Prolonged Detention: Pakistanis in Indian jails

ISLAMABAD: According to the ministry of foreign affairs, as many as 14 Pakistani prisoners detained in Indian jails have been waiting for their release despite having completed their sentences.

The Pakistan High Commission has been pursuing their cases for years but the mission’s efforts are restricted by lukewarm cooperation from Indian authorities. Despite international obligations and bilateral agreements, concerns related to prisoners, their treatment under detention, timely intimation of arrest and repatriation have remained subject of discussion between the two sides, without significant results. Charges against most prisoners are of illegal or inadvertent border crossing, visa violation and overstay. It said that Pakistan and India exchange lists of prisoners twice a year, in January and July.



Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2011.