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GUJRANWALA, Jan 11: Most of human rights violations are being committed in jails where about 70 per cent captives are implicated in wrong cases like agricultural, property and other petty issues.
This was stated by caretaker Human Rights Minister Ansar Burni while talking to reporters during his visit to the central jail here on Friday.
The minister said that a majority of those incarcerated had been in captivity for the last several years while the real accused who implicated them were living the life of freedom.
He pointed out that he had so far visited jails in Multan, Sahiwal, Gujrat, Lahore, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin besides Gujranwala and noticed that maximum violations of human rights were being committed in jails.
Mr Burni said he had been playing an active role to get released innocent prisoners from jails before becoming the minister and now he was reviewing the cases of such people to get their early release.
He suggested that the district and sessions judge or his colleagues should visit jails weekly so that captives involved in minor cases could be released. This would also provide an opportunity to reduce the pressure on crowded jails, he said.
The minister said he would likely to visit Rawalpindi, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan jails in the next phase.
Earlier, he visited different barracks and listened to the problems of inmates. He also checked the jail hospital and kitchen and ordered necessary instructions to the jail authority. Jail superintendent Sikandar Hayat and deputy superintendent Malik Attaullah also accompanied him.
ADJOURNED: An anti-terrorism court No 1 on Friday adjourned the Sialkot jail incident case till Jan 18 and issued notices to three civil judges Javed Iqbal Warraich, Sheikh Naeem Ahmad, Rai Salam and ACE assistant director Sibtain Kazmi for evidence on the same day.
Former SHO Zulfikar Ali Virk, the main accused, was produced in the court who was brought from the central jail amid tight security.
The judge had to adjourn the case due to boycott of court proceedings by lawyers in connection with their movement against the government.
The court has already recorded the statements of complainant and former district and sessions judge Muhammad Yousaf Aujala and other officers.
SUMMONED: A local court on Friday granted a stay order against Wasa and summoned its managing director and an engineer concerned in the court on Jan 28 in connection with enhancement of sewerage tax without improving the system.
Reports said the agency, which was recovering sewerage tax from consumers regularly, enhanced the tax without providing better facilities to them.
CONDEMNED: The Pakistan minority council strongly condemned suicide attack in Lahore and assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
Speaking at a meeting held here on Friday, council central additional secretary-general Nasir Akhtar Gill said the government should send all Afghan nationals to their country.
