Are prisoners persons? yes, of course: Human rights of prisoners in India Thomas Joseph I* Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous), Kochi, Kerala, India *Email id josephithomas@rajagiri.edu
Online Published on 24 July, 2023. Abstract Prisoners are humans and are entitled to human rights (HR). However, HR violations in prisons are still a significant concern worldwide. This article describes the rights accorded to Indian prisoners by the Constitution, Indian and international laws, and court and government orders. In addition, it details HR violations that Indian prisoners face by analysing government- published data on prisons. This online desk research garnered data from secondary sources. It used Prison Statistics India (PSI) 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and Human Rights Cases Statistics (HRCS), 2021 by National Human Rights Commission. It further reviewed the Nelson Mandela Rules safeguarding the HR of prisoners, the Indian Constitution, laws, court orders on prisoners’ rights, model prison manual, and scholarly articles and e-books discussing the HR of prisoners, violations and strategies to retain them. This study confirmed the persisting overcrowding of Indian jails mainly due to the prolonged detention of undertrials. Furthermore, it exposed the increasing number of unnatural deaths in prisons and the discrepancies between data provided by PSI and HRCS. Finally, this article recommends hiring professionals to educate prisoners about their rights, provide free legal aid, maintain their mental health and prepare them to reintegrate into society. Top Keywords Indian prisoners, Human rights, Prison overcrowding, Undertrials, Custody deaths. Top |