LAHORE -UNS: Fauzia Viqar, the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment (FOSPAH), conducted a comprehensive assessment of prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners during her visit to Central Jail at Kot Lakhpat, Lahore. The primary objective of her visit was to ascertain if women prisoners were subjected to any form of harassment, torture, mistreatment, or abuse at the time of arrest, during police custody, and at the prison.
During her visit, Ms. Viqar held productive discussions with Inspector General of Police Punjab and Mian Farooq Nazeer, Inspector General of Prisons Punjab, to gain insights into arrest and incarceration of women prisoners. IG Police Punjab informed the Ombudsperson about the various facilities of 1787 complaint system, police protection centers, women safety app for victims of harassment and notified harassment inquiry committees to take up issues of harassment at the workplace by staff.
She was briefed by the IG Prisons about the complaint redressal system in place to address any grievances or complaints regarding mistreatment or abuse. Ombudsperson suggested some improvements in the CMS to get better gender disaggregated data and improve access of women to complaints mechanisms in prisons. Ombudsperson also inquired about harassment inquiry committees notified in the Prisons Department for prison staff if such mechanisms were available to women prisoners.
During her visit to the Central Jail Ms. Viqar interacted directly with the women prisoners to specifically inquire about their experiences of harassment, torture, mistreatment, or abuse at various stages of the criminal justice process.
“I took these media reported allegations very seriously and made it a priority to investigate the matter thoroughly. The interactions I had with the women prisoners themselves and with prison officials provided no evidence of mistreatment. It is essential that we rely on factual information and ensure safety of women in prisons.
Clear standards for dignified and humane treatment of women prisoners are provided in the Pakistan Prisons Rules, 1978 and I wanted to ensure that those standards were being met” stated Ms. Viqar.
Some prisoners informed Ms. Viqar that they had not had family visits or access to their lawyers was denied. She took this matter up with prison administration who informed her that family visits and telephone calls are allowed after judicial remand and clearance of provided phone numbers. She urged prison officials to expedite the process under the Rules and law to ensure the well-being of women prisoners.
