Pakistan prison overcrowding rises as 73% of inmates await trial

A policy paper by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), titled ‘Beyond the Prison Wall: Reducing Overcrowding in Pakistan’s Prisons’, reveals that 73.41 per cent of the country’s prison population consisted of under-trial prisoners in 2024. This figure represents an increase from 66 per cent recorded in 2017.

National prisons operated at an average of 152.2 per cent of their approved capacity during July and August 2024. The HRCP identifies systemic failures as the primary drivers of this crisis, including weak bail procedures, lengthy trials, excessive pre-trial detention, arbitrary arrests, and slow investigations.

The province of Punjab faces particularly acute conditions. In September, Punjab housed 74,773 prisoners across 45 facilities, despite a sanctioned capacity of only 39,204. This resulted in an occupancy level of 190.73 per cent, with 54,932 inmates awaiting trial. The report notes that while infrastructure has been expanded, it has failed to keep pace with the rising inmate population.