PHC moved to conduct screening tests on prisoners

PESHAWAR: Following his release, a prisoner through a petition on Wednesday appealed to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to order screening tests of prisoners as HIV positive cases are on the rise among the inmates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The petition was filed by Sajjad Ahmad, who was recently released from prison after the Supreme Court acquitted him and declared him innocent in a murder case. His lawyer Muhammad Khurshid Khan pleaded his case.

Earlier, Sajjad Ahmad had been sentenced to death in a murder case. Having spent 15 years in the prisons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he highlighted the problems being faced by the prisoners.

The petitioner showed his concern over the increase in HIV cases in the prisons in the province. He stated that 12 out of 126 prisoners were declared HIV positive after the screening test. He said that 50 cases of Hepatitis A, B and C were also confirmed among the prisoners.

Sajjad Ahmad cited improper treatment and check-up of the prisoners in the prisons as major reason for the incidence of these diseases. He contended that the prisons were overcrowded as 640 prisoners were kept in the Swabi prison, which has a capacity for 125 inmates only. He said that similar situation existed in all prisons, especially the Peshawar Central Prison, which is also overcrowded.

The petitioner stated that the total number of prisons in the province is 25 and five of these are central jails. He claimed that as per the official information he received, currently 5,000 prisoners are languishing in the Peshawar Central Prison though its capacity is less than that.

He stated that fatal diseases like Hepatitis-C and those of kidneys, diabetes and high blood pressure are also common among the prisoners.

The petitioner stated that the prisons’ hospitals are being used as rest houses by influential and VIP prisoners on the plea that they are under treatment.

He pointed out that the prisoners are deprived of their constitutional and fundamental rights as they don’t get proper medical treatment, adequate space in the prison and clean drinking water.

The petitioner requested the court to direct the respondents including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through chief secretary, secretary Home and Tribal Affairs and inspector general of Prisons Department to provide the record of the screening test conducted in the Swabi prison to learn more about the patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C and other diseases.

The petitioner also sought directions of the court to determine the figures of male and female prisoners in each prison of the province and details about actual capacity of each jail. He also requested the court to direct the District Headquarter Hospitals to immediately conduct screening tests of the prisoners in the district prisons and submit report in the court.

The petitioner also sought the figures of total number of female prisoners in the prisons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the children accompanying them in the prisons and the education facilities available for them.