Topic: 2025 – Treatment of Prisoners
Country: Pakistan
Delegate Name: Stella Rogers
The global community is continuing to confront the injustices faced by prisoners, where conditions inside detention facilities are well below the universal human rights standards. Insufficient healthcare, overcrowding, and lack of due process contribute to the inequalities and systemic harm prisoners face. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary democracy with a population of over 240 million people. Although our legal system guarantees fundamental rights and due process, the country is constantly facing challenges in its detention system due to its limited resources, outdated prison laws, and a large number of under-trial detainees. The treatment of prisoners is central to Pakistan’s commitment to the rule of law and international human rights obligations.
The relevance of prison overcrowding is a global issue, and Pakistan’s prisons face extreme overcrowding with inadequate health services. Pakistan’s jails hold 100,366 prisoners despite a far lower capacity, resulting in an occupancy rate of 152.2%. Notably, 73% of all prisoners are under-trial, meaning they are detained without conviction, with many of them lacking access to timely bail or legal aid. Pakistan’s prison laws remain rooted in the colonial Prisons Act of 1894, giving limited rehabilitative programming.
With our nation’s constitution prohibiting torture and ensuring fair trial rights, the government has taken steps toward reform. Courts have recognized the inhumane conditions that prisoners live under, and provinces have enacted reforms such as the Sindh Prisons and Corrections Service Act (2019) and the KP Probation and Parole Bill (2021) that aim to modernize prison management and expand alternatives to detention. Civil society partners have also worked toward improving the conditions and resource accessibility of the prisoners. Justice Project Pakistan and the Legal Aid Society have pushed for fair bail practices and improved health access. However, Pakistan still recognizes that the structural challenges remain, particularly overcrowding, corruption, poor medical services, and uneven treatment of vulnerable groups such as women, prisoners with disabilities, and inmates with mental health needs. Overcrowding is often a result of the slow-moving judicial system, and our nation is eager at working towards resolutions that ensures the judicial system that is working at a speed that combats overcrowding.
The crisis in Pakistan’s prisons weakens the legitimacy of the justice system and strains public health. Addressing these issues is essential to strengthening the rule of law and ensuring equitable justice. Pakistan believes the international community must collaborate toward realistic, rights-based reforms. Our nation advocates for reducing overcrowding, increasing funding for legal aid, reforming bail practices, and improving prison health systems by ensuring clean water, safe food, sanitation, and mental health services.
Pakistan welcomes cooperation with all nations committed to humane detention, particularly those that support health-focused prison reforms, capacity-building, and improving health systems within prisons. Pakistan seeks partnerships with regional neighbors, OIC members, and UN bodies to work towards a future that ensures the treatment of prisoners meets the standards of dignity and humanity that all nations are obligated to uphold.
Works Cited
““A Nightmare for Everyone.”” Human Rights Watch, 29 Mar. 2023, www.hrw.org/report/2023/03/29/nightmare-everyone/health-crisis-pakistans-prisons.
Mumtaz, Maira. “The Struggle for Prison Reform in Pakistan.” Himal Southasian, Himal Southasian, 22 Jan. 2024, www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-prison-reform-human-rights.
“Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.” Oic-Oci.org, 2018, www.oic-oci.org/states/?lan=en.
“Welcome to Zscaler Directory Authentication.” Ojp.gov, 2025, www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/institutional-treatment-adult-offenders-pakistan. Accessed 21 Nov. 2025.
