Rights of Female Prisoners

  Written by: Sameera Haleemzai

Almost all countries in the world have prisons. When a person commits a crime or does something against the law, after being convicted by the court, he would be sentenced to imprisonment. Sometimes females also commit crimes in Afghanistan. If female prisoners or their families are not aware of the rights of the prisoners, they might face some problems.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some women and a lawyer about this issue.

Fawzia, a resident of Kabul city says: “when I was imprisoned, I was not aware of my rights. When I was visiting any one of my relatives, after a few minutes, the jail’s guards preventing me from more talking but Later I understood that a prisoner could visit her/his relative about 5 hours. As I did not understand that I have the right to have access to a lawyer to solve my case, therefore I stayed more in jail.”.

Muhammad Rafi Zwak, a professor of law in one of the private universities, Kabul city says: “if a female prisoner and her family is not aware of the female prisoner's rights, the imprisoned woman could not defend of her rights. If a woman could not visit her relatives for a long time, she might face psychological problems.”

what kinds of rights do female prisoners have?

Shazia, a resident of Urozgan province says that as she has not committed a crime and not imprisoned, she does not know anything about the rights of female prisoners.

Muqadas, a resident of Farza district, Kabul province says: “in my opinion a prisoner woman has the following rights: access to a lawyer to solve the related case; visit her family members and relatives; take benefit of the sun in the yard of the jail; using shampoo and soap and eating foods and use dresses.”

Professor Zwak says: “according to Afghanistan’s criminal law, an imprisoned woman could visit her family members. If the imprisoned woman has a husband, the government has to prepare a special place for their visit. They should be avoided hard work in jail. If an imprisoned woman is pregnant, the jail authority must pay special attention to her foods. If she has a small child, she could keep him/her with herself in jail up to the age of 18. Female prisoners could use sun in the jail’s yard and they should have access to the information(radio, television, and newspapers).