Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said it is instructed to treat a prisoner as a free individual in Islam with the exception of being confined to prison.
He said this in his address at the inaugural session of one-day workshop “Prisoners Vulnerability-lacking awareness” at the Federal Judicial Academy on Saturday.
He went on to say this purpose can be achieved by providing prisoners opportunities for trade and business. They can also render services for teaching.
He said Islam addresses every sphere of our lives and guides mankind with logical solutions in virtually every system of administration. He said Islam considers imprisonment as a case of last resort and in many circumstances imprisonment is not used as a punishment. However, there are number of offences for which imprisonment has been prescribed but the torture and inhuman treatment of the prisoners are completely against the injunctions of our religion.
He observed that right to human dignity is inviolable irrespective of the type of crime one commits and one should not be tortured or treated cruelly or inhumanely under any circumstances.
He said the old and dilapidated structure of prisons does not fulfill the objectives of prisons. Therefore, it is the need of the time to take urgent remedial steps in prisons reforms, he stressed.
He underlined the Supreme Court is fully geared to enforce fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution which entail rights of the prisoners.
He noted prisoners being the members of our society deserve better facilities. They are in jails for the wrongs committed by them, but it does not imply that they should be deprived of their fundamental rights.
