Highlights

Two cases of repatriation of Indian nationals, the first being 52-year-old Ismail Samma of Gujarat, and the second, of a sick 21-year-old, Jetendaera Arjanwara of Madhya Pradesh, highlight the tribulations of being imprisoned in a foreign prison.

Global conventions

• The right to return to one’s home country is assured under Article 12(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• UN Model Agreement on the Transfer of Foreign Prisoners and Recommendations on the Treatment of Foreign Prisoners 1985, lays emphasis on the social rehabilitation of foreign prisoners through early repatriation to their home countries to serve their remaining sentence.
• In consonance with these international humanitarian commitments, most countries have legislated on a Repatriation of Prisoners Act.

Source: The Hindu