February 2, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 29, 1423

ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The ambassador of Pakistan in Thailand, in a communication, passed to Dawn through the Foreign Office here has expressed his concern over a news item (Pakistanis languishing in Thai jail due to apathy of embassy published on page 18, Jan 22, 2003) and subsequent editorial in Dawn on Jan 24 under the heading “Neglected in Thai jails”.

The ambassador pointed out that there are 90 prisoners in Thai Jails and not 200 as mentioned by the reporter. He said “Majority are those who have been sentenced for drug smuggling, travelling on fake/ forged documents, extortion rackets and other heinous crimes e.g murder. “Picture of Pakistani drug smugglers are splashed in the local media here tarnishing our country’s image a great deal.

The ambassador has made a reference to the editorial note saying that the paper has conveniently and naively glossed over these crimes as “one reason or other”.

In his claim, the ambassador said : “The Mission has, however, pursued an active policy to alleviate the sufferings of the prisoners. He said: “A proper procedure has been evolved, which includes visiting various jails and Immigration detention centre (IDC), encouraging prisoners to write letter to us. Their genuine requests like change of prison, medical treatment and special diet etc are forwarded to the authorities concerned, who do consider them on merit. Items like medicines, writing material, postage stamps, newspapers, magazines and copies of Holy Quran and Tafseer are provided to them. A gift package of daily usage items and eatables is given to prisoners on every Eid, for which purpose a team comprising Embassy officials and members of Pakistani community visit the prisons over three fo four days. A system has been evolved to deliver the money to prisoners sent by the relatives from back home. All those released from the prison or IDC are promptly provided travel documents and air tickets, which are arranged by the Mission if the person is not in a position to pay. Also, I have had meetings with the Chief of Correction Department and Immigration Commissioner with regard to welfare of our prisoners. It is gratifying that these measures have been greatly appreciated by the prisoners, who express their feelings in the letters addressed to the Embassy. “The repatriation of our prisoners can only take place under a ‘Prisoners Exchange Treaty,’ which is under final stage of consideration3ration by our governments. The forward movement in this regard was entirely due to the initiative taken by the Embassy only in the last two years. The issue of “Treaty” was also discussed by our President when the Thai prime minister, Thaksin, visited Pakistan in July 2002.

However, the Mission does keep a track of the petition and duly informs the prisoner. I have also met the Personal Secretary to the King (through whom pardon cases are finally processed) and the concerned Privy Counsellor to discuss the issue of Royal Pardon to our prisoners- both of them assured me that every petition is given due consideration and scrutinized from the legal and humanitarian angles. It is pertinent to mention that royal Pardon is not granted to those sentenced for drug smuggling.

“You would be pleased to know that Pakistani prisoners in Thailand have reported improvement in the attitude of our embassy staff and they find them more sympathetic. Obviously, their compassion and sympathy is due to your motivation and leadership. HRCP and I are grateful to you”. The ambassador assured that the mission was fully alive to its responsibilities with “regard to Pakistanis in Thailand and to our country’s image”. Dawn contributor Sadia Bokhari, commenting on the letter, says the report was filed only after receiving letters from Pakistani prisoners, who are currently in Thai jails. Also, effort was made to collate data with the help of a human rights network operative within Thailand, In fact some food items were provided to a prisoner by a human rights activist residing within Bangkok, Thailand. The fact that a Prisoners exchange Treaty exists but so far has not been signed with the Thai government is not incorrect nor the fact that some Pakistani prisoners have written letters asking for provisions and lamenting the lack of any support from the Pakistani Embassy. “The report did contain an incorrect number of prisoners residing within Thai Jails. The total number cited as 200 was based on a recently published news report”.