Seven jail officials ‘removed’ from service

10 officials transferred to Gujarat jail for allegedly mistreating inmates

RAWALPINDI:

Seven officials including an assistant superintendent of Adiala jail were removed from service after they were found guilty of corrupt practices, mistreating and torturing prisoners.

At least 10 other officials of Adiala jail were transferred to Gujarat jail for their involvement in the illtreatment of jail inmates.

Assistant Superintendent Hasrat Hussain, warder in charge Muhammad Raheel, Tahir Mehmood, Muneer Ahmed, Aamir Hussain, Muneer Ahmed and Sabatin Abbas, who had earlier been suspended during the inquiry, were removed from service, said a notification issued by IG Prisons Punjab Salik Jalal.

The notification said that the officials were provided an opportunity to prove their innocence but they failed to satisfy the inquiry commission and based on their unsatisfactory replies, they were removed from service.

On the other hand, 10 warders of Adiala jail were transferred to Gujarat jail for their alleged involvement in mistreating inmates. Sources said that the officials have been relocated for their alleged involvement in corruption and torturing prisoners.

Complaints of alleged ill-treatment and torture of inmates and malpractices in Adiala jail came to the fore recently after a woman approached the Islamabad High Court, accusing the jail authorities of manhandling and torturing her son.

Earlier, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah along with two judges visited the jail and inquired from the prisoners about the problems they were facing in jail.

On October 25, the Islamabad High Court ordered to take action against IG prisons Punjab and the Adiala jail superintendent over the alleged ill-treatment of prisoners in jail.

While directing the federal government to set up a human rights court within a week, the court said that a trial of human rights violations would be held in the special court.

The court had also directed to set up a complaint cell in Adiala jail.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minullah issued the directives on a report submitted to the court by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) about alleged human rights violations in Adiala jail.

Alluding to the NCHR report, the IHC chief justice remarked that (Adiala jail) seems less like a prison and more like a torture and detention centre.

The judge observed that “custodial torture is going on and inmates are ridiculed in prisons and the court will not tolerate the torture of prisoners, custodial torture must end now. The IHC chief justice said that human rights laws were quite strong, which can also look at the violations that armed forces may commit”.

The IHC chief justice had remarked during the hearing of a case that prisoners who pay bribes can have the luxury of cell phones and private meetings on jail premises while poor prisoners were deprived of their rights.

The court had warned the superintendent of the Adiala jail that serious action would be taken and an investigation would be conducted if a prisoner complains of mistreatment.

In an earlier incident, a 21-yearold prisoner Shahab Hussain, arrested in an anti-terrorism case, was allegedly stripped and subjected to torture by Adiala jail officials who had demanded a bribe from him.

Hussain's mother Imtiaz Bibi had filed a petition in the IHC alleging that the jail superintendent and other staff members tortured her son and broke his finger.

Shahab's mother had alleged that the jail staff demanded a bribe of Rs5,000 from him.

She said that the prisoner went on a hunger strike on September 9 and had become extremely weak and was fighting for his survival.