KARACHI, Oct 16: More than 6,000 of the 7,300 prisoners have been under trial for years, keeping the Central Prison of Karachi and the Malir Jail in Landhi overcrowded to a threatening level. This, officials and experts say, has put a serious question mark over the judicial and prosecution systems, and often causes tension between the inmates and the jail administration.

Talks with the authorities concerned and people engaged with prisoners in different capacities for their welfare and financial assistance have revealed that about 86 per cent of the total 7,300 prisoners have been under trial for years, thanks to the lack of coordination between the police and the prosecutors, small strength of the judicial staff and, most importantly, non-seriousness of the government to address the issue.

“Only in the Central Prison we have some 5,800 inmates against the capacity of 1,600,” said Sindh Prisons IG Yamin Khan. “The low rate of conviction and non-prosecution of under-trial prisoners are the main reasons behind such huge numbers of prisoners in Karachi jails.”

However, he said, two under-construction prisons -- Naushehro Feroze and Ghotki – would be ready in a few months, which would reduce the pressure on the city jails to a large extent. Similarly, he said, two prisons in Mirpurkhas and Thatta were also under construction, though they would take time to complete.

“Currently, there are 3,500 prisoners in the Malir Jail, which has more than 100 per cent of its original capacity. Such things coupled with corruption among jail staff lead to different incidents.”

At least four prisoners were killed and 11 others wounded when police guards opened fire to quell what they described as a revolt at the Malir Jail in Landhi on Wednesday, the second incident of its kind in less than a week after clashes with inmates left four policemen injured at the Central Prison earlier this week.

Experts say overcrowding is one of the causes that prompts agitation, on the one hand, and results in serious abuse of the fundamental human rights of the prisoners, on the other. They blame the judicial process, prosecutors and investigators for the disorder.

“One can’t believe how much help they (prisoners) need,” said Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, who runs the Committee for Welfare of Women Prisoners.

“For instance we have learnt that of the total 200 prisoners in the juvenile jail only six are convicts and the rest are under trial. When they would touch their 18th year of life, they would be moved to the Central Prison with the same status.”

To speed up the process of justice, he suggested that there should be planned visits of judicial magistrates and high court judges to the prisons who could hear and decide the cases of different natures.

“As on the eve of Eid several prisoners were set free following the same process, and if this practice is adopted on a regular basis, we can bring the prisoners’ number down considerably,” added Justice Zahid.

Other than capacity, jail reforms activists said, there were several other ill practices, which should cause concern in government quarters, as they add to the prisoners’ problems.

“Corruption has become a rule among jails staff,” said Haider Ali Haider, General Secretary of the Saiban Welfare Association, a relief organisation for destitute prisoners. “Since this is our daily business to be in touch with both prisoners and jail staff, we know that you can’t do anything without paying bribes.”

He went on to say that visitors were not allowed to meet their detained relatives without paying money to jail staff, and prisoners were not set free even despite release orders from courts as jail staff had to be paid first for that purpose.