Pakistan must improve protection for Indian prisoners: Rights group

LONDON: Pakistan must protect Indian prisoners from violence in the country's jails, a rights group said today after the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh following an assault at a high security Lahore jail.

"Pakistani prison authorities have seemingly failed in their duty to protect Sarabjit Singh, despite him apparently receiving death threats," said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International's Deputy Asia Pacific Director.

"The government must now carry out an impartial, public investigation into this horrific attack and ensure that those responsible are promptly prosecuted in fair trials - including prison staff if the evidence shows their negligence may have helped facilitate the attack."

49-year-old Sarabjit, the second Indian prisoner to die in notorious Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore this year, was brutally attacked on Friday by six fellow inmates as he and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for a break.

Another Indian prisoner Chamel Singh also died in the same jail in January.

Sarabjit was convicted of alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 and spent about 22 years in Pakistani prisons.

His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.