Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Subordinate jail officials `need education on human rights'

Special Correspondent

Prisoners' rights cannot be taken away since they are convicts "Human rights of all persons in any form of detention must be protected"

Photo D. Gopalakrishnan

AWARENESS: ADGP (Prisons) V. Balachandran lights the traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of a short-term course in "Human Rights' for prison officers at RICA in Vellore on Thursday.

VELLORE: The subordinate jail officials such as head warders and grade I and II warders should be properly educated on human rights of prisoners in order to ensure that human rights of the prisoners are not violated, according to V. Balachandran, Additional Director General of Police (Prisons), Tamil Nadu and chairman, Board of Management, Regional Institute of Correctional Administration (RICA), Vellore.

Inaugurating a three-day short term course on "Human Rights" for prison officers from different States sponsored by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), New Delhi and organised by the RICA here on Thursday, Mr. Balachandran said that some prison officials hold the wrong view that human rights of convicts could be denied that they had already been punished with imprisonment for various crimes committed by them. "Those who violate the law are also human beings. The law does not say that the rights of the accused could be taken away once they are convicted and sent to the prison".

The ADGP (Prisons) said that India was one of the signatories to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, which incorporates the standard procedures to be followed by jail officials in handling prisoners. One of the declarations was to protect the human rights of all persons in any form of detention. The object of the punishment given to criminals was only to provide an opportunity to them to correct themselves and go out of the prison on discharge as reformed citizens.

Mr. Balachandran said that the rights of the prisoners could be legally curtailed only to a minimum level. When the prisoners misbehaved in the prison, they could be punished by denying them interviews with their kith and kin.

But, before meting out such a punishment, the officials could seek an explanation from the prisoners about their misbehaviour. They need not be straightaway punished, but could be warned after obtaining an explanation, he said. The ADGP said that all complaints on violation of human rights by the prison officials could be attributed to a lack of awareness on the part of the subordinate officials about the various provisions of the Jail Manual in respect of basic rights of prisoners.

M. Balan Alagirisamy, Director, RICA welcomed the gathering. P.V. Babu, Deputy Director, RICA proposed a vote of thanks. Twenty officials from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi are attending the course.

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