Pakistani jails promoting crimes, militancy: ICG report

The group has stressed the world community that the aid allocated for Pakistan should be made conditional with jail reforms.The ICG working to resolve international disputes said in its current report that the jail system in Pakistan has become outdated.Absence of rule of law is the main reason for this situation. Incidents of violence against prisoners are common due to weakness of accountability of jail administration. Moreover, little attention is focussed on jail laws, according to the report. The report further says that heavy resources are spent for betterment of police and investigation departments but the prison department is being neglected. About 78,000 are behind the bars in Pakistan and the number of prisoners on death row is the highest of the world.It has been stressed in the report that the accused of minor crimes particularly children and youth should be kept apart from professional criminals. According to the International Crisis Group, overburden of prisoners in jails is also causing problems.In this way, jails have become abode of crimes and militancy, the report concludes.