The Hindu: New Delhi: Wednesday,
May 29, 2013.
The fatal
attacks on Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore jail and Sanaullah in a Jammu jail led to
the conditions of Indian and Pakistani prisoners being taken up at the highest
levels. But there is no relief for thousands of other foreigners in Indian
jails who had served longer sentences than warranted because deportation
proceedings begin only on the last day of their sentence.
The latest
case is that of Afghan Meer Vize, who overstayed his sentence period by seven
months for want of a deportation order. He spent 12 years in a Jodhpur prison
and seven months at a detention centre. He finally flew home last week, ending
a long wait for his son, Najib, who struggled for months to get a deportation
order from the Indian ministries.
Najib had to
pay over Rs. 4 lakh in fines so Vize would not have to spend three extra years
in jail, according to Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), which
tracked his case and ensured a happy denouement through a barrage of Right to
Information (RTI) queries to the Home Ministry.
However,
another Afghan , Khan Zaman, continues to languish in the Jodhpur Central
Prison as he is unable to pay a fine of Rs. 6 lakh for his release. CHRI is
working with Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan
(HAWCA) to locate his family members. With none to his rescue so far, Zaman may
have to spend another 18 months in prison for non-payment of fine.
CHRI said it
had to make repeated efforts to ensure the release of Vize. The government finally
issued the deportation order after four RTI queries were filed by CHRI in this
matter, in addition to the letters sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the
Ministry of External Affairs and the President by CHRI, National Human Rights
Commission and the Afghan Embassy.
The Home
Ministry acknowledges that overcrowding in its prisons is a problem but foreign
national prisoners who have finished their sentences continue to be held in
detention. According to National Crime Records Bureau figures, there were over
6,000 such prisoners in the country in 2011 and in most cases deportation
proceedings begin only on the very last day of the sentence, forcing a prisoner
to spend longer periods in jail than required by law.
There is no
systematic process by which a prisoner’s family is identified during the early
part of the sentence to help him. But the problem can easily be addressed by
initiating the process of deportation and consular services well in advance of
release.
According to
CHRI, the Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs should issue
suitable advisories for prompt action and standard operating procedures for
their own officials to fix these gaps in the deportation process.
According to
CHRI director Maja Daruwala, in addition to overcrowded, unsanitary and often
dangerous prison conditions, overstays swell the population. Foreigners are
particularly vulnerable because they often don’t know the language or the
system and have no backing. Prison authorities, judges and consular officials
can solve the problem with very little effort and much more coordination.
She urged the
government to initiate Zaman’s process of deportation seven to eight months in
advance from his release date and the Afghan Embassy to provide consular access
so that a case of overstay like Vize’s is avoided.
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