Islamabad, June 20, 2025: The Punjab Home Department on Friday announced that five prison officers were suspended. They are accused of physically torturing inmates. At Attock Jail.
This action follows an incident in April. An under-trial prisoner was found dead in the lavatory of Attock District Jail. Prison officials had claimed at the time that the prisoner took his own life. They said he used a drawstring to hang himself. His fellow prisoners found the inmate’s body hanging from a washroom window.
An order from the Home Department, issued a day earlier, stated that the prison officials had been suspended. Deputy Superintendent Executive Sarmad Hassan was named. Assistant Superintendent Mushtaq Ahmed was also named.
Chief Warden Muhammad Rafiq was included. Head Warden Zulfiqar and Warden Muhammad Ayub, too. They were suspended for 90 days immediately. The charges are “inefficiency, negligence and misconduct” under Section 6 of the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability Act, 2006.
Read More: Glacier Collapse in Naran Kills Three Tourists
A spokesperson for the Home Department said the five were suspended for “abuse of authority.” They also faced charges of “mismanagement and incompetence.” This happened after they were “found involved in torture on a prisoner.”
The spokesperson stated that torturing any prisoner is not allowed under prison rules. The Home Department is enforcing a “zero tolerance” policy against breaking laws and abusing authority. Attock Jail Superintendent Arif Shahbaz had already been removed from his post. He was transferred to Lahore.
The Home Department has issued rules for managing all jails across the province. These rules specifically forbid the torture of prisoners.
Read More: SC Issues Order: New Construction Restrained in Karachi DHA Park
In February, the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights voiced serious concerns. This was about the terrible conditions in prisons. They highlighted crowding and long delays in justice, especially for death row inmates.
Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), a non-profit group in Lahore, represents vulnerable Pakistani prisoners. JPP research shows that “police torture is endemic and systematic in Pakistan.” Their research indicates that “torture is accepted as an inevitable part of law enforcement.”
Perpetrators of torture often face no punishment. This is due to social acceptance and a lack of independent oversight. There are also wide powers of arrest and detention. Procedural loopholes exist. Safeguards are ineffective. Pakistan has also failed to make torture a crime despite signing the UN Convention Against Torture.
