Department of Law, DU

publishes its study report on

death row prisoners in
Bangladesh

The Department of Law, University of Dhaka (DU), in collaboration with the Bangladesh Legal
Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and the Death Penalty Project (DPP) UK, conducted the study
titled 'Living Under Sentence of Death: A study on the profiles, experiences and
perspectives of death row prisoners in Bangladesh' in 2019–20. Dr. Muhammad Mahbubur
Rahman, Professor of Law, DU, was the author and lead researcher of this study. The study
aimed to map the socio-economic profiles of death row prisoners in Bangladesh and shed light
upon their experiences and perspectives on the Bangladeshi criminal justice system.

Following the study, a virtual launching event of its report was organised on 17 June 2021 on
Zoom. Distinguished members of the legal fraternity of Bangladesh, including legal
practitioners, academicians, human rights activists and representatives of the partners in this
study attended the event.
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At the onset, Professor Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Chairman, Department of Law, DU, summarily
discussed the problems with the current death penalty regime of Bangladesh and how it affected
the death row prisoners and their families. Dr. Islam further stated that the instances of death row
prisoners languishing in jail for a prolonged period in apprehension of their execution violated
their fundamental rights. He termed this as 'second punishment' besides the death sentence and
called for reform. The chief guest of the event, Professor Dr. A. S. M. Maksud Kamal, Pro-Vice
Chancellor (Academic), DU, then officially launched the study report. He appreciated the efforts
of everyone involved for conducting such empirical research on death row convicts for the first
time in the history of Bangladesh.

Afterward, Dr. Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman presented the summary of the findings from the
study. He emphasised that while the study sample was small (only 39 death row convicts from
2013), it reflected our general prison population, which enabled the researchers to draw
conclusions on possible trends. He said that based on the data sample, the key finding of the
study is that death penalty is being used disproportionately against the economically backward
section of our society – a trend similar across the globe.  

After the presentation, Professor Dr. Md. Rahmat Ullah, Dean, Faculty of Law, DU, shared his
comments on the report. Stating that such a study was long overdue in Bangladesh, he hoped that
the study's findings would encourage researchers to conduct further investigations and
policymakers to make necessary reforms to our criminal justice system.

A panel of experts consisting of Dr. Naima Huq and Dr. Borhan Uddin Khan, Professors of Law,
DU; Mr. Thomas Baumgartner, Counsellor, Head of Political, Economic & Cultural Affairs,
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh; Mr. Saul Lehrfreund, MBE, Co-founder and Co-
Executive Director, DPP; Barrister Sara Hossain, Honorary Executive Director, BLAST; and
Professor Carolyn Hoyle, Director, Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford then
discussed on the study's findings and the way forward. They remarked that while the findings are
compelling and thought-provoking, more studies need to be conducted to further validate these
findings. This was followed by an open discussion where Dr. Rahman responded to queries from
the attendees.

The special guest of the event, Justice Md. Nizamul Huq, former Judge, Appellate Division,
Supreme Court of Bangladesh, then shared his concluding remarks. He said that such a study is
crucial to make Bangladeshi citizens aware of the problems with our death penalty regime.
Lastly, he reiterated the comments of the experts to build on the study's findings and provide
informed recommendations to the policymakers for reforming the criminal justice system of
Bangladesh.