Capital’s first prison almost complete

Federal ombudsman reviews progress on jail reforms

ISLAMABAD:

A new jail in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) is near completion, said a report by the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat.

Under construction on 720 kanals of land in Sector H-16 with the cost of Rs3.9 billion, the Islamabad Model Prison was almost complete, said the seventh quarterly report on the implementation of the Wafaqi Muhtasib Secretariat (WMS) report on improving jail conditions, which was presented in the Supreme Court of Pakistan last year. The federal capital, which has its own police, administrative and judicial system, is without a prison and Islamabad-based prisoners are being kept in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz said that his office has been making efforts to improve jail conditions and to remove irritants of criminal administrative justice system. Federal ombudsman, in this regard, held online meetings in the last quarter with the four provincial chief secretaries and relevant stakeholders, read a statement on Thursday.

WMS also presented its seventh quarterly implementation report in the meeting.

The report was earlier presented in the Supreme Court by WMS Secretary Dr Jamal Nasir and WMS Senior Adviser Law Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmed Khokhar.

The meeting reviewed progress of the provincial, district oversight committees and welfare committees to improve life of prisoners, especially women, children and destitute prisoners.

Representatives of all the provinces said they had already constituted district, welfare and provincial oversight committees which held regular meetings. They said that they had revisited the expansion of probation and parole facilities with certain recommendations so that pressure on accommodation facilities in jails could be eased.

Sindh notified the amended "Sindh Prisons and Corrections Service Rules, 2019" and the Sindh Prisons Correctional Act, 2019. The new laws will contribute to a peaceful and safe society by confining all prisoners in safe custody while ensuring their basic rights.

The Punjab government has converted the Directorate of Reclamation and Probation into the Punjab Probation and Parole Service Department under the supervision of a BS-20 officer. Punjab chief minister has also constituted a high-level Parole Board.

The government of K-P has also amended its Good Conduct Prisoners Probational Release Rules 1927, and placed it before the provincial assembly.

The ombudsman asked provincial governments to encourage donors and educational institutions to play their role more effectively and efficiently apart from providing necessary funds for improvement in jails.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2020.