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| Interventions |
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Work in Prisons |
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Prisoner’s Rights |
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As a human rights organization, CSJ believes it is imperatives to work on prisoners rights because in order to reduce crime, society must take a two pronged approach to solve the problem. Firstly, it must work to counter the socio economic conditions that contribute to crime. CSJ’s work in prisons shows that most of the prisoners come from poor and vulnerable communities. Secondly, CSJ believed that it must extend all possible help and cooperation to the treatment devices enabling an offender to return to social milieu as a law-abiding citizen. This must include a programme for the treatment and rehabilitation of prisoners. Under systematic procedures, the government can delegate some basic functions of treatment to community groups and volunteers. |
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| Therefore, CSJ has undertaken the following activities towards ensuring the rights of the prisoners: |
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Due to delays in procedures, many under trials spend more time in prison than they would have had to had they been convicted. Therefore, in an effort to ensure the right of every individual to a fair trial, CSJ has set up a system of providing free legal aid to prisoners. |
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CSJ was given permission to start work in jails to facilitate the release of undertrial prisoners accused of bailable offences. We realised that the main reason people remain behind the bars was their inability to procure a surety or bail. Most of these prisoners were poor and could not produce bail. CSJ therefore introduced the concept of a personal bond as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court to enable poorer prisoners to pay their bail. Initially, the lower judiciary resisted the effort but today the concept is well accepted. In many cases, the judges themselves ask the lawyer to file a personal bond application for those in need. |
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CSJ was invited by the jail minister to assist in the jail reforms process. We initiated a task force comprising of people from the jail, lawyers, judiciary etc. The task force submitted a report on the possibility of jail reforms in Gujarat. Several of the recommendations of the committee are being implemented today including the lok adalats, mobile courts, availability of free legal aid, etc. |
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The jail staff has been sensitised to the issue of undertrials and been advised of possible remedies. For instance, in our interaction with the Baroda Jail superintendent, CSJ was told that the prison worked to identify prisoners who were held longer than their due time and brought this to the notice of the committee in charge of visiting the jail every month to assess overcrowding. |
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CSJ operates in 12 jails in the state of Gujarat. |
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