Prisons and their inmates in Bangladesh can be compared to a basket full of chickens kept in a noisy market place Prisoners in Bangladesh are kept in a basket’ - the prison cell-where there are so many crowd into one that there is no space to move, no proper hygenic sanitation and no drinking water.

. .There is. therefore, a violation of human rights and dignity and if we consider the every-day life of a prisoner, we can realise just how extreme this violation actually is.

The prisoner Is made to rise very early in the morning, and has to queue to use the toilet facilities. He is granted only a few minutes to complete his morning abulations and then joins his fellow inmates in a room in order to be counted.

He is then given breakfast - the scanty amount of which does not meet his hunger and which is unhygienically prepared. After this insufficient meal, they are counted again. Lunch is similar to breakfast in quality and quantity. Counting of prisoners takes place again after lunch and finally in the afternoon, every prisoner is given his supper/dinner at 5.p.m and is locked up for the night. Taking supper at 5.p.m everv prisoner has to fast till 10.00 a.m of the following morning

Often a prisoner has to sleep by rotation with other Inmates, as the actual number of prisoners is three or four times than that of the accommodation capacity. There is no fan, T.V radio, newspaper or other recreational devices in the cells or the prison as a whole.

The jail system in Bangladesh began in the colonial regime lor confining offenders. Now the concept of Jail has become wider. Most of the under-trial prisoners are politically entangled even with the ordinary criminal cases. In 1998, in Dhaka Central Jail alone, there were 7.039 prisoners - while the accommodation capacity of the prison is only 2 116 persons(Sangbad. June 14. 1998) The prisons in Bangladesh are operated in accordance with the hundred year- old, back dated laws which have not been changed even at the eve of the 21st century. A large number of prisoners are seriously subjected to torture by the prison authority for several reasons commonly for bribes. In 1998. a total number of 60 persons succumbed to death within the prisons all over the country. Nobody knows the actual reason for their deaths but suspect that it was due to torture The genuinely ill persons are not admitted into the jail hospital in Bangladesh. Those who have money and power, may stay in the hospital by bribing the authority. 6

Another news report published in the Daily Sangbad on June 14t 1998 states that the prisoners sleep by rotation in Dhaka central jail. The report further states that among the 7,039 prisoners, there are 3.854 under trial prisoners in Magistrate Court. 1.248 in the Judge court, 201 convicted prisoners have been awarded simple imprisonment, 1400 rigorous imprisonment ; 309 convicted under the Special powers Act; 12 sentenced to death - out of which 2 are female prisoners.

Number and types of jails in Bangladesh ;