Friday, September 02, 2005

Jail reforms to go ahead

Kathmandu, Sept. 2-The Department of Jail Management (DJM) is working to materialise the concept project of open prison
DFID’s decision made hand off to cooperate with the government .Rs. 94 million was allocated to accomplish the programme in Kathmandu, Chitwan, Nepalgunj and Jhapa. The project was to be assisted by the Department for International Development (DFID) and Penal Reforms International (PRI).According to the DJM, the project was being introduced for the first time in Nepal as per the international and humanitarian laws. There are about 7,000 inmates in 73 jails situated in 71 districts across the country. There are no jails in Bhaktapur, Sunsari, Bara and Dhanusha districts while two each are in Kathmandu and Dang.The project would be carried out in two phases spanning over five years. The three-year long second phase included action plans to develop legal and paralegal services, vision for Nepal Jail Administration, strategic plan for prison management, correction centres for mentally ill and women prisoners.The jail community service is a programme where prisoners sentenced for two years or less can live in the community instead of serving their sentences behind the bars. But this has to be authorized by the judges of the respective courts. Nearly 10 per cent of the prisoners in the country comes under the two-year category, legible for the jail community service.In the first phase of two years, 25 prisoners each of Kathmandu and Chitwan would have been provided with the service under the open jail management. “Now, we are planning to start with about 10 families of inmates in Kathmandu. Their family will be provided a house inside the area where they can live with their families,” reports. After the completion of the project, the programme will be gradually expanded throughout the country. “This will help correct the prisoners and minimise expenses of putting them in jail under the present system.”The project will be operated in coordination with representatives from the Home Ministry, Ministry of Justice and Law, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Ministry of Finance, Supreme Court and Nepal Bar Association.

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