Although the country’s prisons were already full of prisoners, the situation became worse with the influx of prisoners following the political unrest.
According to the data of the prison department, the capacity of 68 prisons in the country is less than 43,000 prisoners.
On November 5, the jails were filled with a total of about 88,000 prisoners.
The number of prisoners is increasing rapidly as every day prisoners are joining the ranks along with leaders and workers of opposition parties.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told Parliament on September 2 that the number of prisoners in jails was about 77,000.
According to the latest data of the jail department, the number has increased by more than 10,609.
According to reports sent by Prothom Alo correspondents, more than 8,000 BNP leader-activists were arrested between 28 October and 7 November.
According to the jail code, a prisoner should get a space of 6 feet by 6 feet in the jail. But this cannot happen because the jails are filled beyond capacity. Maintaining discipline has also become a challenge. Prisoners do not get proper treatment because there are only 6 doctors in 68 jails. However, vulnerable prisoners may remain in prison hospitals for long periods of time.
“We can accommodate 90,000 prisoners, although we have 42,000 prisoners in our jails,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told Prothom Alo. Therefore, we do not need to increase the capacity of jails right now. We will take action later if needed.”
The minister said that construction or expansion of jails is underway in Mymensingh, Cumilla, Khulna, Narsingdi and Jamalpur. The capacity of the jails will increase with the commencement of the jails under construction.
Actually, it will take time to increase the capacity of jails.
Opposition parties fear that more people will be arrested in the coming days given their agitation, which will result in worsening of the situation in jails.
Human rights activists said dire prison conditions could be avoided by stopping mass arrests, making bail easier and ending trials quickly.