Lawyers’ team finds inmates in pathetic conditions in Jammu jails

Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, a team of lawyers from High Court Bar Association visited various jails in Jammu region and found the conditions of the inmates pathetic.

The team visited district Jail Kathua, Sub Jail Hira Nagar, District Jail Amphalla Jammu, Central Jail Kotbhalwal Jammu and District Jail Udhampur on the 25th and 26th of last month.

A statement from the Bar read, “The team members after interacting with the jail inmates found that the conditions of the inmates lodged in these jails is terribly pathetic right from the first day of their entry into the jail. These inmates have been teased, beaten and tortured by the jail authorities. During the first 15 days of their lodging in the jail, they have been confined in solitary cells. Their clothes have been taken off and they have been subjected to ill-treatment.”

The statement added, “In Central Jail Kotbhalwal Jammu, the position is worse. The Bar Association has prepared a detailed report in respect of each jail, which will be produced before the High Court and circulated to the press in the days to come.”

The Bar said that all the Jammu Jails are full and overcrowded which has caused tremendous hardship to all the inmates. “The inmates because of paucity of space are hurdled like cattle in overcrowded barracks.
There are several jails in Kashmir Valley where they inmates could have been very easily accommodated, but they have been purposely sent out so that they are unable to meet their friends, relatives and family members, “the statement said.

The Bar also said that the inmates have been kept separate, irrespective of their age.

The team was headed by Advocate Aijaz Bedar, Vice President of the Bar Association and included Advocate Anwar-ul-Islam Shaheen, Joint Secretary, Advocate Mohammad Ashraf Butt, Advocate Mohammad Shafi Reshi, Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, Advocate Arshad Andrabi, Advocate Nasir Qadri and Advocate Mudassir Yousuf Dar.

Meanwhile, the joint resistance leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik has appealed to the Bar Association to appear in courts on December 6 (Tuesday) for the jailed people as their number is swelling with each passing day and they are in dire need of legal help. They said rest of the program would remain unchanged.