Education Training and Human Rights of the Prisoners in Bangladesh

Abstract

Every human being is entitled to the inherent rights of nature. They are entitled to possess these rights subject to the provisions of the law applied to the land. The concept of society is meaningless without the presence of these inherent rights of a human being. The term human rights are being collectively used to mean those legal claims which are related to mankind. And such type of universal rights of human beings grew in mankind from the very ancient time. These rights are so inherent that without these a man cannot think of living with due dignity. Human rights therefore represent minimal moral standards for human society. Every country has its own criminal justice delivery system under which certain acts or omission is regarded as crime and sufficient sanctioning measures are there. An individual who is charged with the commission of a crime is regarded as an accused. Accused who is arrested and forwarded for criminal trial is called a prisoner. A prisoner has the right to defend himself against the charges brought against him/her by every facility ensured by the law. Many efforts in international and in municipal arena as well are found for the promotion and protection of the rights of public in general and of the prisoners in particular. For this purpose some important and remarkable human rights instruments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, 1957, the United Nations Draft Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any form of Detention or Imprisonment, 1988 and in various domestic legislations. However, our present judicial system is surrounded by thousands of problems. Throughout the whole country paucity of courts or judges are common feature of our judicial system. Moreover, the unhygienic environment in the prisons caused by the overcrowding of prisoners need to be examined for the protection of the rights of the prisoners. Protection of the rights and interests of the prisoners as well as there psychological and economic assistance is vitally important for the fair implementation of criminal laws and also for gaining public confidence in criminal justice system. Therefore, this study seeks to explore those particular factors that impair the criminal justice system, which is essentially important for the protection of the rights of the prisoners. This study also seeks to correlate international and national protection of human rights which are applicable to the prisoners’ criminal proceedings in particular. The condition of the prisoners in the jail custody of Bangladesh has been set forth in detail and a comparison with the different international and domestic instruments are dealt with in this study. The purpose of this study is to show and examine the legal position of the prisoners and recognition of their rights including education and training of the prisoners within the purview of international as well as municipal law of Bangladesh. This study has also been reflected on human rights situation with regard to the prisoners in Bangladesh. Another issue is to be taken into consideration that, a human being of any age may commit crime. During the period when an accused or a convict remains within the walls of the prison cells usually can not take formal education of the land and there is a high apprehension that after his or her release he/she may be involved again in crime immediately. Therefore, if these persons can achieve necessary education and training during their stay in prison they can lead a better life after release from jail custody by utilizing those education and training in the remaining portion of their life in the society. This research work aims at focusing on the necessity and implication of education and training in the life of the prisoners of Bangladesh. In addition, this study finds out the facade of the real conditions of the prisoners through a number of case studies.