CR I MI N A L L AW A N D FAIR T RIAL RIGHTS Bengal Jail Code, 1864 S UMMARY Provides for a number of rights and obligations of prisoners, including visits by family and legal advisors, the release of prisoners after having served their terms of imprisonment, and repatriation to his/her country if s/he is a foreigner. A PPL ICAB IL IT Y TO RO H I NGYA This Code contains no indication of jurisdiction. Therefore, Rohingya imprisoned in Bangladesh are covered by this Code. PROTECTIO N NOT ES The Bengal Jail Code draws from a number of Acts, such as the Prisons Act, as well as orders and rules issued under Section 60(a) of that Act. The rights of Rohingya prisoners while imprisoned are largely drawn from this Code, in addition to relevant protections and rights afforded by the Constitution and the Criminal Code of Procedure, as follows: • Prisoners are not to be beaten or subjected to any unlawful punishment by prison staff (Rule 187), and staff are subject to dismissal and/or prosecution under Sec. 54 of the Prisons Act for doing so (Rule 202). • Prisoners are to be held in separate wards according to “male” or “female”; prisoners under trial are to be housed separately from convicted prisoners, and short-term and long-term offenders are to be housed separately (Rule 616). • Prisoners are to be afforded treatment for illness by the Chief Medical Officer (Rule 94) or, if necessary, transported to an external hospital for care (Rule 597). • Prisoners are to be afforded opportunities to appeal their convictions from prison (Rule 599). • Prisoners are not to be precluded from education (281.b) and should be provided vocational training (Rule 261.2). • Visits by legal advisors, family, and friends are to be afforded once a week for prisoners under trial (Rule 674) and prisoners under appeal are to be allowed reasonable communication with legal advisors and allowed to sign a power of attorney (Rule 601). • Solitary confinement is limited in duration and to be applied by court order (Rule 599). Further, prisoners who have completed their sentences are to have their private property returned and to be granted a subsistence allowance for their journey “to their houses” (Paragraph 78). Rohingya who live in the camps and who are released from prison should therefore be entitled to be returned to camps at the cost of the State. Any repatriation to Myanmar would constitute unlawful refoulement. In the RMMRU judgment, the Supreme Court’s High Court Division held that Rohingya should be sent to camps in Bangladesh after completion of their prison terms, and reaffirmed prior jurisprudence holding that foreigners are not to be kept in prison following the completion of their sentence.32 This ruling affirmed Bangladesh’s obligation under customary international law to honour the principle of non-refoulement. Police Regulations of Bengal, 1943 S UMMARY Provides operational guidelines for the Bangladesh Police, with reference to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, including police misconduct and filing First Information Reports (FIRs). 34 BE YOND REFU GE: ADVANCING LEG AL PROTECTIONS FOR ROHINGYA C OMMUNITIES IN BANGL ADESH