Pakistan: 88,687 prisoners lodged in 116 jails against sanctioned capacity of 65,168 inmates

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 22 (ANI): That prisons in Pakistan are overcrowded, with 23,519 more inmates than the original capacity, living in inhuman conditions.
The Federal Ombudsman Secretariat on Sunday revealed that currently there are 88,687 prisoners in 116 jails of the country against a sanctioned capacity of 65,168 inmates, reported Dawn.
In the 10th quarterly report on the progress of implementation in improving conditions in jails, the Ombudsman Secretariat said 1,399 female and 1,430 juvenile prisoners were also languishing in the country's jails.
Ejaz Ahmed Khan, the secretary in Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat, presented the report in the Supreme Court in a suo motu case, said a statement issued by the Ombudsman Secretariat.
The report stated that Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz held a number of meetings at the four provincial headquarters with the chief secretaries, home departments and IG Prisons of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, reported Dawn.
The ombudsman directed all the provincial chief secretaries that the biometric identification system integrated with all departments of the criminal administrative justice system with a common interface must become functional on a priority basis.
He also said that the probation and parole system should be made more effective by improving coordination.
The ombudsman was informed that drug addicts and mentally retarded prisoners had been segregated in all jails across the country, reported Dawn. (ANI)