail. *** Project has downsized its activities in these districts
Improvement of the Real Situation of
Overcrowding in Prisons in Bangladesh (IRSOP)
In 2008, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), Bangladesh, and the Prison Directorate initiated the project, Improvement of the Real Situation of Overcrowding in Prisons in Bangladesh (IRSOP). The project recruited and trained eighteen paralegals, five of them women, who began providing free legal aid to prisoners and their families in three pilot districts (five prisons), while also assisting lawyers, the police, and the courts. Their work was very successful that the MoHA and the Prison Directorate expanded the project across the country. Work in the prisons is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). In January 2013, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) agreed to provide the finance needed to expand the project to 40 districts (43 prisons) by 2018 and to initiate measures to divert people away from the criminal justice system and prevent them from re-offending after they leave prison. Paralegals are not lawyers; they are like paramedics in the health care system. After being trained and mentored, they start working in prisons, courts and police stations within an agreed Code of Conduct with prison authorities and police. They perform as the lubricant in the criminal justice process. Every day, the paralegals enter the lock ups of different prisons in various districts of Bangladesh. They remain there for two to three hours, during which they interview 20 to 30 people. The paralegals present the information they have gathered to the District Legal Aid Committee or a panel lawyer from one of the four NGOs supporting the project (BRAC, Bangladesh Legal Aid & Services Trust (BLAST), RDRS-Bangladesh and Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA) and request appropriate action. The data is also given to the Case Coordination Committees formed under the project, which meet once a month under the joint chairmanship of the District and Sessions Judge and the Deputy Commissioner. Representatives of all relevant stakeholders (judges, magistrates, administration, police, public prosecutor, bar association, Department of Women and Children Affairs, Department of Social Welfare, Department of Narcotics Control, partner NGOs, and civil society) attend the meeting and attempt to resolve long pending cases expeditiously and find local solutions to local problems related to the prison population and the case backlog. The paralegals also conduct Paralegal Aid Clinics inside the prisons to educate prisoners so they can use knowledge of the legal system in their own cases. Topics covered include bail, court manners, guilty plea, government legal aid, different stages of the judicial process, compoundable cases, arrest, and sentencing. The information is conveyed by way of theatre – with prisoners themselves playing the role of lawyers and magistrates – and through songs, a number of which were written by the paralegals themselves. In police stations, paralegals provide support to arrestees, helping them to understand the procedures and their options. They identify cases that can be diverted out of the system and resolved through a restorative justice conference in the community. Outside the courts, they inform prisoners and family members of the court setup and procedures, take steps to ensure that witnesses appear at the right time, and arrange surety for prisoners who have been granted bail. They follow up individual cases from the prisons, courts and police stations. One of the reasons that the prison population is so high is that petty cases, such as theft, vandalism, and drugs clog the system. One highly effective means of diverting people out of the criminal justice system and away from prison is restorative justice, which brings offender and victim together in a dialogue, helping them to understand each other. Such a conversation, guided by a trained mediator, often ends with an agreement between victim and perpetrator on compensation or restitution, thus closing the circle with healing instead of antagonism and punishment. Restorative justice builds on mediation, which has a long tradition in Bangladesh. The Madaripur Mediation Model, developed by the Madaripur Legal Aid Association, is widely used all over the country and also outside Bangladesh. IRSOP project, working with its partners at the local level – Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA), Light House, Agragati Sangstha and RDRS-Bangladesh has already trained people from the community with extensive mediation experience as restorative justice master trainers. Competency-based skill development, vocational training and employment opportunities are ways of offering prisoners a chance to reintegrate into society and to close the ‘revolving door’ of recidivism. Dhaka Ahsania Mission is providing drug treatment and skill training inside and outside the prisons, before and after release. There are too many prisoners, and they are in prison for too long, often for petty crimes. Even if they are eventually released, they have little chance of rebuilding their lives. Many face homelessness, health problems, or drug addiction upon release. IRSOP wants to help them to get a second chance everyone deserves.