E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.2 page 16 entries did not include a date on which the fetters had been removed. After the Special Rapporteur had reviewed several pages, going back to June 1995, on which the removal date was not recorded, the Inspector General conceded that the bar fetters had been removed the previous evening. At Karachi Central Jail, which the delegation visited a few days later, all the relevant information was properly recorded in what was presented as the Fetters Register Entries. Entries were neatly written in what appeared to be the same hand and the same ink. The only reason noted for the imposition of fetters was for the purposes of transfer from the jail. 57. The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners provide: "Instruments of restraint such as handcuffs, chains, irons and straitjackets, shall never be applied as a punishment. Furthermore, chains or irons shall not be used as restraints. Other instruments of restraint shall not be used except in the following circumstances: (a) As a precaution against escape during a transfer, provided that they shall be removed when the prisoner appears before a judicial or administrative authority; (b) On medical grounds by direction of the medical officer; (c) By order of the director, if other methods of control fail, in order to prevent a prisoner from injuring himself or others or from damaging property; in such instances the director shall at once consult the medical officer and report to the higher administrative authority." (Rule 33). Rule 34 states, inter alia, that "such instruments must not be applied for any longer time than is strictly necessary". The widespread practice in Pakistan of using bar fetters as a means of restraint or punishment of prisoners inside prisons for extended periods, confirmed by the Special Rapporteur’s inspection of the fetters register at Lahore Central Jail, is a clear violation of the Standard Minimum Rules and can be considered a form of inhuman and degrading treatment. 58. Justice Nizam Ahmad of the Sindh High Court came to a similar conclusion following his inspection of the security wards and bund wards (punishment cells) of Karachi Central Jail in February 1993. He stated: "The condition of most of the prisoners who were kept in security/bund wards was pathetic and pitiable. The manner in which they were kept was against the dignity of a human being. Many of them were kept in a cell having an area of a few square feet, in solitary confinement with bar fetters on. If a comparison of the conditions of these prisoners is possible, then it can only be made with the animals in a zoo ... [which] are better placed as they have no bar fetters inside their cages and they are provided with better facilities." 1/ 59. These observations of Justice Nizam Ahmad are contained in a landmark decision by the Sindh High Court holding that the relevant sections of the