BLAST works at all levels of the justice system to advocate for the rights of prisoners in Bangladesh and indigent Bangladeshi citizens incarcerated abroad. BLAST has filed several writ petitions for the protection of the rights of prisoners and challenged the detention and confinement of prisoners in violation of their fundamental rights as guaranteed under Article 27, 31 and 32 of the Constitution. 

BLAST  has also taken action to release foreign prisoners detained in national prisons. 

Judgments:

  • BLAST & Another v Bangladesh & Others(Safeguards on Arrest – Fair Trial – Freedom from Torture – Arrest without Warrant – Remand in Police Custody– CRPC Section 54 and Section 167-)
    Writ Petition No. 3806 of1998
    55 DLR (2003) 363
  • BLAST & Another v Bangladesh & Others (Safeguards on arrest – Fair Trial – Access to Justice-Under trial Prisoners)
    Writ Petition No. 7578 of 2003
    57 DLR (HCD) (2005) 11

Pending:

  • BLAST v Bangladesh and Others (338 under trial foreign prisoners in Cox’s Bazar Jail)
    Writ Petition No. 10628 of 2006
  • BLAST and another v Bangladesh and others (Juveniles remanded in custody in different jails of Bangladesh)
    Writ Petition No. 6373 of 2007
  • BLAST v Gov. of Bangladesh (Secure return of 156 Bangladeshi Nationals in Bahrampur Central Jail, West Bengal, India)
    Writ Petition No. 1715 of 2010

CASE STUDY

  • PRISONER AWARENESS PROGRAMMES 

Under the IRSOP project, paralegals have conducted 1,475 paralegal aid clinic sessions inside prisons with 34,742 prisoners, amongst whom 21,789 were men and 12,953 were women.

  • INTERVENTIONS AT PRISONS

Of the 147,656 interventions taken by the IRSOP paralegals, 141,742 were taken in prisons.