Torture in jail: Punjab prisons’ chief told to probe accusation

IHC orders submission of detailed report on June 13.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered the inspector general of Punjab Prisons to conduct an inquiry into the alleged torture of a prisoner in Adiala jail and submit a comprehensive report on June 13.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, while hearing a petition filed on behalf of Ghulam Mustafa Gilani, who claims he was tortured by jail officials, asked the Punjab Prisons IG Mian Farooq Naseer to conduct impartial inquiry of the case and submit a detailed report on next date of hearing on June 13. The court also directed the official to submit a report about the implementation of jail manuals.

On May 22, the same bench had summoned the head of Adiala jail after Gilani’s daughter Samiya Mustafa Gilani requested the court to pass the inquiry order after accusing Jail Assistant Superintendent Tasawar Iqbal of torturing her father.

On Tuesday, The Prisons IG said an inquiry has already been ordered, with Adiala Jail Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig in charge, but the prisoner had refused to give his statement, saying he had already given it to the court. The IG assured the court that strict action would be taken if anyone was found to be at fault.

Mustafa was convicted of murder in 2007 and was given a life sentence. During the last hearing, the prisoner appeared in person and recorded his statement. He claimed Jail Assistant Superintendent Tasawar Iqbal had entered his cell to search it, and when Gillani refused to let him do so, Iqbal allegedly removed his vest, stripped off his clothes and tortured him. Gillani, a former World Bank employee, said that after the incident, jail authorities downgraded him from category B to category C and had withdrawn all basic facilities

The next hearing is scheduled for June 3.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2014.