What is solitary confinement and why is it imposed?
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment where a prisoner has no contact with anyone except prison staff for a set period. The UN Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners advocate for efforts to abolish or limit solitary confinement as a punishment. Many states use solitary confinement to exert psychological pressure on offenders, discipline them, or protect other inmates from potential harm. In sentencing, the court weighs the need for protection against the risk of excessive psychological harm to the offender, aiming to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law. However, this is a controversial practice that has been criticized by human rights organizations due to its psychological impact on the prisoners, prolonged punishment and double punishment. In Pakistan, like in many other countries, there are concerns about the potential misuse of solitary confinement and its detrimental effects on mental health.
What laws regulate solitary confinement?
Sections 73 and 74 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860
The PPC allows a court to sentence a convicted offender to solitary confinement for up to three months. The length of solitary confinement depends on the length of the sentence:
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Up to six months: Up to one month of solitary confinement |
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More than six months and up to one year: Up to two months of solitary confinement |
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More than one year: Up to three months of solitary confinement |
The Nelson Mandela Rules
Rule 45
1. Solitary confinement shall be used only in exceptional cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review. and only pursuant to the authorization by a competent authority. It shall not be imposed by virtue of a prisoner's sentence.
2. The imposition of solitary confinement should be prohibited in the case of prisoners with mental or physical disabilities when their conditions would be exacerbated by such measures. The prohibition of the use of solitary confinement and similar measures in cases involving women and children, as referred to in other United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice,? continues to apply.
Who can award solitary confinement?
Under the PPC, courts are authorized to impose solitary confinement as a legitimate punishment only for serious offenses. However, this confinement can only apply to certain portions of the overall sentence.
What are the limitations imposed on the execution of solitary confinement?
Under Section 74 of the PPC, a person cannot be kept in solitary confinement for more than fourteen days consecutively. Moreover, such an offender must be allowed an equal number of days out of solitary confinement before executing the remaining sentence. Moreover, if the imprisonment exceeds three months, an inmate can only be kept in solitary confinement for seven days per month.
Cases
Imdad Ali:
During Ali's incarceration, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia despite which his appeals were constantly dismissed and a death warrant issued against him twice in 2016. In the same year Amnesty International also advocated for Ali's case and highlighted the Human Rights breaches in his case. Ali was kept in solitary confinement for four years despite his condition due to which he was severely distressed by paranoia and physical pain before the Supreme Court under its landmark judgment ordered the government to shift him to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health for treatment in 2021.
Ghulam Shabbir:
Shabbir had filed for a petition which was significantly delayed and by the time of the review he had already served 34 years in prison which included approximately 24 years in solitary confinement which exceeded the duration of a life sentence, while he awaited his execution for nine years on death row. The petitioner was confined to a 9 x 12 isolated cell with a joint toilet which severely compromised his privacy. Moreover he was not permitted to participate in extracurricular activities and was allowed to go out of his cell only twice a day for thirty minutes. The isolation exacerbated his mental stress as he was still on death row. The court recognised that such prolonged solitary confinement amounts to double punishment which is against Article 13 of the Constitution of Pakistan. The court further noted that a delay in judicial proceedings should not penalize inmates as such conditions are beyond their control. Due to this excessive duration of confinement, the Supreme Court in its final judgment converted his death sentence to life imprisonment.
What Makes Solitary Confinement a Big Problem?
While solitary confinement is a legally recognised punishment it is often arbitrarily used which compromises the separation of powers between the branches of the government. This discretionary power is worrying, especially in Pakistan where much of its use is also found in disputed political cases. Moreover, delays in trial proceedings penalize inmates, effectively serving as a form of double punishment and violating due process. This often stems from the prosecution's failure to present compelling evidence that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, leading to inmates being placed in solitary confinement during the trial process of a case before any verdict is pronounced.
Such arbitrary practices go against the principles of due process and the rule of law. Extended periods of unregulated solitary confinement, which are unlawful, also exacerbate mental distress and may put inmates at risk of permanent mental health issues. The loopholes in the legal framework governing solitary confinement are deeply concerning, as this flagrant misuse sets a perilous precedent for justice. Although solitary confinement is a legally recognized punishment in Pakistan, there is a pressing need to reassess its use and implement regulations to prevent egregious abuses by the very system that is meant to deliver justice.
