Press release

HRCP calls for reforms to address prison overcrowding

Lahore, 6 October 2026. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for urgent and systemic reforms to address chronic overcrowding in Pakistan’s prisons, warning that the crisis is not simply a matter of building more prisons but a symptom of deeper failures in the criminal justice system.

Beyond the Prison Wall: Reducing overcrowding in Pakistan’s prisons, a policy paper released by HRCP, points out that according to official data from 2024, Pakistan’s prisons were operating at an average of 152 percent of their official capacity, with under-trial prisoners accounting for nearly three in every four inmates. Such overcrowding, the study argues, has serious consequences for prisoners’ rights, contributing to inadequate sanitation and healthcare, the spread of infectious diseases, mental health problems, violence, and diminished opportunities for rehabilitation.

While the government has pointed to the construction of new prisons as evidence of progress, HRCP argues that expanding prison capacity cannot resolve the underlying causes of overcrowding. These include ineffective bail, excessive reliance on pre-trial detention, prolonged trials, limited use of probation and parole, and the incarceration of people accused or convicted of relatively minor offences.

HRCP calls for a fundamental shift from incarceration towards liberty, rehabilitation and alternatives to imprisonment. Bail laws should be brought into line with the constitutional presumption of innocence, with the burden on police and prosecution to demonstrate why detention is necessary. Courts should exercise remand powers sparingly and provide reasons for detention, while statutory delays should be strictly enforced as grounds for bail. The government must also strengthen independent prosecution services, expand the use of diversion and alternatives to prosecution, and make probation and parole genuinely accessible.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson