Provision of best facilities to inmates’ top priority of govt: SAPM on Human Rights

LAHORE: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Human Rights and Women Empowerment Mushaal Hussein Mullick has said that the provision of best facilities to inmates is the top priority of the government as they have equal rights like other citizens of the country.

While talking to reporters prior to visiting the Kot Kahpat Jail here on Tuesday, she said that jail and prisoners were near to her heart as her husband, Yasin Malik, is also in the death cell of the notorious Tihar jail in false, fabricated and politically motivated cases.

She said that maximum facilities would be provided to prisoners through her mandate of human rights and women empowerment, adding that prisoners’ rights according to the Geneva Convention should be protected. She said that a 100-day plan would be launched next week with special focus on protection of prisoners’ rights and for their rehabilitation.

She said that a rehabilitation proposal is being prepared with the coordination of Legal Aid and Justice Authority (LAJA) for juveniles and women in jails. Under the proposal legal aid would be provided to prisoners while their facilities and rights would be monitored, she informed.

She recalled that her husband Yasin Malik is imprisoned in Tihar death cell, where all basic facilities are missing; he (Yasin) is not allowed to hire a lawyer and even his family is not allowed to contact him during custody. “We are the worst victim of prisoners’ rights abuse,” she added.

When asked she mentioned that the government alone can’t do everything, so civil society and philanthropists should play their role in the jail rehabilitation process. Mullick mentioned that the recent war on Israel is a natural outcome of the atrocities and human rights violations committed by the Israeli army against the hapless Palestinian people. Israel deemed its security invincible, but the unarmed Palestinians breached the security wall and forced Israel to its knees, she added.

The SAPM pointed out that the Indian government is involved in promoting extremism and terrorism in Kashmir, similarly, Israel is involved in serious human rights violations in Palestine. “Just like in Occupied Kashmir, Muslims in Palestine are subjected to harsh treatment; mosques are being desecrated and violence is being inflicted upon innocent people. India has unleashed a new wave of grave human rights violations in the valley.”

In response to a question, she said the fundamental rights of every prisoner are equal regardless of their political association so efforts were being made to protect the rights of each prisoner of the country. She added that political prisoners were allowed to meet their families and lawyers as per their rights.

To another query, she said that counselling sessions for juveniles would be arranged in jails so that children and prisoners could lead a healthy life and become responsible citizens.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023