Pakistan's Imran Khan announces release of hundreds of female prisoners

Pakistan has decided to release hundreds of female prisoners incarcerated in various prisons for petty crimes like theft. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the decision on Wednesday after months of lobbying by human rights groups and a ruling by the country’s top court. 

In April, the supreme court had expressed concern that prisoners in overcrowded jails could become victims of the coronavirus pandemic. 

So far, 1,890 prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least 3 have lost their lives to the virus, according to the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), which lobbies for prison reforms. 

“Most of the female prison population in Pakistan is incarcerated for drug offences and theft. In both the situations, they are never high level members of a crime ring and mostly their families are involved in the crime,” Sana Farrukh, who works for JPP, tells TRT World. 

With Prime Minister Khan stepping in to ease the plight of women in prisons, activists hope it will help bring improvement to the prison system. 

Pakistan’s prison population is estimated to be more than 77,000, with a majority of the inmates living in cramped conditions. Most of the prisons have an occupation rate of more than 130 percent. 

Earlier this year, a commission formed to look into the conditions of the prisons found that HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis are rampant within the inmates. 

One reason behind the prisons being so overcrowded has to do with the high number of undertrial cases, says Farrukh. “Nearly 67 percent of the prison population is undertrial.” 

Most of the female prisoners have been incarcerated without being convicted, she says. 

Like other developing countries, Pakistani courts face a serious shortage of judges and lawyers. Bogged down with thousands of cases, the courts can take years to resolve even simple disputes involving someone’s property. 

In many cases people can languish in jails even after serving their terms because they do not have bail money to hand.

Khan’s government does not plan to release those who have been accused of serious crimes such as murder. However, it is also considering letting prisoners under the age of 16 and foreign women go.

It remains unclear how many will be able to benefit from the decision. Ali Zafar, a senior member of Khan’s ruling Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party, suggested that it could extend to around 500 prisoners. 

However, officials say the number might increase as provinces look into the prison data to figure out how many people could become eligible. Elederly inmates, and those who suffer mental and physical handicaps, are also eligible. 

“Two immediate benefits of this move are that prison authorities can now better utilise their limited resources and it will contain the spread of the coronavirus,” says Farrukh. 

Under-trial prisoners, who are entitled for bail because they have not committed a serious crime, frequently face hurdles when trying to raise  money to secure liberation. 

It is hard to calculate an exact number of how many inmates in Pakistan require financial help for bail, says Farrukh, as different charges are often clubbed together against them.

“There are state-run funds to help such people. We hope that now the PM has taken interest, things will move quickly and something can be done in this regard as well,” she says.