[child-rights] Pakistan: Children let down by justice system

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
AI INDEX: ASA 33/015/2003     23 October 2003   	

Pakistan: Children let down by justice system


Around 4,500 children are currently in detention in Pakistan. More than 
3,000 of them have not been convicted of any offence; their trials have 
either still yet to start or have not yet been completed.

"Children can sometimes spend several months or even years in detention 
simply because their families cannot afford to pay their bail. Once they 
eventually get to trial, conviction rates are as low as 15-20%," Amnesty 
International said launching its latest report on the treatment of children 
by the justice system in Pakistan . The reports follows a review earlier 
this month of the publication of the recommendations of the UN Committee on 
the Rights of the Child to Pakistan on its second periodic review.

Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and 
introduced domestic measures, such as the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 
(JJSO) which came into force in 2000, as part of efforts to fulfil the 
obligation to protect the rights of children who come in contact with the law.

"However, a widespread lack of awareness and failure to implement these 
measures means that the rights of children in police custody or prison in 
Pakistan are often neglected," Amnesty International added.

The JJSO does not allow a court to hear children and adult cases on the 
same day but this happens regularly. This results in children, including 
first-time offenders, being transported and held in lock-ups with adults 
where they are at risk of abuse in violation of the law.

The handing down of the death penalty to children is strictly prohibited by 
both international human rights law and the JJSO, but children continue to 
be sentenced to death in Pakistan. This happens in the lower courts where 
not all magistrates are aware of the JJSO and in the Tribally and 
Provincially Administered Areas where the Ordinance is not in force. 
Children whose ages are contested remain imprisoned with adults, sometimes 
on death row, until their age is clarified. According to government 
officials, in Punjab alone, there are over 300 cases where the age of the 
children is being contested.

Several of the children who had their death sentences commuted by President 
Musharraf during Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan's 
visit to Pakistan in 2001 remain on death row because the family of the 
victim has questioned their claim to be children.

"All children who come into contact with the law are entitled to the same 
rights as adults as well as additional protective measures which take into 
account their particular vulnerability. Despite this, in Pakistan, children 
are often the victims of abuse or neglect by the very people who have 
responsibility for their welfare," Amnesty International emphasized. "This 
neglect can be the failure of the legal system to recognize its role as 
guardian of a detained child or a lack of knowledge about a child's rights 
under the law."

On a recent visit to Pakistan, Amnesty International visited several courts 
and juvenile detention centres and met with journalists, lawyers and judges 
as well as many detained children. The visit is documented in the report 
"Pakistan: Denial of basic rights for child prisoners".

For the full text of the report, please go to:
"Pakistan: Denial of basic rights for child prisoners"
http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabAlSaa1wlmbd5AQwb/

For the full text of the CRC see 
http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabAlSaa1wpIbd5AQwb/

For the full text of the observations and recommendations, see CRC/C/15/Add.217

Take action! The unnecessary detention of children: 
http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabAlSaa1wlnbd5AQwb/


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