Daily Times

Our rulers see an opportunity missed to reform the justice system and prisons once they are out of power corridors and feel the heat of the lingering trials and appalling condition of jails. Though they get the status of a VIP prisoner taking benefits of their influence and jail manuals, our former rulers see a jail barrack the least wanted place to live in. Instead, they move the court to get a berth in a hospital room to spend their days of trials and troubles. Once they are out of jail and move on to the power corridor, jail reform is the last thing on their mind. Our former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is stated to be complaining about the bad conditions of jails. Our former president Asif Ali Zardari has stated on the record that he was tortured by police while in custody back in the 90s. Our Prime Minister Imran Khan has spent a few days in jail during the Lawyers’ Movement in the Musharraf rule, so he must be familiar with the dirt and disease running high in jails. History is full of references where when public figures were jailed, they authored iconic books, and reflected on their past deeds and future strategies. One thinks they might have landed in serene and scenic jails which unleashed riots of creativity and imagination on them. Why our jails do not create such examples? True, jail is not a place for recreation, but at least the provision of decent living can reform the incarcerated lot.

In 2017, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated the number of prisoners in Pakistani jails was 82,591 against a capacity of 45,210. By 2019, the number would have gone up. The overcrowded barracks become a challenge to barrack and the staff to handle such a huge number of prisoners. Regardless of the number of prisoners going up or down, budget for food and other facilities for the prisons remain the same, and most of its share is misappropriated. Recently, a report published in Dawn newspaper stated that over 300 prisoners at the Faisalabad central jail had been diagnosed with Hepatitis B and C and another 32 with human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The same diseases could be found in other jails prisoners if a thorough screening is carried out. The irony is that the Faisalabad jail disease number is the result of the jail staff’s self-driven effort. The Faisalabad central jail houses 3,700 prisoners against the capacity of 1,200. Contagious diseases keep on flourishing unchecked in jails given the supply of contaminated water, unhealthy food and unhygienic conditions to the prisoners.

Only the Sindh government is alive to prison reforms and it passed a landmark Sindh prison reforms bill that aims at turning jails into correctional facilities

Recently, the photo of the handcuffed body of the former manager of a public university’s private campus went viral on social media. The heirs alleged that the deceased, who was kept at the camp jail in Lahore in National Accountability Court case died due to the alleged negligence of the jail staff and that his life could have been saved if he was treated in timely manners. Doctors said he died of a heart attack, however, it is no secret that prisoners suffer a shortage of medicines, doctors and nurses and ambulances besides torture by the jail staff. There is no separate treatment for the prisoners suffering from mental health conditions and instead, they are disciplined with torture. The picture of the handcuff body failed to stir a debate on jail conditions. Also, the statements by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif about his mistreatment in jail failed to awake the circles of both the opposition and the government to start a talk on jail reforms Raj-era jail manuals which are punitive in nature.

Only the Sindh government is alive to prison reforms and it passed a landmark Sindh prison reforms bill that aims at turning jails into correctional facilities. The world over, the concept of making jails rehabilitation centres has taken strong roots. Jails try to reform inmates by treating with respect and giving them a chance to learn new skills to start a new life once they are out of jails. ‘The Sindh Prisons and Correctional Facilities Bill of 2019′, initiated by the Sindh government in the assembly this month states: “An environment will be created in which prisoners will be able to live with dignity and develop the ability to lead a socially responsible and crime-free life and such treatment shall be available to all prisoners without discrimination”. While the bill is being discussed at committees’ level, it is suggested that the Sindh government also incorporates special services and treatment for mentally ill prisoner patients and juvenile offenders. There is a shortage of borstals in Pakistan, including Sindh, and the PPP government should take lead in taking the much-needed initiatives on juvenile justice. A juvenile offender incarnated with hardened criminals is likely to turn into a hardened criminal once they are out of jail. Such is the harshest punishment to them and to society overall.

Coming back to jail reforms, this is the time other provinces should take a lesson from the Sindh’s initiative on prison reforms and the Sindh should make its jails an example for other provinces.

The writer is an investigative journalist based in Lahore who previously served as Web Editor at Daily Times

Published in Daily Times, February 17^th 2019.