Purpose of prisons

There must after all be some purpose to prisons. In South Asia, these institutes act however, simply as places with tiny chambers, which are badly overcrowded and where prisoners are forced to live in conditions with extremely inadequate sanitation, and meted out punishments, many of which were devised under British law, and some of which violate the rule book for the prisons. Pakistan's 80,000 prisoners live in prisons which are on average 134 percent. overcrowded, or house prisoners beyond their capacity. This means that prisoners must live in badly overcrowded prisons with at times 10 inmates confined to a cell intended for three or four people. The situation is even worse in women's jails and the same appears to be true across South Asia.

Organisations such as the Justice Project Pakistan and Amnesty International have been advocating that prisons should be intended not just as places of punishment, but also of reform and a way to ensure those incarcerated in them are able to give something back to society. This can be achieved by a more open policy in prisons, allowing for example some prisoners a work permit so they can earn for their families while imprisoned. Perhaps even more sensible would be a strategy of community reform, allowing those who have committed relatively minor crimes to remain within their communities, possibly using ankle-based bracelets or requiring them to check in regularly to local police stations. This would ease the burden on jails and allow people to live more functional, normal lives and to work, thereby contributing to society. Indeed, when it comes to work, prisons should also be places where prisoners are provided different skills training so that they can practise these once they are released.

Incarcerating people for long periods when they are undergoing trial is also a massive problem that needs to be addressed to free up space in jails and to avoid punishing those who may eventually be found innocent after 10 years of their trial period in jail. Formal education can also be imparted so that prisoners are in a better situation to go out and earn a living after ending their sentences, or preferably even before this, with a large number of prisoners allowed to complete sentences within communities doing work that betters the lives of their own families and of other people. This would allow prisons to serve some purpose and not just act as retributive spaces where people are kept locked up for years.