Federal Ombudsman Secretariat organised a meeting of the National Committee on Jails Reforms in Islamabad to discuss the progress of the implementation of recommendations made in the report which has already been presented to the Chief Justice of Pakistan by the Federal Ombudsman M.Salman Faruqui.The committee visited the jails in far flung areas to examine the issues being faced by the women and children in jails. The committee suggested short, medium and long term reforms in its report. The committee also suggested that the laws relating to criminal justice system and prisons need to be revisited for better coordination among allied agencies. The committee also observed shortage of staff in jails, over crowdedness, lack of sanitation and health facilities, violence on prisoners particularly women and children, lack of proper food, external oversight mechanism, non-production of under trial prisoner to courts. In 2003, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed serious concerns over the overcrowding of prisoners across the country. Similar reservations were also raised on the issue in a report by the Council of Islamic Ideology in the same year. These poor living conditions often result in transmission of contagious diseases across cells, which is particularly hazardous for juvenile and women prisoners. Furthermore, the high vulnerability of weak groups to sexual abuse and other forms of violence amidst such circumstances is a gruesome violation of all human rights, and should be addressed on an immediate basis.
Although prisons have long been believed to be institutions used to permanently or temporarily detain criminal outlaws, the state still cannot be oblivious to its moral as well as humanitarian obligations towards prisoners. It still owes them a chance towards a better life, a better future, none of which can be realised until their detention time is utilised as a rehabilitation opportunity. The limited availability of space in jails makes it nearly impossible for the authorities to differentiate between under-trial and convicted prisoners, Hence, the amalgamation of mild-natured and hard-core criminals facilitates Pakistani prisons in becoming a breeding ground for delinquency and immorality. Prisoners can only be reformed to become civilised and law-abiding citizens if the authorities pay heed towards their education as well as rehabilitation. Investing in defunct prison industries can also be utilisation of this manpower. The absence of proper arrangements to facilitate conjugal visits of spouses of inmates is another overlooked issue, which can only be resolved by constructing additional prisons. An increased capacity in the prison cells will also help the authorities to establish a system of check against the prevailing malaise of drug addiction as well as crime cultivation. Tihar Jail in India made headlines last year, where a security breach was found to have facilitated various extortionists working from behind bars. Although no such scandal has yet surfaced in Pakistan, reports of jail authorities with regard to smuggling and even human trafficking crop up from time to time. The acknowledgement of jails being overcrowded also came from former Sindh chief minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah, validating the perception that the administration has full realisation of the gravity of this problem. However, until the government machinery starts a process of systematic jail reforms and tables extensive legislations in lieu of the centuries-old 1894 Prison Act, nothing significant can be achieved. Prisons should be considered a place where inmates learn the value of deterrence, responsibility and rehabilitation, and keeping them in conditions not even suited for animals is a repudiation of basic principles of compassion, altruism and humanity.
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