Two weeks ago, we concluded the fourth Asia-Pacific correctional managers’ conference in Dhaka. When I say we, I mean the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) together with the Prison Directorate of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Both institutions consolidated their efforts and cooperation to host Bangladesh’s first-ever such conference and made it successful and fruitful.
The conference witnessed participation by 14 countries that were represented by more than 28 correctional managers who work and supervise detention facilities back home.
Also attended by high-profile representation from ICRC delegations in Asia and the headquarters in Geneva, the conference was a follow-up to similar events held in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Balancing Security and Humanitarian Needs within Prisons.”
A great deal of momentum was created at last year’s seminar on these topics.Therefore, it was important to build on that and continue to focus on the same issues during this year’s conference.
It was an open platform where detaining authorities shared their experiences, best practices, and also the challenges they face in managing detention facilities. It was meant to be an interactive space and we feel that this goal has been achieved.
The open prison model
The knowledge that different detaining authorities gained from each other was substantial and shows the added value of such events. For example, Bangladesh Inspector General of Prisons Brigadier General Syed Iftekhar Uddinhad witnessed the workings of an open prison in Sri Lanka last year.
Impressed by that model, he expressed the wish to implement the same in Bangladesh, understanding that there are many prisoners who do not require high security supervision, and it is more fiscally responsible to operate lower security facilities while providing marketable job skills to prisoners.
Farid Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, the Honorable Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, summarised the purpose of the conference when he said: “Prisons should be transformed to correctional centres,” in his concluding speech on the last day.
No doubt that security measures are important for maintaining law and order and minimise violations of law, but at the same time, it’s crucial to strike a balance between security and humanitarian conditions and not use one at the other’s expense.
The ICRC, together with Bangladesh Prison Directorate, considers this conference a milestone in their constructive and trustful relationship that has been built over the past three years.
Today, I can confidently say that this success imposes greater responsibility on us.
Pilot visits
We started in 2014 with our pilot visits to three detention facilities after an agreement with Ministry of Home Affairs. The dialogue and confidence have increased since then, allowing the ICRC to conduct more visits to prisons in Bangladesh.
It’s crucial to strike a balance between security and humanitarian conditions and not use one at the other’s expense
We know that prisons are one of the most sensitive state institutions and often attract greater public interest. Granting an international organisation access to prisons requires greater trust and confidence from the authorities.
It’s essential that we further deepen our exchange and dialogue over detention to achieve better conditions and humane treatment for these detainees, in full collaboration with the authorities.
Several thousand detainees have so far benefited from improved access to safe water, better sanitation facilities, improved kitchens, and better-equipped medical wards due to ICRC interventions in some prisons. ICRC doctors and engineers provide the authorities with advice on simple and effective ways of improving the situation and sometimes run training sessions.
The ICRC’s involvement in detention file in Bangladesh is not new. From 1971 till 1975, the institution helped exchange around 2.8 million oral and written messages between separated families and to repatriate thousands of Bangladeshis, including the prisoners of war, back home after the end of the conflict.
It’s heartwarming for me personally when I meet some key leaders and politicians here who were detained and they recall the ICRC’s visits to them in the 70s. Our commitment and way of working hasn’t changed.
Globally, we started our detention visits over 140 years ago and have since then established a unique expertise and a distinct methodology in this file that we apply to more than 90 countries.
This methodology includes access to all detainees regardless of their charges, access to all infrastructure and installations used by and for detainees, repetition of visits, and the opportunity to interview the detainees of the ICRC’s choice freely and in private (without witnesses). Our approach is complementary; it doesn’t aim to substitute the authorities in any way.
Such complementation encourages multi-faceted and relevant responses and builds an environment conducive to greater respect for humanitarian norms inside detention places.
Dignified treatment
We don’t judge or denounce; we offer a helping hand to the authorities to look into their practices and procedures and help them respect or further respect the national and international standards.
Our focus is to help the authorities provide dignified conditions and treatment to the detainees. It has often been said that places of detention are a mirror of the society and the values it promotes.
We believe that these values are humane in nature and are the same in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and elsewhere.
We have come a long way in Bangladesh in just three years with Prison Directorate and MoHA, and this would have not been possible without a constructive and dynamic relationship.
Of course, the required work is difficult, but not impossible. We know that there are many challenges and obstacles, but whatever steps are taken, their success will depend on our ability to take advantage of their diversity, while at the same time seeing them as an integral part of a collective effort to strengthen the collaboration furthermore.
The ICRC in Bangladesh has multi-disciplinary humanitarian action covering the areas of promotion, integration, and implementation of IHL with MoFA, Armed Forces, and police, delivery of humanitarian assistance to victims of intercommunal and political violence in addition to its detention activities.
Many of these activities the ICRC develops and conducts together with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, the BDRCS.
Ikhtiyar Aslanov is Head of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Dhaka.
