Prisons in Pakistan are overcrowded and jam-packed with thousands of inmates living under conditions that take away their health, dignity, and hope. Behind the bars lies a human rights crisis that goes well beyond the mandate of official reports or the business of courtroom debate.

Pakistan’s prisons now confine around 102,026 inmates despite being built to hold only about 65,811. This means the system operates at 152 percent of its capacity. Punjab alone houses more than 61,000 prisoners in space designed for just 37,000. Sindh prisons run at 161 percent, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan exceed safe limits by 20 to 30 percent. The Justice Project Pakistan calls this overcrowding “one of the country’s most urgent and ignored humanitarian failures.” More than 74 percent of those behind bars are under-trial detainees still waiting for their first hearing. They are the forgotten faces of a justice system that moves too slow and punishes before proving guilt.

Deeply entrenched within the foundations of the very system lies the root cause of this crisis. The slow pace of the courts makes a glacier’s movements look fast, with delays for months or years on hearing dates. The police rush to effect arrests; bail is nonexistent or is set so high that it becomes unaffordable for many. The National Commission for Human Rights has called it a “silent crisis of neglect.” Old laws inherited from colonial times still favor detention over release. Governance failures and limited budgets only worsen the pressure. Political promises of reform appear and vanish, leaving cells more crowded than ever. Pakistan’s rate of pre-trial detention is among the highest in South Asia, even surpassing India and Bangladesh, according to UNODC data.

Inside the walls, conditions are grim. Inmates often share one toilet for fifty people. Meals are meager and medical care is rare. Human Rights Watch has described prisons as “nightmare zones for health and dignity.” Tuberculosis, skin infections, and HIV spread unchecked in cramped cells. Outbreaks at the Adiala Jail have become national concerns, but normal health care is rarely allowed. The harsh realities are even more so for female inmates. Two hundred inmates are cramped into one women’s jail in Lahore, which was originally built for half that number. Reports of harassment by staff are common. Pregnant women receive no special care, and survivors of abuse rarely get counseling. Juvenile offenders share space with hardened criminals, turning confinement into a school of crime rather than a chance for reform.

Overcrowding also destroys any hope of rehabilitation. Workshops, education, and counseling programs rarely function. Guards are overworked and untrained, and violence among inmates is frequent. Drugs circulate freely, and fights break out daily. According to Penal Reform International, more than sixty percent of prisoners reoffend within a year of release. Jails that should reform instead produce more hardened criminals. Society pays the price through rising crime, mistrust, and fear. In Karachi, a prison designed for 2,400 people now confines about 8,500. Three inmates died in violent clashes last year alone.

Courts have occasionally intervened. During the pandemic, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the release of 25,000 under-trial prisoners to ease congestion. Yet numbers climbed back quickly. However, the prison reform panel remains unactive, which the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman) had formed in 2015. None of the bail reforms or alternative sentencing have been implemented yet as part of the National Jail Reform Policy 2024. Such a debate was stalled in Parliament in 2023 over the plea bargains and parole under the distracting political environment. Provincial budgets are shrinking with prison funds cut by 10 percent this year. Without consistent political will, even sound policies turn into paperwork.

There are practical ways forward. Bail reform must take priority. Judges should grant bail for minor, non-violent offenses unless a real flight risk exists. Introducing plea bargains and fast-track trials could cut delays significantly. Parole boards could free low-risk prisoners after serving part of their sentences.

Community service and fines should be imposed instead of imprisonment for petty crimes. With such non-custodial measures and justice reforms in India have had limited success. This burden could be eased through rehabilitation interventions for drug users instead of imprisonment. Norwegian practice may provide an appropriate example for local adaptation, emphasizing rehabilitation instead of punishment. UNODC continues to promote these alternatives in South Asia with an emphasis on human rights and economic benefits.

The civil society is the lifeline of prison reforms. Amnesty International, Justice Project Pakistan, and independent lawyers have filed petitions and written detailed reports about many grave violations and conditions of inhumanity. There is also the media, which is beginning to make a difference; a Dawn investigation in 2024 led to a review of Punjab’s overcrowded prisons. Such successes, however, have been few and far between; for instance, part of the creation of secure bail for 500 women was the result of concerted efforts from human rights groups in 2022. So far, limited change has come from sustained activism, the involvement of the religious sector in seeking rehabilitation funding, and pressure from the public.

The overcrowding in prisons in Pakistan reveals deeper moral and administrative failure. It’s not just about poor infrastructure, in fact it lies deep inside justice and humanity. To neglect those who are in jail threatens both prisoners and society.

Disease, violence, and radicalization fester in these broken spaces. Building more prisons will not solve anything unless the present system learns to dispense justice speedier and fairer.

Conclusion

Pakistan is at a juncture, and prison overcrowding is no longer a bureaucratic issue at this point: it has now become a matter of national conscience. In order to restore the balance of justice, state action must be immediate and urgent: speedier trials, changes in the laws governing bail, and humane forms of punishment to replace imprisonment. No longer time for promises. Every day of delay adds to the mute suffering of thousands. True justice cannot exist while its foundations remain trapped behind bars.

The post Pakistan’s Packed Prisons first appeared on Dissident Voice.

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.