Bangladeshi jails overcrowded with prisoners against capacity

Thousands of prisoners are huddling in 66 jails for years and the situation has become worst during the last one month as the interim government of the country arrested over 60,000 people, home ministry sources said on Sunday.

The South Asian country of 140 million people has 66 prisons in 64 administrative districts having a capacity of 28,000 prisoners while the number of people in jails now is over 135,000 including some sensitive prisoners, according to the sources.

The sensitive prisoners included the convicted persons in the death row in the killing case of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the banned Islamic militant group Jammatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leaders, also in the death row, for series of bombings and suicide bomb attacks. They include JMB chief and spiritual leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in- command Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai.

Sheikh Mujib was killed with most of his family members in a military coup on August 15, 1975. His only two daughters Sheikh Hasina who became prime minister later and Sheikh Rehana escaped death as they were abroad at the time of the coup.

Besides, the current caretaker government (CG) has also arrested around 25 top leaders, including former ministers and lawmakers of the immediate past ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia and former Awami League (AL)-led government led by Sheikh Hasina. The top leaders are also in different jails huddling with ordinary prisoners.

The immediate past BNP government before ending its five-year term on October 27 last year conducted mass arrests while AL had political agitation programs, which aggravated the situation in prisons.

The sources said while the number of prisoners cross the capacity, the situation very often goes beyond control inside prisons and prisons authorities have to struggle to control the situation.

The current CG government headed by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, an economist and banker, has launched a crusade against corrupt political leaders, businessmen, industrialists and terrorists. The joint forces of Bangladesh army, anti-crime elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police during last one month have arrested about 60,000 people, which has worsened the situation inside prisons.

Inspector General of Prison Brigadier General Zakir Hasan said the government has decided to free the innocent persons arrested by the CG to ease the situation. Moreover, the persons arrested with minor crime will also be freed on bail.

Source: Xinhua