BANGLADESH

 History of Penal System.

Bangladesh jail was established in 1971, after the Independence of Bangladesh. They operate 13
central jails and 55 districts jails in BangladeshSince November 1977 to this day, the Prison
Administration in Bangladesh has been handled by members of the Armed Forces - except the
period of 1981, during President Sattar's regime. The Bangladesh Prison Administration is an
absolutely Civil Administration and the Officers and Staff (Department of Prisons) Recruitment
Rules, 1984 provides that the provision of recruitment of the Inspector General of Prisons should
be " by Promotion on the basis of merit-cum-seniority from amongst the DIGs of prisons and, if
none is found suitable for promotion, by transfer on deputation of a suitable officer holding a
post equivalent to the post of Joint Secretary". The qualifications have been laid down in the
rules that the Person to be Promoted should be 18 years of service in the Department including 3
years of Service as D.I.G of Prisons.

 FORMS OF PUNISHMENT (PRISON AND NON-PRISON)

Prohibition is still to be achieved in the home, alternative care settings, day care, penal
institutions and as a sentence for crime; the Supreme Court ruling against corporal punishment in
schools requires confirmation in legislation.
Article 89 of the Penal Code 1860 states: “Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of
a person under twelve years of age, or of unsound mind by or by consent, either express or
implied, of the guardian or other person having lawful charge of that person, is an offence by
reason of any harm which it may cause, or be intended by the doer to cause or be known by the
doer to be likely to cause to that person.…” This article should be repealed/amended to ensure
there is no legal provision that can be construed as providing a legal defence for the infliction of
corporal punishment. All corporal punishment should be prohibited, however light and by all
persons with authority over children.
ALTERNATIVE CARE SETTINGS
All provisions authorising corporal punishment should be repealed and corporal punishment
prohibited in all alternative care settings (foster care, institutions, places of safety, emergency
care, etc).
DAY CARE
Corporal punishment should be prohibited in early childhood care (nurseries, crèches,
preschools, family centres, etc) and day care for older children (day centres, after-school
childcare, childminding, etc).
SCHOOLS
Corporal punishment is unlawful in schools by way of a Supreme Court ruling in 2011. This
ruling should be confirmed through the enactment of legislation clearly prohibiting corporal
punishment in all education settings.
PENAL INSTITUTIONS
Provisions for caning of children in the Children Rules 1976 and for whipping of boys in the
Prisons Act 1894 should be repealed and legislation enacted which clearly prohibits corporal
punishment as a disciplinary measure in all institutions accommodating children in conflict with
the law.
SENTENCE FOR CRIME
The provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Whipping Act, the Railways Act, the
Penal Code and other laws authorising whipping of boys convicted of an offence should be
repealed and all judicial corporal punishment prohibited, including in traditional justice systems.
EXECUTIONS
Since 2000, 10 people have been executed in Bangladesh, the most recent one being of Abdul
Majed on 12 April 2020, for the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was the
founding father of Bangladesh.[citation needed]
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
Bangladesh was created as a consequence of human rights abuses.[ When the Awami League
won Pakistan's first election in 1970, the Pakistani Army brutally suppressed the Bengali people
in East Pakistan. More than three million people were left dead, millions of women were raped,
tens of millions of people were forced into extremely dirty and unpleasant refugee camps in
India. After India briefly invaded, Bangladesh was free from the brutality of Pakistani rule but
faced a difficult task of rebuilding a country that was already desperately poor and prone to
natural disasters.To this day, Amnesty International believes Bangladesh is still wracked with
human rights violations.
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh has ratified some International Human Rights Treaties.
However, the government has registered some declarations and reservations to particular articles
of certain treaties. One reservation of particular importance is the reservation to Article 14
paragraph 1 of the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The reservation grounds were that
Bangladesh would apply it "in consonance with the existing laws and legislation of the country."
Bangladesh has not yet ratified or acceded to a number of International Human Rights Treaties.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: 1976 was ratified in 2000. However,
the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR) and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) have not yet been ratified.[17] The Second Protocol to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty: 1991 has also not yet been
ratified.
The Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review reviewed Bangladesh in 2009.
A strong recommendation was made for the abolition of the death penalty. The Bangladesh
government in response to this said: “The death penalty is maintained in Bangladesh only as an
exemplary punishment for heinous crimes such as throwing of acid, acts of terrorism, planned
murder, trafficking of drugs, rape, abduction of women and children. Both the judiciary and
administration deal with these cases of capital punishment with extreme caution and compassion,
and such punishment is extended only in ultimate cases that relates to gross violation of human
rights of the victims. Bangladesh has an extremely low rate of implementation of such death
penalties.”
The fact that a very wide range of crimes are punishable by death potentially conflicts with
Bangladesh's International obligations. Allowing the death penalty for crimes such as kidnapping
or drug trafficking is contrary to the ICCPR's mandate which states that the death penalty should
only be applied in the most serious of cases.
MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCES
The Women and Children Repressive Prevention Act 2000 provides that the punishment required
for a person who causes death for dowry is a mandatory death sentence. This therefore means
there is no other alternative punishment available and the jury are deprived the ability to apply
discretion to certain circumstances relating to the crime or the accused.

PENAL STATISTICS IN BANGLADESH

Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of
domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang
violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional
homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of
the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed
conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is
thus usually excluded.
Bangladesh crime rate & statistics for 2015 was 2.50, a 11.61% decline from 2014.
Bangladesh crime rate & statistics for 2014 was 2.83, a 1.57% increase from 2013.
Bangladesh crime rate & statistics for 2013 was 2.79, a 5.53% increase from 2012.
Bangladesh crime rate & statistics for 2012 was 2.64, a 2.52% increase from 2011.
Crime rates in Bangladesh
Level of crime 71.59 High

Crime increasing in the past 3 years 69.40 High

Worries home broken and things stolen 60.35 High

Worries being mugged or robbed 67.93 High

Worries car stolen 60.58 High

Worries things from car stolen 59.03 Moderate

Worries attacked 58.60 Moderate

Worries being insulted 57.33 Moderate

Worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic
36.90 Low
origin, gender or religion

Problem people using or dealing drugs 65.40 High

Problem property crimes such as vandalism and theft 66.98 High

Problem violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery 60.82 High

Problem corruption and bribery 87.50 Very High

STUDIES ABOUT PENAL SYSTEM

 How Unregulated Is the U.S. Labor Market? The Penal System as a Labor Market
Institution
Bruce Western - Princeton University
Katherine Beckett - Indiana University
 Waiting at the prison gate: Women, identity and the Russian penal system
J Pallott, E Katz – 2016
 Cross-national research in self-reported crime and delinquency
M Klein – 2012
 Impediments to penal reform
N Morris - U. Chi. L. Rev., 1965
 They were cheap and available: prisoners as research subjects in twentieth century
America
AM Hornblum - BMJ, 1997

References;

1. "Death Penalty | Amnesty International". Amnesty.org. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 2015-

11-22.
2. "Bangladesh". The Death Penalty Worldwide database. Center for International Human
Rights, Northwestern University School of Law. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
3. Penal Code 1860, s.121, s.132, s.302, s.305.
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against terrorism
5. Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, s 368.
6. file:///Users/claudialeighs/Downloads/The_Mandatory_Death_Penalty_in_India_and_Ba
ngladesh_stamped.pdf
7. The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, arts. 25, 47, 4 November 1972.
8. Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, section 4.
9. Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, section 4(2).
10. "The death penalty and the "most serious crimes"" (PDF). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
11. "Facts and figures". Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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against terrorism"  (PDF). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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18. Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic
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19.  Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic
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21. The Women and Children Repressive Prevention Act 1995
22. State vs Sukur Ali [9 (2004) BLC (HCD) 238].
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24. Sukur Ali, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and others v. The State, pp. 60–61,
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(Tribunals) Act".  Human Rights Watch. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2019.