Pakistan ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) thirty years back. However, despite the enactment of legislation about the same, there are still many crucial flaws in Pakistan’s criminal system when it comes to the treatment of juveniles or even minors who have been merely accused of crimes.
This is why the recent order of the Islamabad High Court, directing for the immediate release of children detained in Adiala jail, is an instrumental step towards ensuring our compliance with human rights. The fact that this was achieved only by court orders, and not through the police following the law shows that this Juvenile Justice System Act 2018, like its predecessor, Juvenile Justice Ordinance 2000, has been ineffective, and that more legislation and policy-making is required by the parliament to see that this crucial human rights issue is resolved.
The order by the IHC will ensure more oversight but the impact that the courts can have is limited if law enforcement is not observing the basic requirements laid down by law. This issue goes far beyond just one jail in one district- the society for the protection of the rights of the child (SPARC) has reported about 1500-2000 child offenders in Pakistani jails. Worse, the same reports that about ninety percent of these perpetrators are just awaiting trial, meaning that minors, who are much more likely to be pressured or framed, have been wasting the instrumental years of their lives in jail for crimes they have not been convicted of.
This is a trans-provincial problem- in 2021, it was reported that there were 540 minors in Punjab prison including teenage girls, with over 464 awaiting trial. Sindh at that time had around 260 minors imprisoned, KPK had 510, and Balochistan had around 55. Oftentimes, such detainment is also accompanied by custodial torture or undue influence.
The excuse given by the human rights ministry for failing to end the incarceration of the under-trial juvenile prisoners, that of “lack of funds to submit surety bonds”, is unforgivable. The fact that nine minors, aged 10 to 15, were languishing in the barracks of Adiala jail for petty crimes, is a failure of the state and our justice system.