ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Human Rights has ordered payment of Rs 1 million for the release of prisoners languishing in jails in Balochistan despite completion of their sentences.
This was decided in a meeting of the administrative committee of Diyat, Arsh and Daman held on Monday. The meeting was chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, while Human Rights Ministry Administrative Secretary Saeed Ahmed Alvi was also present. The purpose of the meeting was to consider recommended lists of prisoners, and to reach a decision about disbursement of funds for those who had served out their sentences but were unable to pay fines.
Only two provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, forwarded the prisoner’s lists to the committee. The meeting found that KP’s recommended list of prisoners did not fulfil its criteria. After finding the recommended list of Balochistan up to the mark, the committee decided to release a grant of Rs 1.07 million for prisoners who fulfilled the criteria immediately. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Rights decided to send further guidelines to other provinces for recommending prisoners in order to ensure transparency.
The meeting also agreed upon the formation of a Rules Amendment Committee for removing further anomalies in the rules of Diyat, Arsh and Daman. In order to make the process more transparent, regional directorates of the Human Rights Ministry would verify the conditions of the prisoners recommended by the provinces for grant of Diyat Arsh and Daman.Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar expressed concern over the authorities in Punjab and Sindh and urged them to complete the lists urgently.According to statistics, at least 800 prisoners are languishing in jails in Sindh and Punjab since they cannot pay fines despite completion of their sentences. – Dailytimes
