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Summary: Numerous children have been imprisoned ruthlessly and even sentenced to death in Pakistan, claimed National Juvenile Justice Network members while addressing a press conference in connection with the launch of a postcard campaign to stop inhuman sentences of child offenders in the country.
[ISLAMABAD, 18 May 2011] - The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) and organisations working for the protection of children have urged the Pakistani government and judiciary to stop charging juvenile offenders with inhuman sentences including the death penalty. The child supporters asked the Chief Justice, President and Prime Minister of Pakistan to intervene into the increasing plight of child offenders and review the laws regarding juvenile justice in the country. “A number of children have been imprisoned ruthlessly and there are cases where child offenders have received death sentences in far flung districts”, claimed NJJN members while addressing a press conference in connection with the launch of a postcard campaign to stop degrading sentences for child offenders in Pakistan. Abdullah Khoso, Coordinator of NJJN said that the “NJJN in association with the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) and Defence for Children International (DCI) has launched the postcard campaign against inhuman and degrading sentences for child offenders in Pakistan.” The postcard includes a joint letter sent to the Prime Minister of Pakistan by the NJJN, CRIN and DCI-IS. The campaign is part of a global campaign initiated by CRIN against inhuman and degrading treatment for child offenders. CRIN, DCI and NJJN urged the government to review the criminal justice system, mainly laws and practices under which children are made subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which includes life imprisonment and rigorous imprisonment. Mewal Shah, aged 20, Bhai Khan Chandio (17 years), Naseerullah Langov (17), Sarfaraz (16), and Zahoor Jakhrani, (16) were mentioned by Khuso as the juvenile offenders who received death sentences on the account of murders by different lower Courts in Balochistan and their appeals were pending in High Courts. Khoso said that 13 member organisations of the NJJN have observed that children face brutal punishments for various reasons, the foremost amongst which are the overruling powers of other laws over the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), lack of implementation of the child rights provisions in the JJSO, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 and the Sindh Children Act 1955. Children may lawfully be sentenced to death, life imprisonment and corporal punishment under these laws. During a visit of the Borstal Institute & Juvenile Jail, NJJN members met with 15 juvenile offenders who were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment and kept in solitary confinement under the orders of the Anti Terrorism Courts in Faisalabad and Multan. Currently there are 47 and 33 child offenders in Faisalabad and Bahawalpur Borstal Institute and Juvenile Jail respectively. Pakistan is a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), but the situation on ground shows clear violations of the commitments. Further Information:
Owner: Sana Jamalpdf: http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=92821Association: Pakistan Observer