Monday, December 14, 2020
#Pakistan - #Covid-19 runs unchecked in overcrowded prisons
A human rights report released Monday criticised Pakistan’s response to the coronavirus threat faced by tens of thousands of inmates stuck in overcrowded and often unsanitary prisons.
Instead of following through on promises to ease prison overcrowding made when the pandemic first hit, the government has actually increased its inmate population by over 6,000 between April and August, from 73,242 to 79,603. Some of the few who were freed were later rearrested.
The joint report by London-based Amnesty International and Justice Project Pakistan said inmates face a growing risk of infection, and called for renewed efforts to free certain prisoners, particularly the elderly, women and “prisoners of conscience.”
“As Pakistan braves the second wave of Covid-19, prisoners remain dangerously exposed as the authorities not only failed to reduce overcrowding, they actually worsened it,” said Rimmel Mohydin, South Asia regional campaigner for Amnesty International.
In the first weeks of the outbreak in February, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the release of pretrial inmates charged with nonviolent crimes as well as those whose bail had previously been denied. In Sindh, 519 prisoners were to be released on bail.
But in late March, the Supreme Court suspended all bail orders that were granted because of the virus.
“The Supreme Court’s decision checked the countrywide momentum to reduce prison populations and even led to the rearrest of prisoners,” said the report.
Even when the Supreme Court did allow certain prisoners to be freed because of age or time served, they were never released, said Sarah Belal, Justice Project Pakistan’s executive director.
Also still behind bars are the women prisoners whom Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered freed if they met certain criteria, such as those on trial or convicted of minor crimes, Belal said.
There was no immediate comment from the government on the 37-page report.
The country’s prison system was already dangerously overcrowded before the pandemic. Built to accommodate less than 58,000 people, it routinely houses nearly 80,000 inmates, according to the World Prison Brief, delivered by the University of London’s Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research.
Punjab stopped reporting positive cases in jails in April when it had registered just 86 cases. However, in response to a Right to Information Request, the report discovered that only 16,534 virus tests had been conducted over seven months in Punjab’s jails, with 1,345 testing positive.
The report called for the immediate release of all “prisoners of conscience” but also asked the government to “strongly consider” releasing pretrial detainees.
The rights groups also want a review of a wide variety of prisoners, such as the elderly who have served most of their sentence, prisoners who are serving sentences for minor crimes and those with health issues, “including those with a weakened immune system, due to the exacerbated risks an infection with Covid-19 would bring to their health and lives.”
“Prison authorities should ensure that the person discharged has a place to go quarantine and the local authorities are notified that the person has been discharged,” Mohydin added.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/14/covid-19-runs-unchecked-in-overcrowded-prisons/
Pakistan's opposition to lead march to capital in bid to oust Imran Khan
The leaders of an anti-government alliance urged tens of thousands of supporters at a rally on Sunday (Dec 13) to join a march to the Pakistani capital next month to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who they say was installed by the military in a rigged 2018 election.
An alliance of 11 major opposition parties - Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) - has been holding mammoth rallies since its inception in September to seek Khan's ouster and press the military to stop interfering in politics.
"The time to have a dialogue is over. There will be a march now," said opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of the late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
He ruled out the possibility of any dialogue with Khan or the military unless fresh elections were announced.
Khan, who says the protest campaign is aimed at blackmailing him into dropping corruption cases against its leaders, has criticised the rallies amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The opposition, which has held six mammoth rallies in recent months, says it plans to put pressure on the government to call a fresh election. The next election is due in 2023.
Pakistan has reported 72 coronavirus deaths and 3,369 infections in the last 24 hours, the highest numbers since June.
The protest campaign come as the country's economy struggles with high inflation and negative growth, which the opposition blames on Khan and the military.
"Who else do we blame," asked former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, addressing the rally via a video link from his home in London where he has been living since he left on a medical bail late last year.
Sharif, after he fell out with the generals, was convicted in 2018 on corruption charges.
"Don't use the military's institution for your political ends," Sharif urged the military generals.
Khan and the military deny the accusations.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/pakistan-opposition-rallies-march-against-pm-imran-khan-13765762
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