Sindh Human Rights body expresses concern over status of prisoners amid COVID-19 spread

The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has expressed grave concern over the status of prisoners locked in jails across the country.

As the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has driven the country towards a lockdown, the plight of citizens in Sindh's jails needs to be taken care of, the SHRC said in a statement, Dawn reported.

The coronavirus is contagious and spreads easily from person to person. The latest information also suggests that the coronavirus appears to be airborne. Hence, keeping in view the intensity of the threat the pandemic is posing to the masses, the commission suspects that jails could become breeding grounds for the virus if not taken care of as a timely measure, added the SHRC in a statement on Wednesday.

The commission filed information through various governmental sources on different occasions that the jails in Sindh are overcrowded and hence the commission believes that all the inmates, whether undertrials or convicts are at a greater risk of contracting and multiplying the coronavirus with thousands of other inmates.

Hence, keeping in view the enormous risk factor, the commission urged the authorities to add jails of the province in their mitigation plan by introducing coronavirus testing services inside each jail of the province, the formation of an isolation ward and quarantine facility inside jail premises with the provision of medical and paramedical staff and identify and closely monitor the aged and weak inmates as well as those with pre-existing medical conditions and shift them to separate barracks.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,408 on Friday after more people tested positive in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad Capital Territory, and Balochistan, Geo News reported. Eleven people have succumbed to the contagious infection in the country so far.