South Asian societies are wedded to a carceral culture while dealing with social problems. And one of the most distressing of them is an outdated criminal justice system that believes in a vengeful, punitive, violent system of punishment keeping undertrials in confinement for years facing reprehensible and outmoded penal practices. The prisons in South Asia are chambers of endless distress and trauma. They are packed with detainees with deplorable sanitary conditions and hygiene, with no sense of privacy,  a weak health system, and with little or no opportunities for reform. Most detainees are left with slim chances of being set free and hardly face the due process of law in their lifetime.

The already miserable conditions of jails in South Asia became worse with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in confined spaces with little or no remedial measures. In Bangladesh, there are more than twice as many prisoners as there is capacity.  The jails in Nepal are crammed with more than 150 percent occupancy rate. In Pakistan, there are prisoners three times its capacity with mostly awaiting trial. In Sri Lanka, with flared-up protests, prison guards killed a few inmates during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another predominant feature of prisons in Sri Lanka is the gendered nature of the violence inflicted on women who suffer because they are stigmatized and are victims of voyeurism, sexism and unwelcome surveillance. Violence is almost endemic in prisons in Sri Lanka. 

Statistics don’t paint a rosy picture of India too. In the National Crime Records Bureau report, published in 2019, 478,600 prisoners are lodged inside overcrowded Indian jails, whereas they only have the capacity for 403,700 inmates. Around 68 per cent of detainees are undertrials, not convicted prisoners. As the coronavirus spread across the country in 2020 and beyond, the prisons became a hotbed of infection. (‘Crushing Dissent during India’s Lockdown’, Toward Freedom, 26 May 2021, URL: https://towardfreedom.org/story/archives/asia-archives/crushing-dissent-during-indias-lockdown/)

On April 28, 2020, the High Court of Delhi, while hearing a petition on the release of undertrials, asked the concerned authorities to unclog the jails. According to credible news reports, in prisons across India as many as 2803 inmates had tested positive for Covid-19, and nine inmates and one support staff had died during the second wave of the pandemic since March 2021. On May 7, the Supreme Court of India, recognizing the spread of the virus, ordered the state authorities to taper down arrests and clear out prisoners. (‘Crushing Dissent during India’s Lockdown’, Toward Freedom, 26 May 2021, URL: https://towardfreedom.org/story/archives/asia-archives/crushing-dissent-during-indias-lockdown/)

Political dissenters filled jails

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many activists were arrested and detained in Indian prisons without even basic medical care. Among them, the detention of activist and human rights defendant Stan Swamy is significant. He was denied basic facilities in jail. Many like Sudha Bharadwaj and Anand Teltumbde have faced the wrath of the government in power. And this is not only about India. Political dissent is being quelled in many countries, especially on the pretext of upholding the rule of law. Bangladesh jails are among the worst in South Asia. And the saddest part is there is no one to address the mental health of the inmates. In Pakistan, liberty was denied to many citizens due to minor offenses. During the pandemic, the police arrested and detained several individuals simply for exercising their fundamental rights. This included health workers, students as well as transgender rights activists. It would not be a misnomer to say that Covid-19 became a good alibi to suppress opposition to the government in various South Asian countries and perhaps beyond.  

Crying need for prison reforms 

A proper redressal of outdated colonial laws can be a face-saver for the prison system across South Asia. The plight of the prisoners can only change with the reduction of the jail population; release of those who are languishing for years in prisons because they cannot pay fines; quick fulfillment of legal formalities; speedy trials; and elimination of lock-up culture that affords no chance of reform. Effective measures to prevent prisoners from sliding permanently into a world of crime and addressing the mental health of inmates can go a long way to implementing redressal mechanisms for prisons.

Some South Asian countries have taken welcome steps toward the release of undertrial prisoners, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. These measures need to be implemented and applied consistently. Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International's South Asia Director, says, “South Asia’s prisons are a blight on the region’s conscience…. Efforts should be made to urgently reduce overcrowding, including by considering release for older detainees, and those who may qualify for early parole and who no longer pose a threat to public safety….” (‘South Asia: As Covid-19 spreads, fears rise for people at higher risk’, Amnesty International report, 2020. URL: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/south-asia-as-covid19-spreads-fears-rise-for-people-at-higher-risk/)

The challenge is to assuage the fears of prisoners by maintaining their human rights even after arrest. Mostly, they are sociopaths and psychopaths who need a patient and empathetic hearing to share their social history and the reasons that drove them to crime. Nobody asks them why they land up there. It’s difficult but not impossible for them to reform and return to mainstream society instead of being lost in the criminal justice maelstrom. They should be given such an opportunity, even if just once. Otherwise, it would be a travesty of justice.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Jangipur College, Kalyani University, West Bengal. Views are personal. She can be reached at koyelbasu1979@gmail.com.)