Ex-inmates to propose jail reforms

Panel includes MPAs, officials, civil society members

LAHORE:

Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has constituted a committee for the welfare of prisoners and improvement in the prison system of the province.

The chief minister had visited Kot Lakhpat Jail after taking oath last week. His father, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had also visited the jail after taking oath. He also went to the cell where he was imprisoned earlier.

Former provincial minister Aleem Khan, who also had spent considerable time behind bars during the investigation of an assets beyond means case by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has been appointed as convener of the committee.

Its members include former provincial minister Khawaja Salman Rafique who also remained in jail along with his brother Saad Rafique who is now a federal minister.

Other members of the committee are MPAs Aisha Nawaz and Aunaiza Fatima, lawyers Syed Ali Raza Shah and Usama Khawar Ghumman, the additional chief secretary (home), additional secretary (prisons), inspector general of prisons, the Punjab Probation and Parole Service director general, former prisons IG Mian Farooq Nazeer, Ahad Khan Cheema, Fatima Bokhari, a representative of the Human Rights Commission, Mary James Gill, a civil society activist and the superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail.

The committee will examine the state of prisons in Punjab and make recommendations for immediate improvements in the system with a focus on the welfare of the prisoners and strengthening the management of prisons, as per the terms of reference.

It will also carry out consultations with stakeholders, including inmates, to identify pressing issues relating to the prison system and offer proposals for improvements.

The panel is mandated to identify gaps in the existing legislation and administrative practices and propose plausible and pragmatic revisions.

The committee will work on devising ways and means to make effective a council established under the Punjab Sentencing Act 2019 and the provincial probation and parole service.

It has been mandated to assess the condition of the vulnerable prisoners and propose measures for their welfare, while also making recommendations for rationalising the prisons’ population.

It will also devise ways and means to provide the prisoners with basic amenities and a suitable environment, including accommodation, health, education, recreation and food facilities commensurate with the internationally accepted standards.

The committee will look for ways and means to make Lahore Central Jail a model prison and advise the authorities on effective strategies and mechanisms for the reformation and rehabilitation of the prisoners, including vocational training in collaboration with government institutes like TEVTA, providing them opportunities to earn their livelihood and facilitating their reintegration into society.

An official said the aim of the constitution of the committee is to formulate recommendations for bringing about positive changes in the prison system in the long, medium and short term.

The Punjab Inspectorate of Prisons shall provide secretarial support to the committee that will meet at least twice a month.

The chief minister has asked the committee to furnish an interim report by May 16 and the final document within four months.

There have been widespread complaints that the prisons in the province lack even basic facilities like hygienic conditions, healthy food, access to medicines and treatment of diseases, proper accommodation and protection against harsh weather.

Several government departments’ reports have also identified the gaps in this regard, especially the health risk to the prisoners.

Official record shows that over 200 inmates died during 2021 throughout Punjab. As many as 47 of them died in the Lahore Camp Jail. At least seven inmates died in two weeks of December last year in two jails of Lahore.

A report submitted by the prisons department before the Lahore High Court in February revealed that the number of prisoners in the province was 50,578, whereas the capacity of the prisons was 36,806.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2022.