Wafaqi Mohtasib Mr.Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi has urged upon all stakeholders in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to ensure the improvement of living conditions of prisoners in jails, especially children, women, and destitute/resourceless prisoners.
He was presiding over a meeting of the Prison Reforms to review and follow up implementation of recommendations in the Report on Prisons.
This was desired by the apex court of Pakistan, during the hearing of the case on the miserable conditions of prisoners in jails in September 2018.
The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr. Nadeem Aslam Ch, Secretary Home, Mr. Muhammad Abid Majeed, Inspector General Prisons, Muhammad Usman Masood, Provincial Mohtasib KP, Syed Jamal-ud-Din Shah, Advocate General KP, Mr.Amir Javed, DG (Prosecution) Mian Muhammad and Regional Head Peshawar Wafaqi Mohtasib, Mr.Badsha Gul Wazir.
Wafaqi Mohtasib urged the Provincial Government of KP to build additional accommodation where there is overcrowding in district jails, which should have separate and independent portions for women and juvenile prisoners with sleeping space for every prisoner and adequate toilet and hygiene facilities.
He stressed the need to link the biometric system in Jails with courts to maintain records of prisoners and ensure the development of an interface between jails, courts, and NADRA for monitoring and verification of prisoners’ records.
He added that drug users and mentally challenged prisoners are to be kept outside of jail premises, in drug clinics (rehabilitation centers) with provisions for medical treatment.
Prisoners with ailments of HIV Hepatitis, TB, and those who are drug addicts should be segregated and kept apart from other prisoners and strict surveillance should be implemented in jails to protect prisoners from physical and sexual assaults.
The Home Secretary Mr.Abid Majeed informed the members of the meeting that 39 prisons with an authorized capacity of 13375 have so far been made operational in KP with health and hygiene facilities, separate and independent detention facilities for women, juvenile inmates, where education/ skill training facilities to the prisoner have been ensured.
He further updated that efforts are in hand to allot dedicated rooms for installing the Prisons Management Information System (PMIS) Main Server and conducting examinations for Prisoners by the HEC and other relevant institutions. He mentioned that PMIS has also been installed in 14 Jails and networking has been completed in 38 Jails.
The Honorable Wafaqi Mohtasib appreciated the steps taken by the KP Government toward implementing the recommendation on prison reforms and added that significant improvement was visible in the condition of prisons and the life of the jail inmates.
He also directed the provincial authorities to pursue the construction of jails in new Districts of Upper Chitral, Kolai-Palas, Upper South Waziristan, Lower Kohistan, and Torgher.
