Reforming our Gulags

Mir Adnan Aziz
The Post

Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote: "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons."

Prison, the name immediately conjures up images of infamous ones in yesteryears like Bastille, Alcatraz, Newgate, San Quentin and the Devil's Island. Today we have our share of Guantanamo Bay, Pul Chakri and Abu Ghraibs.

The right to be free is the most basic and fundamental of human rights. This can be subjugated only under exceptional circumstances and this includes sentencing as a result of a criminal act.

Reportedly the Punjab Prison Minister failed to answer pointed queries during the question answer session regarding his department. An attempt to frivilously parry the terpitudes faced by prison inmates is callous and degarding. It is a mind-set that speaks of a wilful neglection of thousands whom we tragically deem as societal outcasts.

It is a quirk of fate that our President and Prime Minister along with many others in positions of political power today have been unwilling inmates of our 'reform centers'. A friend who was incarcerated in Adiala Jail (on what later proved to be dubious charges) has set up a forum for 'like minded' people, including the President and the Premier, called the Adialians.

Prison conditions matter a great deal and the negative effects of a fallacious incarceration system often ripple throughout society. The vagaries faced by inmates induce rage against the system itself instead of the needed reform.

The criminal justice system and our prisons are some of the most dysfunctional aspects of our society and the most insulated from reform. Like most of our other ills, we have neglected our criminal justice system for so long that we have ended up dehumanizing it completely. It is therefore no surprise that prison riots from Dir to Karachi are a norm now.

Our prisons are incubators of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Corruption of the prison staff and gross treatment leads to the physical and emotional degradation of prisoners. The idea of the criminal justice system is to focus on rehabilitation with the aim of helping prevent a sentenced inmate from becoming a habitual criminal offender.

This is the heart of the matter. If the functions of punishment and prevention are fulfilled but fundamental rights are violated and rehabilitation is not just ignored but actually reversed; prisons will, as they have, fail miserably to achieve their societal function. Unfortunately today, if anything, our prisons and criminal justice system are helping create criminals rather than ensuring otherwise.

The treatment of prisoners should not be merely punitive but remedial too. We have come a long way from the days when people were treated brutally and callously in prisons globally. By doing so, it was hoped that the deterrent effect would be so great that they would never commit an offence again. This has and never will work.

Rehabilitation should start as soon as a prisoner enters the prison. Those most capable of rehabilitation are the first offenders and those with short sentences. In our prisons the system works in an absolutely convoluted way. The habitual offenders and hardened criminals, with their 'hallowed' status, are the ones who get to enjoy the most of benefits and privileges.

The conditions within are appalling. Many inmates are left for years, packed like sardines in a can, awaiting trial in their cells. According to HRCP there are 89,370 prisoners occupying 87 jails originally built to hold a maximum of 36,000 persons.

Children and adults are often held together. There is not a single facility for female juveniles in the whole country. They are all kept with women who may be drug dealers, addicts or even murderers. Despite the fact that around half of the population is under 18, the country has just one juvenile court.

Some prisoners are called 'forgotten inmates'. They never go to court, and even if they do, the criminal justice system is such a morass that nobody knows how much longer their detention will last. According to human rights monitors almost 50 percent of our prison population is awaiting trial whereas 33 percent of the female inmates are awaiting trial on adultery related offenses. Most of these cases were filed without supporting evidence. Trials often take years and bail is routinely denied.

The law stipulates that detainees must be brought to trial within 30 days of their arrest. Tragically many of these have spent more time behind bars awaiting trial than the maximum sentence they would receive if eventually convicted. Poet Robert Burns aptly summed up this agony when he said: "In durance vile here must I wake and weep - And all my frowsy couch in sorrow steep."

The Pakistan Prisons Act of 1894 and the Prison Rules of Pakistan, both relics from the colonial era, permit the use of fetters and chains as instruments of restraint and punishment under certain conditions. It is a common sight to see prisoners, even juveniles, being brought to courts hand-cuffed and in iron fetters. Another example of archaic rules and a grossly funded system allocates an unbelievably paltry 20 rupees per inmate to cater for three meals a day!

Although there is relentless gloating about a rejuvenated 'independent' judiciary; in practice it remains evermore subject to executive branch influence at all levels. Vacant courts and inefficient procedures have resulted in alarming backlogs at both trial and appellate levels.

Lower courts remain corrupt, inefficient and subject to pressure from prominent political and feudal figures. The recent judicial putsch by the previous government has alarmingly enhanced this influence and pressure.

Criminal rehabilitation is a cost-efficient form of crime prevention. Not all criminals, even convicted ones, are unredeemable psychopaths. The great majority, if treated like human beings with rehabilitation in mind, are capable of changing.

It is imperative that the state and judiciary exercise their responsibility for monitoring prison conditions with, if not more, the same zeal with which it sends people to these overcrowded jails. It would also help if well known NGOs are involved to ensure independent monitoring of prisons. It would also be greatly beneficial to improve the recruitment, remuneration, training and management of the prison service personnel.

Our prisons are counter productive in the attempt to manage a civil society. The need for prison and criminal justice reforms need urgent and compassionate attention. We need to overcome the lock em up and throw away the key mentality.

This cannot be done by a stroke of the pen and requires the application of sustained and vigorous political will. PPPP had promised in its manifesto to usher in prison reforms. The prison reform package promised by the Premier, like many other promises, awaits materialization.

In their next get-together the 'Adialians', if none other, should take a trip down memory lane. If they conjure up cherished and nostalgic memories of their days behind bars, they can sleep easy; if otherwise they should try and reform the gulags that are our prisons.