NCHR conducts follow-up visit to Adiala Jail

Islamabad : Representatives of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) visited the Death Cell of Central Jail, Adiala, and probe the suicide case of an inmate convicted under PPC 302 for murdering three minors.

The NCHR team was informed that Nadeem Ahmed committed suicide by hanging himself in the washroom of Cell Number 8 on January 1, 2023, while other inmates were busy meeting their relatives during meeting hours. The investigation report by the Jail authorities shows that Nadeem suffered from psychiatric issues and was on medical/psychiatric treatment. It says that since Nadeem’s punishment, no family members had ever come to meet him. The NCHR team reports that as per investigation and medical examination, it appears that Nadeem undertook suicide due to severe depression.

On the directions of NCHR Chairperson Rabiya Javeri Agha, the NCHR team, including Chief Coordinator Ghulam Murtaza Rana and Law Officer Mian Waqar Ahmed, visited the Central Jail to follow up on the improvements made in the Central Jail in the light of Islamabad High Court directions. The team also examined the Death Cell and looked into the investigation reports of the suicide case of prisoner Nadeem Ahmad as part of the follow-up visit. They met the witnesses and jail administration regarding the case.

The NCHR team also met the officials of jail administration, jail doctors, and physiologists and interviewed a number of prisoners. While talking to NCHR team, prisoners who filed complaints in IHC and NCHR, reported considerable positive changes in the behaviour of jail officials.

The team noted that despite directions issued by IHC for improvement in medical facilities, only one doctor was available in the jail hospital and some of the basic medicines like insulin and psychiatric medications were out of stock. The report submitted by the visiting NCHR team states that there was only one female psychiatric officer working in the jail on an attachment basis.

The report says that overcrowding still exists in the jail as there were about 6,000 prisoners against the available space of about 2,200 prisoners. It mentions that, despite IHC directions, no action had been taken so far for the transfer of prisoners to their home districts, particularly to prisons in KP. However, the jail administration informed the NCHR team that the construction work of the new barracks has been accelerated with the provision of sufficient funds from the Punjab government. The contractor and Deputy Superintendent Jail assured the visiting team that the construction work of three barracks will be completed by June 30, 2023. The jail authorities said that a separate jail for women is also under construction.

The report mentions that, as per IHC directions, the number of telephone booths for prisoners has been increased from 20 to 50 but all 50 booths were not functional at the time of the visit due to some technical issue. The in charge of the facility assured the NCHR team that all booths would be fully functional within a week. He also assured that a separate telephone booth will be installed in each barrack.