In one of our most critical human rights interventions, Horizon International Legal Experts filed a public interest petition before the Lahore High Court to address the chronic and institutional neglect of mental health care in Pakistan’s prison system. This case arose from alarming findings indicating that thousands of prisoners, including under-trial detainees and convicts, were suffering from untreated mental illnesses. Conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, and PTSD were often left undiagnosed, leading to heightened vulnerability, custodial suicides, and worsening of symptoms in prison environments characterized by overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and psychological abuse.
Our petition shed light on how Pakistan’s prisons lack both the infrastructure and professional capacity to identify and treat mental health issues. The vast majority of prisons do not have qualified psychiatrists or psychologists on staff, and there is no standard protocol for psychological screening at the time of admission or during incarceration. Mentally ill inmates are often placed in solitary confinement or treated with punitive measures rather than medical care, which constitutes a violation of basic human rights.
We invoked the constitutional guarantees under Articles 9 (right to life), 14 (dignity of man), and 25 (equality of citizens), and relied on international obligations under the ICCPR and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We emphasized that the state has a legal and moral obligation to provide health care services to all detainees, especially those suffering from mental illness.
Following extensive submissions, the Lahore High Court issued far-reaching directions: mandatory psychiatric screening of inmates on arrival, periodic evaluations by trained mental health professionals, and the establishment of dedicated mental health and rehabilitation wings within central prisons. The Court also ordered prison authorities to collaborate with the Health Department and Punjab Institute of Mental Health for resource allocation and training. This decision is a foundational step toward a rehabilitative, rather than punitive, model of incarceration and has brought renewed attention to mental health reform within the justice system.
