Diplomatic negotiations: Pakistan in talks with 35 nations for prisoners swap

Most of the inmates have been sentenced by courts, while the rest are under trial.

ISLAMABAD:

The wheels of diplomacy and humanity seem to be rolling on in the right direction, albeit at a slow pace, as negotiations with 35 countries are said to be in progress to bring back thousands of Pakistani citizens imprisoned in those countries for many years, an official source said.

“Islamabad will sign the Transfer of Prisoners Accord with some of those countries to assume custody of Pakistanis, in return for the repatriation of prisoners of those countries held in Pakistani jails,” a senior official in the ministry of interior told The Express Tribune, requesting anonymity.

“It is too early to predict how long it will take to conclude such agreements, however we are trying to complete the process as early as possible,” he explained. Some of the Pakistani prisoners have already been sentenced by the foreign countries’ courts, while the rest are under trial.

A large number of Pakistanis are languishing in prisons in Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, the  United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Sweden, Iran, Ireland, Denmark, Afghanistan, India, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Greece, Canada, Eretria, Jordon and Hungary for over five to ten years.

Majeeb Qadir, a public relations officer in the interior ministry, said he was not in a position to comment on the report. Moazzam Ali Khan, the spokesman for the foreign affairs ministry was also unavailable for comment.

However, a public relations officer of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), Muhammad Asif, told The Express Tribune that the foundation was making serious efforts to secure the release of Pakistani prisoners.

He said the issue was discussed at the OPF’s board of governors meeting held on August 30. “Our labour attachés [junior staff member in an embassy] in 22 countries are looking after the interests of Pakistani prisoners in those countries,” Asif claimed.

A majority of Pakistanis imprisoned abroad are in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have around 1,900 and 2,100 of them respectively. While 146 are in Spain, 365 in the UK, 136 in Italy and 257 in China and Hong Kong.

Most of them are in jails for alleged illegal immigration. Others were implicated in crimes such as violation of traffic rules, murder, robbery and other offences.

The plight of these prisoners is another major concern, as they suffer from inhumane conditions in the prisons. They are also denied their legal rights entailed to them under the Geneva Convention and the basic principle of justice. The majority of them are neither able to hire the services of lawyers for their trial due to the lack of finances, nor are they able to appeal their sentences in a higher court.

Pakistani diplomatic missions in foreign countries usually look after the interests of the prisoners, but their only contributions remain in the collection of basic information of their jailed citizens.

“The actual reason for such negligence on the part of Pakistani diplomatic missions is due to the absence of sufficient funds allocated in the budget for the embassies and diplomatic missions,” a senior official in the foreign ministry stated.

“We are not providing sufficient funds to our embassies to provide legal help to such prisoners.”

However, another senior official in the foreign affairs ministry said it was the responsibility of the ministry of overseas Pakistanis to look after the welfare of Pakistani citizens stationed abroad, as its nominated labour attachés are posted in many Pakistani embassies to cater for their welfare.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2012.