No evidence of torture on women prisoners found after May 9 mayhem

A meeting was held under the chair of Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Federal Minister for Human Rights in the Ministry of Human Rights, which was told that no evidence of torture was found on women prisoners in the aftermath of the May 9 mayhem. The meeting was attended by senior officers from Federal and Provincial Governments including representatives of Prisons and Home Departments, Islamabad Police, and Ministry of Human Rights. The chairpersons of National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) and National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) also attended the meeting. The chair welcomed the participants and highlighted initiatives of the Ministry of Human Rights for the protection and promotion of the rights of prisoners across the country, including effective coordination, as well as training, sensitization and capacity building of prisons authorities, with a view to improve human rights situation in prisons. He also urged the stakeholders to undertake special measures concerning the protection of minorities’ rights particularly on religious festivals in line with national and international commitments and careful application of 4thSchedule under the Anti Terrorism Act, 1997, besides setting up rehabilitation centers for drug addicts. Chairperson, NCHR Rabiya Javeri Agha informed that the commission, which is an independent statutory body, had taken cognizance of some allegations on the media regarding the violation of human rights of some women prisoners in the wake of the events of May 9. She informed that the commission, led by herself and accompanied by the representatives of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Justice Project visited a number of prisons, interviewed many prisoners and reviewed other evidence. She informed that the report of the commission has been finalized and no evidence of mistreatment, torture or sexual abuse of women protesters was found by these independent observers. The team, however, found some gaps in procedure and some systemic issues in these arrests and prisons. While sharing the findings of the report, she highlighted recommendations for improvement in the system of prisons administration. She informed that some prisoners complained about the use of excessive police force or verbal abuse of family members at the time of arrests. She said that some of the prisoners were not aware of their rights. She also expressed doubts about the efficiency of the oversight committees established to ensure outside review of the prison conditions. The minister for human rights appreciated the commission for taking cognizance of the issue and directed that the report of the Commission may also be shared with all the provincial governments so that they may initiate requisite policy reforms. He also stressed the need for making the oversight committees more effective. Nelofar Bakhtiar stressed the need for improvement of the system of prisons particularly for women inmates. She said that separate cells for women prisoners were required in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. She also emphasized proper food and nutrition arrangements for pregnant women and mothers with infants in custody. Representatives of all four provincial governments informed that the rights of all the persons arrested after the May 9 incidents are fully protected under the law and it is being ensured that all the arrested persons are produced before the court according to law. They informed that a majority of those arrested have either been discharged or released on bail and only a very small number remain in custody. In his concluding remarks, the Minister for Human Rights said that prison reforms are an important part of the Human Rights agenda of the government. He said that the government and society need to work together to improve the Human Rights situation. He emphasized the need for the protection of the rights of Minorities and to ameliorate the lot of drug addicts by setting up rehabilitation centers in the public sector. He said that the provincial governments also need to make policies to encourage the setting up of rehabilitation centers by the private sector.