Indo-Pak committee says pact on consular access to prisoners must be implemented fully

New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) A meeting of the India-Pakistan Committee on Prisoners concluded here today during which the members visited the Tihar Jail of Delhi and the central prisons in Jaipur and Amristar. A total of 46 Pakistani prisoners at the Tihar jail here, 98 at Central Jail in Jaipur and 45 at Central Jail in Amritsar were presented before the committee during their visit from January 23-27, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The committee, at the end of the visit, recommended that the 'Consular Access Agreement' of May 2008 signed between two government must be implemented fully. Consular access must be provided within three months of the arrest and repatriation must take place within one month of confirmation of national status and completion of sentences, the statement said giving details of the recommendations. Justice (Retd) A S Gill, Justice (Retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid Justice (Retd) M A Khan and Justice (Retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal were members of the committee. It also sought a mechanism for compassionate and humanitarian consideration especially to women, juvenile and aged prisoners. Consular access must be provided to all those prisoners who have not been given the same so far and the process of nationality confirmation should start immediately after consular access is provided. "A mechanism should be developed for compassionate and humanitarian consideration to be given to women, juvenile, mentally challenged, aged and all those prisoners suffering from serious illness, permanent physical disability," the committee said. It was also recommended that serious or terminally and mentally challenged prisoners must be kept in hospitals irrespective of confirmation of their national status and offence. Prisoners involved in minor offences like violation of Foreigners' Act, visa and inadvertent border crossing deserve compassion from both the sides, they said. The committee noted that the respective courts must be requested for expeditious trial of "undertrial" prisoners and that the provision of legal aid or attorneys to prisoners must be ensured at all stages of their cases. The committee also endorsed the recommendations of the Home/Interior Secretary-level talks held on March 28-29 last year here to task the Pakistani Maritime Security Agency and Coast Guard of India to work on the setting up a mechanism for release of inadvertent crossers (fishermen) and their boats, on the same lines as inadvertent crossers on land. It was recommended that fishermen should be repatriated by sea lanes along with their boats. It was also suggested that the next visit of the committee to Pakistani jails be arranged in the second half of April this year. The committee will review the action taken report on the earlier recommendations when the committee meets next in Pakistan. PTI Caption for pic: Indian and Pakistani judges coming out of the Amritsar Central Security Jail after meeting Pakistani jail inmates in Amritsar on Friday. PTI Photo