The importance of jails in any society cannot be denied for the reasons that they serve as an integral part of the justice system. With the passage of time, changes had to be brought in all systems so as to make them at par with the needs of the present era. So is the case with prisons.
This essay would analyze the administrative reforms brought about in the prisons of Pakistan.
The history of jails goes way back in time. Although prison structures existed in ancient civilizations, the widespread use of long-term confinement as a form of criminal punishment began only in the 15th century.
Today every nation has prisons, and the role of prisons throughout the world is to punish criminals by restricting their freedom. In most countries, governments construct and operate prison systems and similar is the case with Pakistan.
Although Pakistan is a free country with its own laws, yet the colonial legacy has rooted itself in all aspects of modern life till today. Most of the present jails in Pakistan date back to the time of British rule over the Indian subcontinent. A major part of the existing jail regulations are the same as those promulgated by the British.
There are many laws prevalent in Pakistan that refers to jails in one or the other context. Article 10,12, 13, and 17 of the 1973 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan address the legal process and civil rights safeguards against depriving a citizen of his liberty.
The Prisons Act of 1894, The Prisoners Act of 1900, The Reformatory Schools Act of 1897, The Brostal Institutions Act of 1926, The Lunacy Act of 1912, The Pakistan Penal Code of 1860, Criminal Procedure Code of 1898, Civil Procedure Code of 1908, MPO 1960, and the Essential services Acts of 1952 are some of the Acts in Pakistan that refer to prisons.
But specifically The Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978 or most commonly called PPR and the MPO Detenue Rules 1979 are the most relevant and operational rules in the jail administrative system.
During the last 55 years, Jail Administration has undergone many reforms. Initially it was the Prisons Act of 1894 that was adopted and could be considered as the first jail regulation in Pakistan.
Later the Punjab Prisons reforms Committee reports that came out in 1950 had a positive but less significant impact on the jail reforms. It subsequently ended in the new jail Manual of 1955. Jail staff has been regularly sent to countries like Japan, Australia, Canada, USA, Britain Sweden etc in order to study those jail systems and to apply those management techniques in Pakistani jails.
The Jail staff Training Institute of the Interior Division had been training jail officials. The Pakistan Prison Rules of 1978 were adopted in uniformity by all the four provinces yet there was resistance to change the old colonial system of Jail Administration.Islamic Ideology Council of Pakistan in 1981 and the Federal Shariat Courts of 1984 introduced the Islamic forms of Punishment under Hudood laws which included Qisas, Diyat, Arsh and Daman penalties but these laws did not influenced the administrative system of jails significantly.
The decisions taken at Cabinet Committee in 1986 and the Prison Reforms Report of 1997 are still awaited to be implemented. The internationally renowned United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners 1955 are yet to be ratified.
Important points raised in all the above regulations were about inmate education, prisoners welfare, jail's staff capacity building and security of prisons. Other reforms proposed in these regulations pertained to strict segregation of prisoners to avoid indiscipline, division of labor on the basis of physical and mental capacity and remissions on good conduct.
Improved nutrition with fresh and vitamin enriched food, adequate provisions for space, light, sanitation, washing and other facilities were also recommended in the reforms. Improving the recreational and health facilities, good medical service, bedding and clothing were also a part of the reforms agenda. More emphasis was put on resolving the issue of overcrowding in jails that could be solved by arranging regular short trial courts inside jails so that inmates could get swift justice.
The Islamic Ideology Council put more emphasis on religious rights. Fundamental obligations like congregational prayers and maintain fasts during Ramazan were suggested to be made mandatory. Learning to recite Quran was recommended for all the inmates. Special care for juvenile and female prisoners in their maintenance and segregation was emphasized upon.
Communication with relatives via letters and meetings should be facilitated.
The jail's administrative staff was poorly trained and underpaid. They were considered to be corrupt and inefficient. During the reforms process it was suggested that jail staff should be more educated and paid accordingly so as to maintain a modest living standard with basic facilities. To improve their efficiency it was recommended that staff should be trained regularly so that they could maintain high level of professional acumen and performs their duties in an effective manner.
The conventional prison industries like carpet weaving, rugs manufacturing etc were suggested to be converted into highly vocationalised skills like small mechanical industries and computers etc. security of the prisons was recommended to be improved by using latest monitoring and vigilance techniques of cameras, sensors, alarms etc. the prisons guard was to be equipped with modern automatic weapons.
Recently Govt. of Pakistan has undertaken the implementation of these reforms and is seriously committed to improve the jail Administration in Pakistan.
These reforms if implemented in letter and spirit would significantly reduce the problems of bad Administration and would help in reforming the criminals into responsible citizens of Pakistan.
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