ASIA CHILD RIGHTS (ACR) is a weekly e-newsletter, which aims to initiate action among NGOs and media groups working in the field of children's rights within Asia through information networking. It was initiated with the conviction that collective action can bring about effective and sustainable change at the local and political levels. ACT NOW. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ACR E-Newsletter Vol. 1 No.2 (20/11/2002) I CONTENTS 1.Pakistan: 315 Child Prisoners Still on Death Row 2.Suggested Action II FOCUS 1.Burma: Burma's Children on the Front Lines 2.Suggested Action 3. A note on FOCUS III ABOUT ASIA CHILD RIGHTS (ACR) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) PAKISTAN: 315 CHILDREN STILL ON DEATH ROW Pakistan's prisons are house to more than 4,400 children, 90% (3, 750) of whom are still awaiting trial or currently under- trial. The latest available data mentioned 125 child prisoners on death row (Human Rights Commission Report 2001). However, this number has dramatically increased in the past year. In July 2002, President Pervez Musharraf enacted the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2002 (JJSO) abolishing the death penalty for anyone under 18 at the time of the crime. On July 25 2002, News International, Pakistan reported that with the enforcement of the JJSO in Punjab province of Pakistan, the death sentences of 74 young offenders had been converted to life imprisonment. The same report also said that 315 condemned juveniles were yet to see the effect of the JJSO. 'The law minister observed that the government would constitute a special medical board to examine the ages of 315 other condemned juveniles', the News International article said. However, that has not happen. Neither has the commutation of death sentences for the child prisoners. 2) SUGGESTED ACTION: Please write to the President of Pakistan and the Minister for Law and Justice SAMPLE LETTER Dear President / Dear Minister, I am writing to you because it has come to my knowledge that a high number of 315 child prisoners are yet to attain relief under the Juvenile Justice Systems Ordinance (JJSO) enacted in 2002. I welcome the Government of Pakistan's passing of the JJSO and the commuting of the death sentences of 74 young offenders in Punjab. However, a larger number of children are still languishing under the threat of death penalty in Pakistan. I urge you to make this landmark ordinance a reality for all children in Pakistan's prisons with greater compassion and urgency by ensuring the effective and efficient functioning of medical boards, special juvenile justice courts and the police force. Yours sincerely PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS OF APPEAL TO 1)General Pervez Musharraf Chief Executive and President of Pakistan CE Secretariat, Islamabad Email: ce@pak.gov.pk Fax: 92-51-9201051 2)Dr. Khalid Ranjha Minister for Law, Justice, Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs Email: molaw1@comsats.net.pk Fax: 92-51-9202628 Send a copy of appeal to acr@ahrchk.net II. FOCUS 1) MYANMAR: MYANMAR'S CHILDREN IN THE FRONT LINES Burma hit headlines recently due to three major reports released in the past year. All three of these reports, 'No Childhood At All' by Images Asia (June 1997), 'Global Report 2001' by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (June 2001) and 'My Gun was as Tall as Me' by Human Rights Watch (October 2002) revealed that Burma today has the highest number of child soldiers fighting in the front lines with the state and opposition army. Human Rights Watch estimates that children comprise 35 to 45% (nearly 70,000) of Burmese Army. Some soldiers are as young as 11 years old. 'The overwhelming majority of Burma's child soldiers are found in Burma's national army, the Tatmadaw Kyi, which forcibly recruits children as young as eleven. These children are subject to beatings and systematic humiliation during training. Once deployed, 'they are often expected to perform the same duties as adult soldiers and may be beaten or killed if they are unable to perform the required tasks. Children have fought in front-line active combat, gathered and prepared food, dug trenches and other physically demanding work, stood sentry-check-point duty, acted as body-guards, served as porters carrying ammunition and supplies, and sometimes been used in human-wave attack tactics in which hundreds have been killed' the IA report said. However, the Burmese government has denied the use of child soldiers in the state army. Burma also claims that such reports are "just another example of attempts to tarnish the image of Burma and the Burma Tatmadaw (military) in the eyes of the international community". On the reported use of force in recruiting child soldiers, the Burmese government claimed that joining the military was purely military and that national laws setting the enlistment age at 18 were "strictly enforced" reported Irrawady News Agency. In 1991, Burma signed to the UN Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Declaration and Plan of Action at the World Summit for Children in the 1990s. In 1993, the Burmese regime promulgated a Child Law for the country and established an Inter-Sectoral Committee on the Rights of the Child. However, in spite of all this the military regime has failed to provide protection for children suffering as a result of the civil war, and instead continues to actively use child soldiers. The situation now is worse than ever as the regime continues to raise the number of men - boys - under arms. 2) SUGGESTED ACTION: Send your appeals to the Prime Minister, Ministry of Defense, The UN Special Reppoteur in Burma and Myanmar Embassy in your country. SAMPLE LETTER Dear Prime Minister/ Dear Minister of Defense, I am writing to you to express my outrage at the forcible recruitment of children into the national army. This is inhuman and an outright violation of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child. Reports of international organizations have clearly shown that your government forcibly recruits children as young as 11-years-old into the army. Children in these situations are subjected to gross acts of degradation such as torture and rape. It is a shame that this truth is still being denied by your government. Such acts of cowardice reflect your government's consistent denial of the fundamental rights and freedoms of your own children. I urge you to end this cruel use of children in the national army. Every child has the right to live in an environment free of such degradation. As a signatory of the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child, it is imperative that you end these violations and allow your children to enjoy the full rights provided under the convention. I also urge the United Nations to recognize Myanmar's continuing use of child soldiers in its national army as a violation of international Human Rights. Yours sincerely PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO 1. Senior General Than Shwe Chairman, State Peace and Development Council Office of the Prime Minister Yangon, Myanmar Email: myanmar@un.int 2. Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt Secretary-1 State Peace and Development Council Ministry of Defence Signal Pagoda Rd Yangon, MYANMAR Fax (+951) 22950 3. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Palais des Nations, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH 1211 Geneve, SWITZERLAND FAX: +41 22 9170213 Email: secrt.hchr@unog.ch (please mark ATT: MR. PINHEIRO) 4. Myanmar Embassy/consulate in your country. Send copy of letter to acr@ahrchk.org 3) A NOTE ON 'FOCUS': Focus is a section in Asia Child Rights that investigates and disseminates information on specific forms of child abuse occurring in Asian countries. The inspiration behind this section is to bring into 'Focus' the cultural relevance and acceptance of evils such as Child abuse within Asian society. Each aspect of beauty within a culture is commonly associated with a shadow of darkness that goes unmentioned. FOCUS hopes to draw attention to this darkness. Please do feel free to contribute to this section with information regarding the manner in which a specific form of child abuse is being accepted as part of cultural norms or festivities in your part of Asia. III ABOUT ASIA CHILD RIGHTS (ACR) Asia Child Rights is a weekly e-newsletter project undertaken by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in Hong Kong. The goal of the newsletter is to mobilize action among various groups (such as NGOs, the media and other interested parties) by drawing attention to child rights abuses occurring in various parts of Asia. Everyday occurrences of child abuse remain isolated incidents. Lack of networking between NGOs, the media and other bodies working on issues related to child abuse allows perpetrators to get away with gross and unspeakable abuses. Asia Child Rights (ACR) was developed as a response to this concern. ACR currently has a subscription of over 500 grassroots, policy and international organizations within Asia that form its information network and collective take action to bring to book governments/groups or individuals responsible for abuses faced by children in Asia. More than half of our children in Asia are denied these rights everyday as they enter or continue to live among conditions of downtrodden poverty, hunger, slavery and degradation. It is our responsibility as Asian citizens to rightfully give back to our children their childhood. ACT NOW. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can visit us at http://acr.hrschool.org or write to us at acr@ahrchk.net For sources of the articles and related links, please visit our website http://acr@ahrchk.net
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