IHC CJ visit to Adiala Jail: 24.09.2022 Following the report, Honorable Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court visited Central Jail, Rawalpindi on 24.09.2022. He was accompanied by three other Honorable Judges of the Islamabad High Court, District and Sessions Judges (East & West) Islamabad, Mr. Nadeem Ashraf (Member NCHR Punjab), Mr. Afzal Latif (Secretary Ministry of Human Rights) and Mr. Fazal-ur-Rehman (Special Secretary Home Department Punjab). During his visit, the Chief Justice visited various sections of the jail and met a number of prisoners who complained of excessive torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. The Honorable Chief Justice directed NCHR to finalize the inquiry and submit a detailed final report. Thereafter, the NCHR team visited Central Jail, Rawalpindi again on several occasions, and met with more inmates to gather information for the preparation of this final inquiry report. NCHR Mandate The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) is a federal statutory body set up in 2015. It is the outcome of Pakistan’s Constitutional commitments as well as its international treaty commitments to promote and protect human rights. NCHR is Pakistan’s strongest commission in broadness of scope and multiplicity of functions. It is envisioned, inter alia, to monitor, investigate and hear human rights complaints; act as a watch dog on legislation, set standards and enable implementation; promote awareness of and act as an advocate of human rights; visit places of detention, enable research and data production on human rights; and drive policymaking for human rights protection. Section 9 (a) endows NCHR with the power to inquire suo motu or upon petitions by victims or any person on their behalf, into complaints of (i) violation of human rights or abetment thereof; or (ii) negligence, in the prevention of such violation, by a public servant. This throws up multiple possibilities in terms of ambit, focus and coverage of human rights complaints. NCHR as a National Human Rights Institute (NHRI) set up under Paris Principles is ideally placed to contribute to an integrated strategy to prevent torture and ill-treatment in Pakistan. NCHR can contribute to the development of an effective legal framework and help bridge the gap between law and practice by: • • encouraging the State to ratify relevant international human rights treaties overseeing the performance of the government’s human rights machinery 9