The terrible state of jails and the prisoners in Pakistan.

On the night of 12th May 1998, a cry of rage rose from the monster rampaging down the streets. A beast with clenched fists, distorted faces and blazing eyes, a monster that swallowed all that came in its way like seething lava and grew bigger and bigger. The venom it spat rose in fumes filtering its way through shut doors and deaf ears. A crazed and mindless monster it was, the crowd. This ogre of so many single bodies set to fire the offices of the Mansehra superintendent of police. This monster reacted violently when attacked with tear gas during its protest march. It tore apart the government offices and private businesses and menaced over the Karakoram Highway blocking traffic. It collided head on with police and paramilitary rangers taking wounds and fatal injuries. Then satisfied it subsided causing deployment of police, rangers, and the Frontier Constabulary. (1)

This monster had fought for Ghulam Jilani, a thirteen years old arrested for theft of Rs 2,700 along with another boy. Afternoon brought the news to the ill-fated father that his son had been hospitalized. But when he got there an autopsy was being preformed… (2/3/4) The police officer Muhammad Iqbal alleged that Jilani had attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself while the autopsy report stated that Jilani died of sever head injuries that caused profuse bleeding from the nose and mouth in police custody; a finding that prompted filing a criminal complaint of murder against the head constable of the Mansehra police station. (5)

Maltreatment at the hands of the prison authorities is not only degrading and a violation of human rights but it crushes the self-esteem and sense of dignity. These police officers like to imagine themselves as the Don Corleone of their districts, they get the free ‘paans’ (betel leaves) from the ‘paan walas’ and complimentary tea from the tea shops, they are everybody’s ‘bhai’ (brother), figures to be respected, feared and held in awe and to prove their authority they use their ‘daada’ (baton) as they please; after all law is on their side isn’t it?

What can possibly occur during custodial interrogation is no secret and nor is the state of the jails in this country. Their condition is pathetic and deplorable with near to complete disregard of basic human rights and civic facilities. The doleful state of prisons has aggravated because of negligence, mismanagement, lack of funds and the derisory infrastructure of the prison houses and over-crowding which adversely affects the health of the prisoners, particularly women and children, physical and psychologically. While the spirits are hanging low, the health conditions are poorer as in most of the cases the prisoners are not appropriately attended to medically and provisions of basic necessities to them is not properly taken care of.

In 1997 a Pakistani medical team that interviewed two hundred children in Karachi's Youthful Offenders Industrial School (6) reported severe beatings, electric shocks, hanging up-side down, cuts, burns, slapping, verbal abuse, food deprivation, solitary confinement, and being forced to maintain uncomfortable body positions. Then the Human Rights Watch conducted an investigation that revealed bone-chilling facts about the conditions in police lockups and nauseating experiences. Children interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported of physical abuse in police custody. The violence ranged from slaps and beatings to being hung upside-down whipped with rubber belts or specially designed leather slippers or deprived of sleep or food. Those arrested were detained for sometimes 15 days in these terrible conditions before being taken to a magistrate.

Taher Hussain, a fifteen-year-old who spent a month in custody at the Garden Town police station in Lahore, said, "There were about twenty-five to thirty people in the lockup. When there were more, we couldn't lie down. Whenever it rained, water used to seep in from the roof."(7)
Ironically under article 10(2) of Pakistan's Constitution, "Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before a magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest." Hence not only are these detentions illegal but custodial abuse during interrogation in against the law.

Then according to Rule 295 of the Pakistan Prisons Rules, "all juveniles shall receive careful individual attention. The features of their treatment will be sustained work; physical, mental and moral training with a view to teach them self-discipline; and careful arrangement for their future after discharge. The aim of prison treatment shall be to give the young offenders whose mind and character are still pliable, such training as is likely to create in them a high standard of social behavior". Why does this want to make me laugh? It makes one want to laugh and be angry at the same time. Angry because this rule is meant for record only and laughs because the authorities think that if it’s anywhere on record it’s good enough for citizens!

The Borstal Jail of Bahawalpur is a thriving example that mocks this Rule 292. It lacks all the basic requirements for juvenile offenders. There are approximately 562 juveniles suffering in while the authorized capacity is of 435. In this jail are attached a carpet factory, shoe-making and tailoring shops where juveniles are forced to do hard labor for more than 10 hours daily. What thoughtful recreational activities, don’t you think so? (8)

While the basic facilities are non-existent, the health conditions are an embarrassment in the face of humanity. Medical facilities in most prisons across the country are generally inadequate with lack of proper medicines and equipment and absence of qualified doctors. In 2000 nearly 80 prisoners in Adiyala Jail suffered from tuberculosis while the Institution’s superintendent claimed that medicines and doctors were being provided. Earlier on the Hyderabad central jail faced an acute shortage of medicines, particularly drugs for TB patients causing some deaths while the authorities took everything at their usual sluggish pace. (9) This says a lot about the quality of treatment the prisoners undergo, do I need to say more?

From time to time Pakistani journalists have been harassed, charged with criminal offences and arrested for exposing human rights abuses or other unlawful practices in prisons. Here I narrate the chain of events: An article by Mohammad Hussain Khan published in Dawn of 24 July 1996 was entitled ‘A chamber of horrors’ describing the Hyderabad Central Jail

"... hundreds of prisoners - shifted from different jails in the province - are in solitary confinement, handcuffed and bar-fettered. ... Everything is going well and none of the prisoners are in distress, said the Hyderabad jail superintendent, Major Ghulam Hussain Khoso, while talking to this correspondent on the telephone. However, under trial prisoners told Dawn they are being kept in chains, cross-bar fetters and handcuffs, preventing them from sleeping or moving in the barracks".

The article elaborated that the prison built to a capacity of 1,527 prisoners held some 2,535 prisoners and was accompanied by photographs of prisoners in bar fetters and cross bar fetters; blindfolded with their own shirts. The captions indicated the anguish of those wretched souls when they sat down or tried to sleep or walk.

On 25 July 1996 the jail superintendent took some journalists to selected wards of the prison with the ground rule that no communication with the prisoners will be allowed, still correspondence was made successfully. In July 1996, Dawn once again claimed in a report that in Hyderabad Central Jail’s prisoners were in iron bar fetters and cross fetters. The reporter M.H. Khan had criminal charges of forgery, cheating and public mischief filed against him.

Its goes unsaid that reporters value their lives and security more then fame and recognition. They can hardly report something that is entirely baseless and non-existent. Even if a report is exaggerated still an ounce of truth that it contains for us is a crushing weight for those who suffer it. The full truth about violations of prisoner rights should be brought to light and its perpetrators to justice. Governments should practically send a clear message that such violations are beyond tolerance because failure to investigate and prosecute heartens the view that the government is condoning such violations.

The authorities need to wake up to work for the rectification, reclamation and rehabilitation of inmates caged in various jails over the country, only then will the monstrous protesting crowds stay off the streets. I’m not saying that nothing has been done at all, but this that nothing has been done keeping the prisoners in focus. Reformation at managerial level doesn’t and hasn’t improved the dire need for reformation of prisoners at lower level who are underprivileged with inconsequential backgrounds. Their problems need to be dealt with!

Creating awareness among prisoners about their roles, rights and responsibilities. Helping them with release, discharge, acquit, pardon, freedom, unchain and bail out of prison walls by providing them with legal aid where required. Understanding the problems confronted by prisoners and take appropriate measures. To ameliorate the conditions of prisons so that they should serve as centers for character building of the prisoners and undertake measures for training and awareness of the prisoners to help them reintegrate in the society. To improve the provision of basic necessities of life to prisoners like food, clothing, medical care, education etc.

The time these prisoners are sentenced and serve is their punishment and not the conditions under which they are made to suffer. Imagine a judge stating: ‘ I hereby under section .#&^%$ sentence you to two years imprisonment in a rat infested cell already overcrowded with inmates. The state cannot afford the responsibility for regular food, medications, physical and mental health and the attitudes of the jail faculty.’ This statement is unimaginable because it holds stark truth of what is left unsaid in courtrooms.

The fact remains even in 2002 that the monster of Mansehra took its revenge. But who know how many similar violations of human rights have escaped its watchful eyes, how many has it warily let go by and when this monster might get tired of lurking in the wings and emerge again with a new identity and a new thirst of vengeance.




(1) See Syed Kosar Naqvi, "Troops called out as two killed in Mansehra riots," News International, May 14, 1998, p. 1; Robina Tariq, "5 killed as boy's death in custody sparks protests," Nation (Lahore), May 14, 1998, p. 1; and Robina Tariq, "Peace returns to Hazara," Nation (Lahore), May 16, 1998, p. 16.
(2) The First Information Report (FIR) is a record of the information available to the police regarding the commission of a cognizable offense-that is, an offense where the police may effect an arrest without a warrant. An FIR is ordinarily the starting point of a criminal investigation, but it is not required in order for an investigation to commence.
(3) According to Ghulam Rabbani, Jilani's father, the accusation was falsely levied by the shopkeeper, Fayaz, with the collusion of the police. "I worked at Fayaz's house and he had to give me Rs. 1,600 ($31) for my labor. When time and again I demanded my money from him, he bribed the police and got a case registered against my son." Interview with Ghulam Rabbani, conducted and provided to Human Rights Watch by a local activist who requested anonymity, May 1998. Fayaz contended that his shop had been burglarized the night before, and that a neighbor had seen Jilani and two other boys running by the shop that night. Interview with Fayaz, conducted and provided to Human Rights Watch by a local activist who requested anonymity, May 1998.
(4) Interview with Ghulam Rabbani. See also Robina Tariq, "5 killed as boy's death in custody sparks protests," Nation (Lahore), May 14, 1998, p. 1.
(5) The medical examiner's finding is noted in FIR No. 391/98, Police Station, City of Mansehra, District of Mansehra, registered on May 12, 1998, at 22:30. The FIR stems from a complaint of murder brought by Ghulam Rabbani against Muhammad Nawaz.
(6) Amin A. Gadit, Ahsan A. Vahidy, and Najib Khalid, "Children of the Corn: A Study Conducted at Juvenile Prison in Karachi - Overview I," Pakistan Pediatric Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1 (7-12) (1997), p. 9.
(7) Human Rights Watch interview with Taher Hussain, District Jail, Lahore, May 21, 1998.
(8) DAWN - Features; 15 November 2001
(9) DAWN - Editorial; 08 December 2000