Session 3: Rehabilitation or Retribution? What should be prioritised?

Criminal justice has been a major point of discussion in South Asia over the past few months. Various nations across the region have recently toughened the stance on criminal activities such as illegal immigration. Moreover, there has also been a rise in the crackdown on trafficking and organized drug crime.

With regard to this SAYDF organized a session where participants discussed and debated the concept of retribution vs rehabilitation, given the rise in retribution in the South Asia region. Some arguments presented by participants in support of retribution were that punishment leads to offenders developing a sense of accountability, i.e. understanding that they are responsible for their actions and they will bear consequences for what they have done. Furthermore, they also stated that retribution instills fear in offenders, thus acting as a deterrent of repeating a similar offence in the future, i.e. reducing the recidivism rate. At the same time, some other participants supported rehabilitation with a participant from Bangladesh stating that the fear instilled due to retribution only lasts in the short term and that rehabilitation is better from a long term perspective. An example supporting this was how the recidivism rate in Bangladesh - a country that primarily focuses on retribution instead of rehabilitation - is notably high - close to 45%. They highlighted how this showed that deterrence due to fear does not stick for long and is not a successful tactic to reduce crime. Moreover, another major argument presented in support of rehabiliation was that it helps address the root cause of some crimes. They stated that this is as some crimes such as theft are committed due to the offender being uneducated. Rehabilitations focus on education helps remedy and target this root cause, leading to a decrease in the recidivism rate.

This discussion showed how incidents and trends in South Asia are not only limited to the region, but instead be boiled down to much more fundamental approaches to certain actions.

Links for further interest

https://www.unodc.org/southasia//frontpage/2025/April/nepal_-promoting-rights-based-rehabilitation-and-reintegration-of-people-who-use-drugs.html

https://www.unodc.org/southasia//frontpage/2025/April/sri-lanka_-forging-a-unified-national-strategy-against-organised-crime.html

https://www.unodc.org/southasia//frontpage/2025/May/india_-building-bridges-with-families-to-prevent-drug-use-and-related-risks.html