KABUL): The Special Committee for Evaluation of Prisons Situation on Tuesday expressed its concern over poor living conditions of prisoners held at various detention facilities across the country.
Last year, President Hamid Karzai directed the Constitutional Oversight and Implementation Commission to create a body and task with evaluating and monitoring the situation of prisons and update the Presidential Palace.
Gul Rahman Qazi, the panel’s chief, released the panel’s three-month report at a press conference in Kabul, saying they had interviewed 29,000 prisoners in 21 provinces, with most complaining about poor living conditions.
Abdul Qader Adalatkhwah, a member of the committee, said some inmates complained their cases could not be decided even for a period of one year, when no one could help address their concerns.
He cited the lack of health services another serious problem facing prisoners, saying prisoners at many jails had no access to proper health facilities, health workers and medicine.
Overcrowding and space shortage also contributed to their plight, Adalatkhwah said, claiming in some cells up to 50 prisoners were held while the cells had the capacity to accommodate 20 people.
He also said some prisoners complained they lacked access to education facilities and the educational curriculum had not been properly enforced in the available facilities.
Similarly, a large number of prisoners interviewed had complained about their inability to hire defence lawyers to plea their cases, he said, concluding families have to wait for hours to meet their jailed relatives.
mrh/ma
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