Pakistan has long grappled with prison reform against a backdrop of structural inefficiencies, overcrowding, human rights violations, and antiquated colonial-era statutes. There are lots of hurdles to overcome yet, including recent progress due to policy and judicial actions. The jail system was designed as a tool of punishment, not for rehabilitation, and it needs to be urgently reformed so that it is in line with international human rights laws.
A 2024 joint report from Justice Project Pakistan, the National Academy of Prison Administration (NAPA), and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) reveals the harsh realities and structural flaws in the nation’s incarceration system and makes suggestions to assist the nation in transitioning to a more equitable and compassionate correctional system. With nearly 102,000 prisoners packed into overcrowded, underfunded facilities that are characterized by a malfunctioning “rehabilitation” system, Pakistan’s jail system is reaching a breaking point.
Pakistan inherited a prison system during British colonial rule and has made little progress towards reform, though efforts have been made, reflecting oppressive logics of punishment. The 1894 and 1900 Prisoners Acts that prioritize punishment over rehabilitation and the dehumanization they usher in. Death row inmates in Hyderabad Central Jail live in 9×12 foot cells, a representation of institutional stasis. Vocational training & education was the agenda of the Cardew Committee of 1919 but was ignored.
While recent efforts, like the 2024 National Jail Reform Policy accompanied by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, promise alignment with international standards like the Bangkok Rules, Beijing Rules, and Mandela Rules, implementation is still fragmented. The policy emphasizes alternative sentencing and rehabilitation programs, for example, mental health support, vocational training, and humane treatment to reduce overcrowding.
Punjab’s pilot program that diverts minor criminals to community service has shown promise, cutting recidivism by 30 percent in Sargodha.
The fact that the number of people incarcerated nationwide increased by just 1.66 percent from 2023 is encouraging, with 74,918 inmates more than three quarters of the jail population currently awaiting trial; overcrowding is still a serious issue. Punjab has built 13 new prisons since 2010, including two high-security facilities in Sahiwal and Mianwali and district jails in Okara, Pakpattan, Layyah, Bhakkar, and Rajanpur in order to accommodate more than 4,000 prisoners. 140 new barracks and 928 more death cells were built between 2010 and 2024. By 2024, these improvements were intended to increase the permissible capacity to 37,563 prisoners.
The Karachi Central Jail is still overcrowded, though, with convicts sleeping in shifts or squeezed into hallways, despite its 354.92 percent capacity and 152.2 percent occupancy rate. On paper, Punjab’s prisoner healthcare initiatives and Sindh’s proposed Corrections Services Act are praiseworthy, but the reality on the ground is different. While women in Kot Lakhpat Jail rip their shawls into makeshift sanitary pads, their requests for basic hygiene are disregarded, and a 2024 inspection of Lahore’s Camp Jail found damaged sewage pipes poisoning drinking water.
The way the system handles undertrial inmates, who make up 73 percent of the prison population, is its most obvious flaw. For example, 22-year-old Ali Raza, who was detained in 2019 for petty theft in Faisalabad, waited five years for a hearing before being acquitted for lack of evidence, and many others languish for years without a trial. A dysfunctional legal system is the cause of these delays; India has 75 judges per million, whereas Pakistan has just 21. The Control of Narcotic Substances Act changes of 2022, which eliminated parole possibilities for drug offenders, exacerbated overcrowding; 40 percent of prisoners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s jails were found guilty of violating harsh drug regulations. In the meantime, violations of human rights continue unchallenged.
Although a 2022 court investigation verified that Imtiaz Bibi’s son was beaten with iron rods by guards at Rawalpindi Central Jail until his ribs were broken, no one was charged under the Torture and Custodial Death Act. Systemic sexual harassment of women occurs; female prisoners in Balochistan describe being made to clean the quarters of male officers, while male personnel in Multan’s Women Jail frequently demand money for “protection.” Religious minorities experience abuse and segregation: Christians in Karachi are sent to solitary confinement for praying publicly, while Ahmadis in Bahawalpur Jail are kept in different barracks and are not allowed to visit their families.
Reports from bodies such as the Ministry of Interior’s Committee (2024) or the Prime Minister’s Prisoners’ Aid Committee (2019) are left rotten, while recommended expansion of probation or reform of bail is ignored. Punjab’s probation system, even as a model, grapples with just 79 officers for 39,500 cases-1:500 as opposed to an UN-recommended 1:50.
Due to the lack of funding for Sindh’s 2023 proposal for prison vocational training centers, prisoners like 18-year-old Zainab, a domestic worker imprisoned for “blasphemy” over a WhatsApp message, are forced to spend their days weaving carpets that the jail administration sells for a profit. The neglect is made worse by staff colonial hierarchy. While low-ranking guards, who make less than $100 per month, extort prisoners for basic necessities, senior officials, who are frequently former military personnel, oppose modernization and denounce mental health initiatives as “coddling criminals.” Foreign prisoners, especially Afghans, are abandoned: 1,100 are stuck in Peshawar’s jails, unable to see consulates or return home, and have their records lost in bureaucratic limbo.
Radical changes are necessary on the path to reform. Urgent measures include pursuing abusive employees, extending non-custodial punishments, and repealing colonial laws. Though it needs political will to scale, Punjab’s pilot program that diverts minor criminals to community service has shown promise, cutting recidivism by 30 percent in Sargodha. Change may also be sparked by international criticism; the UN’s 2024 assessment of Pakistan’s human rights record called jail conditions “cruel and degrading,” but the government has responded ambivalently. Pakistan’s prisons will continue to be repositories of hopelessness, sustaining cycles of violence and injustice for future generations, until the country addresses the decay in its penal system, which is a microcosm of larger government shortcomings.
The writer is a lecturer at GCUF and can be reached at mehndiarslan@gmail.com