Child advocacy groups press for reform of justice system

Pakistan's leading child advocacy groups have urged the government to establish exclusive juvenile courts to end the problem of delayed trials, which has led to a situation in which 80 percent of juvenile prisoners are those on remand. "As of December 2003, some 2,500 juvenile offenders were awaiting trial out of a total juvenile prisoner population of 3,061, while the country has only one exclusive juvenile court," Arshad Mehmood, deputy national coordinator of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), told IRIN from the provincial capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Peshawar. Currently, there is only one juvenile court, in the southern port city of Karachi in Sindh province. The courts designated as juvenile courts under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) are already overburdened with routine caseloads and are unable to bear the extra burden, Mehmood said. The government has introduced several new legal regulations over the past four years to promote the rights of children. The promulgation of JJSO in 2002 was a step in the same direction, aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of children who come into conflict with the law. "JJSO is a welcoming development and should be commended. But one would be hard pressed to identify any noticeable change in the conditions of juvenile offenders," Anees Jilani, the national coordinator of SPARC, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad. Children's rights activists maintain that the legislation has failed to ensure justice for children due to poor implementation of the law and a lack of awareness amongst relevant officials. "The concerned staff of the police, prison and probation departments are not familiar with juvenile laws. They have no idea of rehabilitation and reformation of a child coming into conflict with the law," Zakir Shoaib, manager of the "Prisoners Programme" at the Dost Welfare Organisation (DWO), told IRIN from Peshawar. "Several civil society organisations working in the juvenile justice sector are holding training workshops, but almost all focus on prison staff, while nothing significant has been done with police, the judiciary and the probation department," said Zakir, stressing that "all the stakeholders within the juvenile justice system should be trained accordingly and there should be better coordination". Every person below 18 years of age is considered to be a juvenile offender under the JJSO. However, under-18 female offenders are still largely unable to enjoy the status of juvenile prisoner. According to the SPARC annual report, Punjab is the only province that records female juvenile inmates separately. The remaining three provinces include female child offenders, in violation of the JJSO, in their count of women prisoners, the report said. Child rights activists have long been asking the government for the establishment of panels of lawyers under the JJSO for the provision of free legal assistance to juvenile offenders. Under the JJSO, a child who comes in conflict with the law has the right to legal assistance at the expense of the state and provided by a legal practitioner with at least five years standing at the Bar. Almost 89 percent of juveniles charged with bailable crimes remained in jail due to a lack of funds to pay for the lawyers' fee or a lack of knowledge about free legal assistance from the state, according to a study by the UN children's agency UNICEF. According to Jail Manual, under no circumstances should juvenile offenders, including females, be kept in prison alongside adult offenders. In addition to the abuses that these inmates are at risk of, according a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), another problem is overcrowding in jails without adequate educational or recreational opportunities. Most juveniles are detained in unsanitary conditions, leaving them exposed to diseases and other health problems. In summer, the overcrowded rooms become even more suffocating due to a shortage of fans, coolers and the lack of a proper ventilation system, the SPARC report said. "The reformation of young offenders is a neglected area so far," Zakir said, noting that there were no rehabilitation centres for those released from jail. According to the SPARC report, the country has three separate juvenile detention facilities with two Borstal (juvenile offender) institutes in Punjab province and another in the southern port city of Karachi in Sindh. In the two provinces of NWFP and Balochistan minor detainees are kept in adult prisons but in separate barracks called "juvenile cells". "The government is committed to the welfare of children and is taking steps to implement the law. In compliance with the JJSO and prison reforms, there are no longer major punishments for minor offenders," Rukan Abdullah Gardaizi, joint secretary for the human rights division of the law ministry, told IRIN. Gardaizi added: "We take up the issues with the relevant authorities of the jail and police departments as well, in order to improve the administration of juvenile justice." "The rehabilitation component needs serious consideration during the detention period and afterwards when [prisoners are] released," Zakir noted, stressing the need to establish more Borstal homes with properly trained staff. "The government should also set up shelter homes to rehabilitate those disowned by their families after release for being involved in criminal activity," Zakir said, adding that civil society organisations should be involved in this task to cover the shortage of resources and skilled staff.