Indispensable Rights of Prisoners in the Modern Era

Abstract

Human rights are those rights which are conferred upon an individual since his inception on this earth. These rights areinalienableand are available to every human being. It does not matter whether such human being is a male or female, old man or young boy, or a free-man or a prisoner. The state is under an obligation for protecting the human rights of its citizens as well as to protect the society at large, and is authorized to do so.A prison or jail is a place in which individuals are physically confined or detained and usually deprived of his personal freedom. Such an individual is called prisoner or detainee. Imprisonment is a legal punishment that may be imposed by the state for the commission of crime and disobeying its rule. Prisoners, however, are not by mere reason of conviction curtailed of their human rights. They are also human beings. Hence all such rights except those are taken away in the legitimate process of arrest still remain with him.In India, the idea of rights of prisoners was long suppressed under the colonial rule. The constitution of India, however, confers a number of fundamental rights upon citizens. India is also a signatory to various international instruments of Human Rights like UDHR, ICCPR etc. All these instruments specifically deal with various human rights of prisoners.The Indian freedom struggle played a crucial role in initiating the process of identifying certain rights of the prisoners. Article 21 of the Indian constitution also guarantees the rights of personal liberty. The Indian Supreme Court has also been active in responding to human rights violations in Indian jails and has, in the process, recognized a number of rights of prisoners by interpreting Articles 21, 19, 22, 32 etc. The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) also guarantees certain rights to prisoners.In the due course of this paper, we will discuss about various human rights of prisoners at local as well as international level and role of judiciary in their protection.