November 21, 2017: CODE PAKISTAN held a round of consultations with lawyers of the Balochistan Bar Council in Quetta today. The consultations with Balochistan Bar were held with an aim to get the lawyers’ perspective on the high number of under-trial prisoners and how to address overcrowding in prisons with special reference to high pre-conviction detention. The consultations were part of the nation-wide study being conducted by CODE PAKISTAN to identify the causes and consequences of high numbers of under-trial prisoners (UTPs) leading to overcrowding in Pakistan’s prisons and coming up with a thorough assessment of the criminal justice system with regard to delays in the processing and adjudication of cases. CODE PAKISTAN is conducting the said study on the formal request of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), which is mandated to implement the National Action Plan (NAP), unanimously agreed upon by the political leadership of the country in December 2014. Revamping of the criminal justice system is the 20th point of NAP. CODE PAKISTAN’s study will be dovetailed to NACTA’s efforts in conducting research on Point 20 of NAP mentioned above.
The consultations commenced with an introduction to the project on addressing overcrowding in prisons in Pakistan by President CODE PAKISTAN Mr. Dilawar Khan, who established the relevance of the project as an offshoot of point 20 of the National Action Plan (NAP) 2015 for the revamping of the criminal justice system led by the Ministry of Interior. He briefed the assembled lawyers on the activities conducted in consulting the various stakeholders of the criminal justice system – including the police, prosecution, judiciary, lawyers and prisons – until then in hopes to note down and collate the challenges revealed by the stakeholders and present them in a single codified document.
Issues related to the overall neglect of Balochistan province by successive governments, issues with particular reference to Balochistan such as contiguity with Afghanistan through a porous border, overuse of arrests by the security forces, lack of prisons in large territories of Balochistan, lack of facilities at the existing prisons, transportation of prisoners to courts for their hearings, understaffing of the judiciary, lack of separate prisons for high security prisoners, juveniles, and females in the province, and issues related to the District Legal Empowerment Committees and Criminal Justice Coordination Committees were discussed during the consultations.
Other participants of the consultations included Mr. Haji Ata-Ullah Langove, Vice Chairman Balochistan Bar Council; Mr. Rahib Khan Buledi, Chairman Executive Committee Balochitsan Bar Council; Mr. Amin Ullah Ghorshein, Member Balochistan Bar Council; Mr. Aman Ullah Jafar, Advocate High Court; Mr. Rahim Ullah, Advocate High Court; Mr. Iqbal Gola, Advocate High Court; Mr. Wali. Muhammed, Advocate High Court; Mr. Abdul Khaliq, Advocate High Court; Ms. Sidra Riffat Umrani, Advocate High Court; Ms. Rukhsana, Advocate High Court; Ms. Bakht Bibi, Advocate High Court; Ms. Mehlab Naseem, Advocate High Court; Mr. Mohsin Ali Turk, Senior Advisor CODE PAKISTAN; and Ms. Saba Imran, Director Programs CODE PAKISTAN.