Pakistan - Barbaric juvenile justice system

The plight faced by juvenile offenders in Pakistan is not one that receives much public attention in Pakistan. In any case our media rarely highlights structural issues that concern the ordinary citizens. Recently, Balochistan JUI-F Assembly member Sardar Abdul Khetiran highlighted the suffering of juvenile prisoners. He alleged that 99 percent of juvenile prisoners in Balochistan were victims of sexual harassment and abuse during incarceration. While this is very upsetting, it is not surprising. What else can one expect when juvenile offenders are kept in the same overcrowded prisons as adult offenders?

There are a total of seven juvenile detention facilities in Pakistan. Two are in Punjab, four are in Sindh, one is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but it is not functional. There is no such facility in Balochistan. As a result juvenile offenders are housed in the same prisons as adults. If this wasn’t disturbing enough, Pakistan’s penal system has little leniency for children. The Pakistan Penal Code can hold a person as young as seven to be criminally responsible for his/her actions. The situation is made worse by the lack of birth certification in the country. Since many parents don’t bother getting birth certificates for their children, juvenile offenders are often tried on the basis of how old they look. As a result, they can’t be given the protections they are due after the passing of the 2000 Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO).

The JJSO states that juvenile offenders can’t be awarded the death penalty and that deprivation of liberty is to be used as a last resort and for the shortest possible period. However, children languish in Pakistani jails for years overcrimes like petty theft. Furthermore, 10 percent of the country’s death row inmates are individuals who were convicted of a capital offense when they were under the age of 18. Aftab Bahadur, who was executed at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail last year, was found guilty for a crime he committed in 1992, when he was 15 years old. This is just one example of the perversity of our legal system.

It is imperative that action be taken so we can put a stop to further injustices like Aftab’s execution, as well as the trauma Pakistan’s juvenile offenders’ population is facing in prisons meant for adults. Changes need to be made to the prison system and penal code so that the JJSO can be properly implemented. There is a need for more juvenile detention centres in all provinces. Furthermore, courts need to launch proper investigative inquiries to find out the proper ages of defendants when they don’t have birth certificates. Lastly, the senseless and sadistic execution of offenders who were convicted of their crimes when they were below the age of18, needs to stop.

It is high time that our media and civil society build a discourse for changing the perception that justice is about improving society and not about revenge or family honour. Perhaps the talking heads on TV can take a few minutes out of their discussions that focus on the squabbles within the elites of the country.