Official sources have been highlighting some alarming facts about the justice system and prisoners in Pakistan. Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari herself appeared before the Islamabad High Court to present a report from a commission constituted by the court.
The most worrying fact, as reported by Dawn, is that more than half of the prisoners currently incarcerated in Pakistan's four provinces have not yet been convicted.
To be more precise: 71 percent of all prisoners in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 70 percent in Sindh, 55 percent in Punjab and 59 percent in Balochistan are those who are still undergoing trial.
Among other effects, this overcrowding has a disastrous impact on prison conditions. The findings state that a total of 1,823 inmates are suffering from Hepatitis, 425 from HIV, 173 from tuberculosis, 594 from mental illnesses and 2,192 from other illnesses.
Various human rights abuses appear to be rife in prisons, with women and children being included in the victims.
Minister Shireen Mazari also raised the issue of missing persons before the IHC – some of whom, she stated, have now been missing for five to six years.
The most worrying fact, as reported by Dawn, is that more than half of the prisoners currently incarcerated in Pakistan's four provinces have not yet been convicted.
To be more precise: 71 percent of all prisoners in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 70 percent in Sindh, 55 percent in Punjab and 59 percent in Balochistan are those who are still undergoing trial.
Among other effects, this overcrowding has a disastrous impact on prison conditions. The findings state that a total of 1,823 inmates are suffering from Hepatitis, 425 from HIV, 173 from tuberculosis, 594 from mental illnesses and 2,192 from other illnesses.
Various human rights abuses appear to be rife in prisons, with women and children being included in the victims.
Minister Shireen Mazari also raised the issue of missing persons before the IHC – some of whom, she stated, have now been missing for five to six years.