Justice Project Pakistan is a non-profit organisation based in Lahore that represents the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing the harshest punishments, at home and abroad. Through strategic litigation, policy advocacy, and capacity-building, JPP reforms Pakistan’s criminal justice system, ensuring fair trials, humane treatment, and compliance with international human rights standards.

Justice Project Pakistan es una organización sin ánimo de lucro con sede en Lahore que representa a los prisioneros pakistaníes más vulnerables que enfrentan los castigos más severos, tanto en el país como en el extranjero. A través de litigios estratégicos, incidencia política y fortalecimiento de capacidades, JPP reforma el sistema de justicia penal de Pakistán, garantizando juicios justos, un trato humano y el cumplimiento de las normas internacionales de derechos humanos.

Justice Project Pakistan est une organisation à but non lucratif basée à Lahore qui représente les prisonniers pakistanais les plus vulnérables confrontés aux peines les plus sévères, tant au pays qu’à l’étranger. Grâce à un contentieux stratégique, à la plaidoirie politique et au renforcement des capacités, JPP réforme le système de justice pénale du Pakistan, en garantissant des procès équitables, un traitement humain et le respect des normes internationales des droits humains.

Justice Project Pakistan (JPP)

For many years, Pakistan’s prison population remained relatively stable. Between 2009 and 2018, it generally ranged between 74,000 and 84,000 prisoners, increasing overall by only around 1%. Since 2019, that pattern has changed sharply. By 2026, Pakistan’s prisons held 110,513 people — an increase of 50.1% since 2019.

This growth reflects how the criminal justice system uses imprisonment: who is arrested, who receives bail, how long cases take to conclude, which offences are criminalised, and whether meaningful alternatives to imprisonment are available.

This second edition of the Prison Data Report brings together the most recent available prison data from across Pakistan to examine these trends and the factors driving them. It looks at national and provincial differences, identifies the people most affected by the growth in imprisonment, and considers where there is evidence that different approaches can produce different outcomes.

The report also looks beyond the numbers. It considers the laws, policies and criminal justice practices that shape who enters prison and how long they remain there, while identifying emerging reforms and opportunities to reduce unnecessary imprisonment and improve conditions of detention.

The aim is to use evidence to understand where Pakistan’s prison system is heading, what is driving that trajectory, and what can be done to change it.

Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026

Women, Poverty, and the Failure of the CNSA examines the gendered impact of Pakistan’s drug laws and the structural vulnerabilities that shape women’s pathways into drug-related offences. Drawing on prison data, legal analysis, and first-hand testimonies from women incarcerated under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, the brief highlights how punitive and gender-neutral laws disproportionately affect women facing poverty, coercion, caregiving responsibilities, and limited access to legal representation.

The brief is part of Justice Project Pakistan’s broader initiative to advance human rights-based drug policy reform in Pakistan and calls for a more proportionate, gender-responsive, and rights-based approach to drug policy.

Women, poverty & the failure of the CNSA – Policy brief

Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights

61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, 10 March 2026

Statement by the International Drug Policy Consortium

I am making this statement on behalf of the International Drug Policy Consortium and 12 other civil society organisations.

We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s new Report A/HRC/61/52, in particular the recognition of “grave recent abuses of counter-terrorism laws” against suspected drug cartels and gangs.

Since last September, ongoing lethal U.S. military attacks on civilian boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean have killed more than 150 people. These killings are being justified in the name of combatting “narcoterrorism” but are in fact extrajudicial executions. The unlawful January 3 U.S. military operation in Venezuela to capture Nicolas Maduro to face “narcoterrorism” charges left more people dead.

The resurgence of the “narcoterrorism” narrative is troubling. It aims to conflate any form of drug trafficking with acts of terrorism. This strategy is being used to justify excessive use of force, commit blatant human rights violations, and restrict civil society efforts to hold Member States accountable for such actions.

We call on the Special Rapporteur to continue to raise the alarm over this deeply harmful narrative, by:

Clarifying that drug trafficking should not be conflated with terrorism

Clarifying that extrajudicial and military targeting of people suspected of drug trafficking cannot be justified under international law

Urging Member States to ensure that any drug control operation is conducted in full compliance with international law.

AHRA - Southeast Asia Harm Reduction Association

Association for Humane Drug Policy, Norway

Justice Project Pakistan (JPP)

Region

Translations

Related Content

Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026

Women, poverty & the failure of the CNSA – Policy brief

IDPC and partners warn against misuse of 'narcoterrorism' narrative - Statement at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council