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 January 2019 Official capacity of Actual population in Prisoners in Bangladesh 40,664 Prisons 89,506 As of 31/01/2019 | Source: Prisons Directorate, Bangladesh Achievements by the Paralegal Advisory Services (PAS) from March’09 to January’19 Prisoners assisted Released on Bail, 1,24,593 - Discharged and Acquitted* 20,907 Achievements by the Paralegal Advisory Services (PAS) from January’13 to January’19 PAS Interventions Persons assisted in 6,40,518 Court and Police Station 2,74,370 Prisoners released through project interventions from January’09 to January’19 Released on Bail, Name of the Prison Official Capacity Actual Prisoners Under trial Convicted Discharged & Acquitted* Barishal Central Jail 633 1186 777 66% 409 34% 820 Bogura District Jail 720 2121 1824 86% 297 14% 2454 Brahmanbaria District Jail 504 1333 1092 82% 241 18% 164 Chandpur District Jail 200 664 559 84% 105 16% 661 Chattogram Central Jail 1853 10079 9457 94% 622 6% 972 Cumilla Central Jail 1742 2651 1999 75% 652 25% 985 Dhaka Central Jail 4590 10554 9349 89% 1205 11% 5156 Dinajpur District Jail*** 2000 941 642 68% 299 32% 285 Faridpur District Jail 719 975 880 90% 95 10% 231 Gaibandha District Jail 200 949 850 90% 99 10% 88 Gazipur District Jail 207 1244 1185 95% 59 5% 201 Gopalganj District Jail 348 389 323 83% 66 17% 625 Jhenaidah District Jail 200 669 540 81% 129 19% 191 Jashore Central Jail 1919 1698 1126 66% 572 34% 468 Kashimpur Central Jail-I 548 2199 1841 84% 358 16% Kashimpur Central Jail-II 2000 4323 3531 82% 792 18% ** Kashimpur Central Jail-III 200 841 725 86% 116 14% Khulna District Jail 608 2046 1729 85% 317 15% 383 Kishoreganj District Jail*** 1045 1288 1060 82% 228 18% 330 Kustia District Jail 600 739 523 71% 216 29% 237 Madaripur District Jail 460 529 478 90% 51 10% 1552 Manikganj District Jail 100 593 426 72% 167 28% 202 Moulvibazar District Jail 316 641 550 86% 91 14% 255 Munshiganj District Jail*** 164 852 736 86% 116 14% 53 Mymensingh Central Jail 996 1791 1347 75% 444 25% 479 Naogaon District Jail 587 1068 951 89% 117 11% 61 Narayangonj District Jail*** 200 1763 1551 88% 212 12% 80 Narsingdi District Jail 244 1110 992 89% 118 11% 411 Natore District Jail*** 200 763 484 63% 279 37% 24 Netrokona District Jail*** 400 706 544 77% 162 23% 6 Noakhali District Jail*** 388 1044 862 83% 182 17% 29 Pabna District Jail*** 571 1454 1157 80% 297 20% 111 Patuakhali District Jail 278 534 429 80% 105 20% 149 Rajshahi Central Jail 1460 3073 2014 66% 1059 34% 1321 Rangpur Central Jail 1279 1374 906 66% 468 34% 601 Satkhira District Jail*** 400 535 438 82% 97 18% 76 Shariatpur District Jail*** 200 241 184 76% 57 24% 246 Sherpur District Jail*** 100 695 600 86% 95 14% 28 Sirajganj District Jail 200 1128 975 86% 153 14% 248 Sunamganj District Jail 435 748 641 86% 107 14% 51 Sylhet Central Jail 3210 2354 1575 67% 778 33% 571 Tangail District Jail*** 467 1258 1004 80% 254 20% 31 Thakurgaon District Jail 168 307 247 80% 60 20% 71 Total 33,659 71450 59103 83% 12346 17% 20907 * Project activities started in Dhaka, Bogura and Madaripur from January 2009, Rangpur and Mymensingh from January 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. .