|
News
Updates
Prime accused in Phoolan Devi case background
behind bars
Shamsher
Singh Rana, the prime accused in the Phoolan Devi murder case,
who had escaped from the high-security prison of Tihar Jail more
than two years ago, was finally caught again by the Special Cell
of Delhi Police in Kolkata. He was nabbed from a phone booth,
in Dharamtalla area in Kolkata, where he was staying under the
fake name of Sanjay Gupta. Rana had fled from the Tihar Jail in
2004 with the help of one of his acquaintances, Sandeep, who came
to Tihar disguised as a police official and took Rana on the pretext
of producing him before the Hardwar Court. The Times of India.
(26/04/2006)
Explanation for Prison releases due
Charles
Clarke, Home Secretary, England is yet to explain the release
of 1023 foreign prisoners without even being considered for deportation.
Clarke has regretted the act and has maintained that no further
convicted foreign nationals will be released in this manner. The
Home Secretary has maintained that it was the paucity of resources
that forced them to take this decision. British PM, Tony Blair,
has expressed his faith in the Home Minister. Click here
for details. (26/04/2006)
No more Jailbreaks in Tihar
A
Biometric System of access control and communication has been
implemented in all the nine prisons of the Tihar Jail complex
to prevent jailbreaks. One of the most infamous Jailbreaks from
the Tihar Jail was that of Shamsher Singh Rana, who is the prime
accused in Phoolan Devi case. In this system, the fingerprints
of all the prisoners and the jail staff have been saved into a
database. The entry and exit from the complex will be permitted
only if the fingerprints are matched. The installation of a biometric
system was a recommendation of the S K Cain Committee, which was
formed after Rana's jailbreak. The Times of India. (26/04/2006)
200 under trial prisoners await justice
Around
200 Muslim-men, who have been lodged under various charges and
have already been in different prisons for a period of around
8 years, are looking forward to the coming elections as a means
of speeding up the delivering of final court orders. Of these
around 167 are accused in the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts that
shook the city in February 1998. The police told their family
members that they are being taken only for a routine enquiry.
The hardships faced by the family members of these young men (most
of them are sole breadwinners in their respective families) are
unimaginable. The Chief Investigating Officer, Mr. Rajashekaran
admits that these prisoners had no role in the blasts and most
of them do not have any evidence against them. Moreover, there
are no grounds to deny these prisoners bail. A judgment can be
expected in around 3 months after the examination of the pending
20-odd witnesses. The Statesman. (24/04/2006)
Mobile phones find their way into Tihar
The
Tihar jail authorities have failed to install mobile jammers in
the jail premises, which has led to the influx of mobile phones
in the jail. This is providing an easy pathway for the inmates
to communicate with the people outside thus paving the way for
further crimes. According to the authorities, the presence of
large number of densely populated residential colonies in vicinity
of the jail is acting as a hindrance to the installation of these
jammers. Recently, a prisoner lodged in the high security ward,
was found having a mobile phone. The Director General of the Tihar
Jail, Mr. R.P. Singh, refused to comment on the matter. The
Statesman. (24/04/2006)
The State Duma grants Amnesty thousands of
Prisoners
Thousands
of prison inmates were unanimously granted amnesty by the State
Duma, which is Russia's lower house of Parliament. The passing
of the Bill coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the first
convening of legislature in Tsarist Russia. It is expected that
this Bill will benefit around 3000 prisoners. Click here
for details. (19/04/2006)
China accused of selling prisoners' organs
British
transplant surgeons of the British Transplant Society have accused
China of harvesting the organs of prisoners to sell them for transplants.
This accusation has come merely a week after Chinese officials
publicly denied such a practice. The Chinese officials have denied
the allegations and have declared to make the procedure even more
stringent from July. Click here
for details. (19/04/2006)
Serco -run doncaster prison in poor condition
Chief
Inspector of Prisons Anne Owes has expressed her concern over
the falling standard of conditions in Doncaster Prison, which
is one of the four prisons run by Serco. The physical conditions
in the cells like mattresses, pillows, and toilets etc. were found
in a poor state. Though, the Doncaster prison used to be one of
the better prisons in Yorkshire, the inspector was concerned that
Serco was more focused on saving to meet contractual obligations
rather than providing proper conditions to the prisoners. Click
here
for details. (12/04/2006)
High Court rejects prisoner's stab vest plea
High
Court judge Justice Collins rejected the plea of a prisoner who
wanted the permission of wearing a stab-proof vest to protect
himself from other inmates. The prisoner alleged that he had received
threats and such a refusal by the authorities was a violation
of his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The
judge held that there was no positive evidence. Click here
for details. (10/04/2006)
Innocent children Languishing in Central Jail
A
Pakistani woman, who was deserted by her husband and booked under
the Foreigners' Act along with her three children for illegally
staying in India, has decided to remarry a Hindu who is a resident
of Amritsar. The children were initially kept in juvenile homes
but after an order of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, they
were ordered to be kept with their mother in the Central Jail,
Amritsar. However, now with the release of their mother, the children
have started to feel "orphaned". The Sunday Tribune.
(09/04/2006)
7 Prisoners dead in Georgian riot
Seven prisoners were killed in Georgia on Monday when riot Police
used firearms to put down a rebellion by inmates trying to break
out of a jail. Tbilisi. The Times of India- International News.
(28/03/2006)
Inmates at prison in South Africa have begun mass hunger strike
to demand free HIV treatment
Some 242 inmates at Durban's Westville prison began
refusing food after months of negotiations with the government.
South Africa's government currently hands out anti-retroviral
drugs to about 50,000 inmates who are HIV positive. The prisoners
in Westville complain that they have to pay for the necessary
identity comments to available for free treatment. Click here
for details. (27/03/2006)
8 detainees released Kotbalwal jail in Jammu
Jammu: The state government released 8 out of 40 detainees
recommended by the Joint Review Committee. The state high court
had reportedly quashed the detention order of some of the above
detainees released. The Joint Review Committee in consultation
with the Union Home Ministry had decided to release 40 prisoners
lodged in different jails of the state, including three from Sangrur
in Punjab. The state government has already submitted a list of
more than 400 people to New Delhi for screening. Click here
for details. (25/03/2006)
Naxals raid jails, free 40 prisoners
Parlakhemundi (Orissa): More than 40 prisoners escaped
when there was an attack by 200-armed naxalities in a jail in
Gajapati town, killed policemen and injured another in an exchange
of fire which lasted for over two hours. Click here
for details. (24/03/2006)
India to release 40 political detainees in
Kashmir
India will release 40 political detainees who have been held in
prison in Kashmir for opposing Indian rule, officials said on
Wednesday. It was not clear what offences the 40 had been held
for, nor how long they had been in prison. No date was announced
for the release but officials said the process could take 3-4
days. There are more than 400 political detainees in jails across
Kashmir and 77 foreign-born militants are in prisons in other
parts of India, officials said. The release of the prisoners comes
after a conference last month in which Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh told Kashmiri leaders the government would look into the
issue of releasing some detainees. Click here
for details. (22/03/2006)
The Hague: Bosnian serb to serve 40 years,
not life
In a complex ruling, a panel of appeals judges for the international
war crimes tribunal upheld the conviction of Milomir Stakic, the
former mayor of Prijedor in northern Bosnia, for overseeing a
system of wartime detention camps where more than 1,500 non-Serbian
prisoners died but cut his life sentence to 40 years in prison.
The new sentence, the ruling said, reflected the gravity of the
crimes but corrected mistakes made by the trial judges who improperly
made his sentence more sever than it should have been. Click here
for details. (22/03/2006)
Prisoner commits suicide under " Suicide
Watch"
A mentally ill man who was put on suicide watch was found hanged
in his prison cell, an inquest has heard. Lee Crabtree, 32 year
old was remand on atlcourse prison in Liverpool after he was sectioned
under the Mental Health Act. He was charged under the section
of theft and he was later arrested. The police psychologist decided
he was fit to be interviewed. The inquest heard how he was placed
on suicide watch on 7 July 2005, threatening to kill himself and
prison staff checked him every 15 minutes. Two days later he was
discovered hanging from his cell by laces he had borrowed from
a young offender. He died in Fazakerley hospital in Liverpool.
Click here
for details. (22/03/2006)
Jail Break during the storm in Uganda
Less than a month after the mass escape
of the prisoners in February 2006 from Arua prison, Uganda, there
has again been an escape of more than 55 prisoners from a prison
in the north west of Uganda in Adjumani. Most of the prison population
lives in overcrowded conditions and there are also limited guards,
which lead to these prisoners to escape. Click here
for details. (14/03/2006)
Tihar Inmate urge for open jail and court proceedings
in Hindi
About more than 400 prisoners have sent a request to the Director
General of the prison to take up the matter of conducting the
court proceedings in Hindi. They pointed out that this way they
would also understand the proceeding. The other thing they requested
for was the open jail system in Tihar jail. The Director General
said that the proposal was sent to the home ministry for consideration
8 years back but still there has been no response to the letter.
For details please refer to The Statesmen and Indian Express.
(12/03/2006)
Doctors unite to attack US over Guantanamo
More than 80 inmates at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba had gone on hunger
strike in December 2005. Detainees at the camp have said hunger
strikers were strapped into chairs and force-fed through tubes
inserted in their noses. More than 250 medical experts have signed
a letter condemning the US for force-feeding prisoners on hunger
strike. The letter also mentioned that doctors who used restraints
and force-feeding should be punished by their professional bodies.
The US argued that the Geneva Convention does not apply to prisoners
at the camp, who, it says, are enemy combatants who continue to
pose a threat to national security. Click here
for details. (10/03/2006)
Pakistan Supreme Court upholds death sentence
to Sarbjit
On September 28, 2005 the Supreme Court of Pakistan had rejected
the petition filed by Sarabjit Singh, against the decision of
the Lahore High Court and Anti-Terror Court in the Delhi Gate
bomb blast case. The double bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
has now upheld the death sentence of Sarabjit Singh alias Manjit
Singh. His wife Sukhpreet Kaur and sister Dalbir Kaur today sought
immediate intervention of the President Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam
to save his life, as he is a victim of mistaken identity. Now
the family members of Sarabjit also want the Indian Government
to use its power to reverse the death sentence. Click here
for details. (09/03/2006)
U.S Military plans to shift the detainees out
from Abu Ghraib
The Abu Ghraib a notorious prison came to highlight
throughout the world in the year 2004 when the photographs showing
American soldiers inflicting torture to the Iraqi prisoners were
published. Now the American military has announced plans to move
all its detainees out of Abu Ghraib prison in three months to
a new being built prison in Baghdad. The prison complex was also
a widely feared center for torture and execution under the rule
of Saddam Hussein. Click here
for details. (09/03/2006)
Bahamas: Privy Council abolishes mandatory death
sentence
The death penalty remains in force in
much of the English-speaking Caribbean region. Sixteen people
have been executed in the Bahamas since 1973, six in the last
ten years. The UK-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
JCPC, which is the highest court of appeal for most of the countries
in the English-speaking Caribbean region, gave a landmark decision
to abolish the mandatory death sentence for those convicted of
murder in the Bahamas. In its judgment the Privy Council stated
that the mandatory death penalty should have been regarded as
inhuman and degrading punishment as early as 1973 when the Bahamian
constitution was redrafted following the country's independence.
The cases of at Least 28 prisoners currently on death row will
now have to be reviewed. Amnesty International opposes the death
penalty as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishment. Click here
for details. (09/03/2006)
Prisoners 'freed' in Nepal attack
The recent attack by the Maoist rebels at the government offices
including local jail has freed more than 100 prisoners from the
hill town of Ilam Bazaar in eastern Nepal. At least 12 people
including seven rebels were killed. Click here
for details. (06/03/2006)
Amnesty Report on 14000 prisoners- Abuses continue
in Iraq
Amnesty International accused the United States and its allies
of committing widespread abuses in Iraq including torture and
the continued detention of thousands of prisoners without charge
and trial. The accusation was on the basis of the ill treatment
of the detainees by the American guards in Abu Ghraib prison in
Baghdad. In its report, "Beyond Abu Ghraib: Detention and
Torture in Iraq," Amnesty International also said the level
of abuse by Iraqi forces since the transfer of power in June 2004
was increasing. The ill treatment shows the established procedures,
which deprive detainees of human rights. The report figure of
more than 14,000 prisoners were held in Iraq, 4850 in Baghdad,
7365 at Camp Bucca and more than 1,100 in the north. For details
visit
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/international/europe/07rights.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
and http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGUSA20060305001
Algeria to free jailed Islamists
Algiers: The total number of 2629
Islamists jailed during civil strife has been released after more
than a decade as a part of a drive for national reconciliation
as quoted by the minister Tayeb Belaiz in the government- controlled
newspaper El Moudjahid. The amnesty approved by the government
on Feb. 21st also gave Islamic guerrillas fighting the authorities
six months to surrender and receive a pardon provided they were
not responsible for massacres, rapes and the bombings of public
places. The last prison release was on 1999. For details click
here.
(05/03/2006)
US ex-nurse jailed for 22 murders
Charles Cullen 46 pleaded guilty for killing
22 New Jersey patients in his care and three attempted murders.
He will be sentenced for seven further killings and three more
attempts. He will be sentenced for seven further killings and
three more attempts, which he committed in Pennsylvania at a later
date. When he was caught he told investigators that he performed
mercy killings to end the suffering of terminally ill patients.
For details click here.
(03/03/2006)
Libya frees political prisoners
Libya has released 130 prisoners from
a prison in Tripoli. The 85 political prisoners were members of
the Muslim Brotherhood (political party outlawed in Libya), most
of them were professionals and students originally tried by the
People's Court- a court that was abolished last year. The detainees
were freed under an amnesty from the government. For details click
here.
(02/03/2006)
China: Guangdon bag snatchers may face death penalty
China has signed the ICCPR, and in doing so has signalled its
intention to ratify that treaty. But according to an announcement
made by the Guangdong provincial authorities regarding the extending
of the death penalty to those thieves who use violence has raised
alarm among the public and human rights organizations. The official
Chinese press stated that over 80,000 people had been convicted
of 'robbery' and 'violent robbery' in Guangdong between 2003 and
2005, accounting for more than one-third of the total number of
criminals convicted. Mark Allison, East Asia researcher at Amnesty
International said, "Extending the death penalty to cover
more crimes goes against the international trend towards abolition."Any
increase in the use of the death penalty is contrary to the strong
international trend away from the use of capital punishment. One
hundred and twenty-two countries now no longer have the death
penalty in law or practice and only a fraction of the world's
nations actually carry out executions. China should follow this
trend and implement the first steps towards the abolition of the
death penalty rather than increase its scope. For more details
click here.
(01/03/2006)
Kolkata, India: The West Bengal state Government
has introduced video-conferencing for trial of prisoners at some
districts of the state, in an effort to speed up the justice delivery
system.
FYI-
There are 13,54,000 criminal cases pending in West Bengal. Of
these, 52,000 cases are pending at the Sessions Courts. While
the State has a population of over 8 crore, there are only 119
Sessions Court judges i.e. one Sessions judge per 6,70,000 people.
(18/01/2006)
45 years in jail for three-years penalty
India: Shankar Dayal a native from Unnao district, Varanasi
was released from Unnao district jail after 45 years. He was booked
under the sections 323 and 324 of the IPC in the year 1961 and
was jailed for three years of penalty crime, which extended to
45 years. Shankar Dayal after half decade in the jail has virtually
lost his memory and was also kept in the mental hospital.
In
his case magistrate had mentioned the failure of Shankar to furnish
his bail bonds. He has been released is back with his family.
(14/01/2006)
Bail for 70 year old in prison since 68
Lucknow, India: One Mr. Rajaram, spent 35 years in jail
and a Varanasi mental hospital after he was arrested in September
1970 on petty theft charge. The charges were never proved and
a district court finally ordered his release from Faizabad jail.
He was kept behind bars for thirty-five years and the police is
now unsure if there was even an FIR lodged against him. Speaking
to the media the concerned police officer said, ''we searched
for the FIR and case register of Rajaram at the police station,
but we could not find any papers. I can not say if an FIR was
lodged against him or not as I don't have any proof.'' Click
here
for details. (13/01/2006)
Innocent man spends 15 months in jail
Ludhiana (India): The suspicion of an industrialist has cost
an innocent factory employee about 15 months of freedom. The victim
named Ajay Lal, a migrant from Bihar, had to spend these months
in jail even as the police had busted a gang that had confessed
of committing the nickel theft, for which the man was falsely
implicated. He was arrested in the month of October 2004, and
released from the jail in the last week of January this year.
Eagerness of the police to solve a theft case, the illegal detention
has deprived a poor and innocent worker from his job and salary
and caused so much hardship to the family. (13/01/2006)
USA : More than hundreds of mentally ill offenders are
executed in US, since executions resumed in 1977. Dozens of these
people had histories of serious mental impairment, either from
before the crimes for which they were convicted, or at the time
of their execution. Click here
for details. (31/01/2006)
Vietnam: Nguyen Khac Toan a former soldier, maths teacher
and businessman was jailed for emailing details of farmers' protests
about official corruption and land confiscation to the overseas
Vietnamese groups. He was arrested in January 2002, charged with
"spying" and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and
three years' house arrest after his release. He was released on
24th January to mark the lunar day. Click here
for details. (26/01/2006)
India: An Indian man
Machang Lalung from Silsang, Assam spent more than 50 years in
jail without trial. Seventy-seven years old Machang Lalung was
arrested in 1951 and was booked for "causing grievous hurt".
The offence normally results in 10 years imprisonment but the
Police said there was no evidence to support the allegation. Now
the Supreme Court has awarded 300,000 rupees compensation to Machang
Lalung for 50-years jail error. Click here
for details. (11/01/2006)
India: President A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam has asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
to give him a list of Sikhs who have been languishing without
trial in cells in foreign countries after being duped by travel
agents. Many youths from the Sikh community are in foreign jails
without trial. Click here
for details. (3/01/2006)
Prison Visiting System: Changes proposed
in rules relating to the appointment and guidance to Prison Visitors.
The amended rules cited at this page were drafted by CHRI consultant
for custodial institutions to replace the existing rules in the
state of Rajasthan but since the rules governing the appointment
and guidance of prison visitors are more less the same, this draft
amendment can be used by the other states for the base of changes
in their prison rules with regard to prison visiting system. Click
here
for details.
Prison Act 1894: The Proposed Draft Bill to replace
the existing Prisons Act 1894.
This draft bill was proposed for the state of Rajasthan only but
this draft can be used by other states to enact similar bill for
their respective states. Click here
for details.
22/8/2005: One of our Prison Unit members had attended a District
Judges Conference held in Visakapatnam on 22nd august 2005, where
in he proposed about various measures that can be taken by judiciary
to improvise the justice delivery to the prisoners. The measures
proposed were-:
- To establish Legal Cell in the prison as per
proceeding of State Legal Service Authority, ROC No. 818/LSA/2001,
dated 02-02-2001.
- To establish Prisoners Grievance Deposit Boxes
in the CP, VSK, to be opened exclusively by Dist Sessions as
per Sunil Batra II v/s Delhi Administration, 1980 (3)
Supreme Court Cases 521.
- The Courts should send bail orders in Duplicate
to the prisons and the second copy should contain the acknowledgement
of the prisoners having received the copy of the order.
- To organize regular Jail Adalats in the prison
so as to dispose the cases as fast as possible.
The
Judges and District Principal Judge highly appreciated all these
measures. They further issued series of circulars and they have
also opened a Legal Cell in the prison with the help of an NGO
named Mahila Chaitanya Sravanthi.
CHRI has submitted a report on the "Study
of Women in Custodial Establisments" in the states of
Madhya
Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu assigned by the National Commission for Women to Smt.
Girija Vyas, Chairperson of the Commission on April 15, 2005.
Madhya Pradesh, India:
Prisoners
are a condemned lot and the tiny cells and harsh prison conditions
that houses them condemns them twice. However the Bhopal Central
Jail in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh proved it untrue
after it became the first jail in the world to get the ISO 9001-2000
certificate. Click here
for details.(29/6/2004)
Bangladesh :
Overcrowding,
unhygienic living conditions and scarcity of water supply in the
Dhaka Central Jail expose the inmates to various diseases like
tuberculosis, jaundice, peptic ulcer, diarrhoea, heart disease,and
skin related diseases etc. Having a capacity of 2,650, it currently
houses more than 11,000 prisoners including both convicts and
undertrials. On an average 500 inmates visit hospitals everyday.
The hospital is ill equipped with four doctors and a single nurse
to attend to the patients every day and not a single gynaecologist
is present to attend to the 300 odd female prisoners. Click here
for details. (12/04/04)
Rajasthan :
In
Rajasthan, once again five undertrial prisoners escaped after
cutting through the iron bars of the cell in Nimbaheda sub-jail
of district Chittorgarh. Click here
for details. (12/04/04)
Kerala :
- In the Kenner Central Jail of Kerala, a clash
broke out between the two groups of inmates belonging to rival
political parties CPI(M) and BJP killing one inmate of CPI(M)
and injuring two others. Jail authorities said that a group
of inmates belonging to BJP attacked their rivals of CPI(M)
with iron rods near the prison canteen at Block 7. Click here
for details. (7/04/04)
- In Kerala, the leader of the Opposition, Mr
V.S.Achuthanandan and the CPI(M) State Secretary, Mr Pinarayi
Vijayan demanded the Government to conduct a judicial inquiry
into the clash that took place in Kannur Central Jail killing
one inmate belonging to CPI(M) and injuring two others. They
said that the Government should bear full responsibility for
such a gruesome act and demanded to take stern action against
the attackers. Mr Achuthanandan accused the jail officials saying
that weapons used by the RSS elements could not be brought into
jail without the knowledge of the jail officials and further
said that despite being witnesses to the attack, jail authorities
didn't intervene. The BJP State President also demanded a judicial
inquiry into the incident while strongly protesting against
the discrimination taking place between the prisoners. Click
here
for details. (8/04/04)
- The State President, Janata Dal (Secular) sought
a judicial probe into the incident that took place in Kannur
Central Jail accusing the jail authorities that the weapons
used by the attackers could not be brought inside the jail premises
in the absence of the authorities. He expressed resentment on
the lapse of security within the jail premises. Click here
for details. (12/04/04)
- The Government of Kerala has reconstituted
the State Prison Review Commission appointing retired High Court
Judge, M.R.Hariharan Nair as the Chairman. The Committee will
consider cases relating to life convicts and the recommendations
made by the Committee will be put forth to the Government. Click
here
for details. (12/04/04)
Bangladesh :
-
In one and a half years the
Government has implemented 25 decisions proposed by the Cabinet
Committee on Jail Reform. Another 23 decisions are in the
process of implementation. Annexes to certain jails have already
been built and the Government has set up six safe housing
centers for women inmates and their children in Dhaka, Rajshahi,
Jessore, Khulna, Sylhet and Chittagong. Click here
for details.(05/04/04)
-
In Bangladesh, over 11, 000
inmates detainees and convicts, including 250 women, have
been lodged in the oldest prison in Bangladesh. 11,000 inmates
have been lodged in a jail with a capacity of 2,650 inmates,
housing four times its capacity. One detainee, released on
bail disclosed that there is no proper drainage system and
the building is in a dilapidated condition, despite the existence
of recommendations made by the Jail Reform Commission. An
unidentified Home Ministry official has expressed that the
government has provided additional space for 400 inmates in
different jails over the last two years, and even if the Government
implements other plans to increase the capacity of the jails
only 2500 inmates will get space. Click here
for details.(05/04/04)
-
In B'baria jail of Bangladesh,
7 seven teenaged boys have been lodged violating a jail rule
that provides teenagers shall be lodged only in a juvenile
correction centre.Click here
for details. (23/03/04)
Jail Breaks In Rajasthan, India:
Stories
of shocking Tihar jail breaks have not withered away yet. In Rajasthan,
thirteen prisoners of Deeg prison escaped with a rifle after beating
the jail guards. Such incidents show the serious problems cropping
up in jail administration due to paucity of staff. Click here
for details. (22/03/04)
Prisoners
without trials rot in Bangladesh :
Some
7800 inmates remain lodged in the various prisons all over Bangladesh
without ever undergoing their trials. Locked on a number of charges
ranging from suspicious movement, theft to disturbance of peace,
they lie rotting in the corners of the prisons. Law Officials
lay the blame on the lack of the governments interest in reforms
and efficient trial, while the open truth lies in the fact that
whenever the crime rate in the country increases the police tend
to pick up near to all the poor people and lock them behind bars.
The inefficiency in the network and improper co-ordination have
led to such a grim situation. The litigation process is stagnant
and by the time one is sentenced, he or she is already spent more
time in the prison than the amount of punishment. Click here
for details. (17/03/04)
Malaysia prisoners launch protest :
Forty
three prisoners in a Malaysia detention center went on a hunger
strike to protest the unfair way of being held without a trial
or charge. The hunger strikers claimed that they were wrongly
indicted and held wrongly and accused for being in terms with
a Malaysia terrorist group, the Malaysia Muhahideen. All are protesting
against their detention, which under Malaysia's Internal Security
Act, can be extended indefinitely without charges being brought.
Click here
for details. (2/03/04)
Prisoners face new death sentence in South Africa :
Even
after the abolition of the death sentence in South Africa, many
prisoners feel otherwise. The ever increasing rate of HIV cases
within the premises of the prisons have a new story to tell. Cases
of rape in the jails are on an alarming rise and the effort eradicate
this menace minimal. The lack of both efficient staff and separate
accommodation for convicts and undertrials have been the root
cause of the circumstance. The government's weak stand on prison
support has led to deterioration of the conditions. These circumstances
have led the prisoner to believe that the death penalty still
does stay in effect. In a recent report on the Cookham wood prison
in Rochester, the papers submitted did contain a number of corners
where the prison lacked in efficiency and effectiveness. Click
here
for details. (17/02/04)
40000 detainees await trail in prisons in Nigeria :
Out
of the 40000 prisoners in Nigeria, Lagos and Ogun states comprise
for the largest number of detainees awaiting a trail. 10000 inmates
in Lagos and Ogun states are using the facility of 5,000 inmates.
The Ogun state prison houses more than twice the capacity of prisoners
and harassment by the staff within the confines of the building
are severe. Spread of diseases like Aids and tuberculosis were
evident. An assistant comptroller of prisons Mr. Kumolu said that
situations would only improve when the government gives a serious
thought to the situation. Click here
for details. (15/01/04)
|
