Rights-based prison reforms pledged

The National Conference on Prison Reforms, hosted by the Supreme Court under the auspices of the National Judicial (Policy-Making) Committee (NJPMC), aimed at building a nationally coordinated prison reform framework with the provincial governments. While signing the Islamabad Dec­laration on Prison Reforms, Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah, Khyber Pakh­tu­n­k­hwa CM Sohail Afridi, and Balo­chistan CM Sarfraz Bugti affirmed the importance of prison reforms. In his keynote address, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi observed that prisons reflected the true pulse of the criminal justice system and emphasised that meaningful reform required shared institutional responsibility and sustained provincial leadership. He also asked for the resolve that the criminal justice system remain grounded in human dignity. During the conference, CM Maryam shared her own harrowing experience of solitary confinement that, according to her, translated into improvements across the provincial prisons, whereas CM Afridi specifically mentioned the Adiala jail, where his party chief is jailed, and sought better amenities for those visiting him. However, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, while announcing the Islamabad Declaration on Prison Reforms, said reforms in the colonial-era jail laws were not for the benefit of prisoners like Nawaz Sharif or Imran Khan but for thousands of ordinary inmates languishing in jail. CM Afridi insisted that the reform process should be