A Brief Document
The Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) Pakistan
The State of Children’s
Rights in Pakistan
By the Child
Rights Movement (CRM) Pakistan
1. Introduction
1.1- In April
2012, a coalition of 108 national and international organizations working for
the rights of children through the Child Rights Movement (CRM) of Pakistan had
submitted the Stakeholder Universal Periodic Review report with the Human
Rights Council for the 14th Session of Human Rights Council in
October and November 2012. Besides, three children’s consultations were
organized to incorporate children’s views in the draft report prepared by the
CRM. On August 13, the CRM had organized an urgent meeting for the finalization
the key concerns from the Stakeholder report. Following key concerns were
unanimously were selected from the report for the advocacy purpose.
Summary of key concerns
2. National Commission on the Rights of Children
2.1- There is no
an independent body at the national level for reporting, coordination and
monitoring for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and its three Optional Protocols. The National
Commission for Child Welfare and Development (NCCWD), within the Ministry of
Human Rights, is believed to be responsible for child rights in Pakistan but
unfortunately, the NCCWD was established through a resolution in the National
Assembly, and has limited human and financial resources, as well as limited
powers to prevent and respond to violations of child rights and coordinate and
monitor the implementation of the CRC.
Recommendations
2.2- Pakistan should
establish an independent National Commission on the Rights of Children (NCRC)
with provision of adequate financial support to carry out it monitoring and
implementation of child rights duties; and Pakistan should immediately improve and pass the long-pending bill on the NCRC.
3. Child Protection
3.1- Child Labour and child domestic labour:
Pakistan has ratified three conventions related to children: UNCRC and ILO’s
Conventions 132 (the Minimum Age) and 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour) but
little progress has been made in amending existing or introducing new
legislation to comply with the provisions of the conventions.
3.2- There are estimated more than 264,000 children
working as child domestic workers in Pakistan in hazardous and deplorable
conditions. From January 2010 to December 2011, newspapers reported 18 cases of
severe torture and abuse of child domestic workers. Out of these, 13 children
died as a direct result of violence inflicted on them by their employers.
Pakistan does not recognize child domestic labour as a worst form of child
labour and contemporary form of slavery.
Recommendation
3.2- Pakistan should in light
of the UNCRC, the ILO Conventions 132 and 182, introduce new laws, amended
existing laws and ensure full implementation of those, to be implemented in all
federating units and Pakistan should declare child domestic labour as a worst
form of child labour and ban it under the Employment of Children Act (ECA) by
2013.
3.3 Corporal Punishment: Corporal
punishment is widespread in all settings across the country and the government
is not enacting the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill.
Recommendation
3.4- By 2013, adopt
legislation that explicitly prohibits corporal punishment in all settings, to
be implemented in all federating units.
3.5- Child
marriages: In 2010, in Sindh province alone, 50
cases of child marriages were reported. In 2008-2009 of the total children from
the age group 10-14 (20.19 million) and 15-19 (19.88 million), 0.12 percent (in
numbers 24228) and 5.18 percent (in numbers 1029784) were reported married respectively.
It does not include details of the children below 10 years of age. Child marriages are
common means of settling feuds in Pakistan. Jirgas (tribal assembly
of elders) are still being held, and girl children are commonly offered
to settle disputes.
Recommendation
3.6- Pakistan should
introduce an amendment in the Child Marriages Restraint Act 1929 to align the
age of marriage of boys and girls by raising the minimum age of marriage for
girls to 18 years, along with strict penalties for violations.
3.7- Child Sexual Abuse: The number of
child sexual abuse cases has increased yearly (1,839 in 2008, 2,012 in 2009,
2,595 in 2010). On average, six children are sexually assaulted every day, but
reported cases are only a fraction of all cases due to social taboo. In
addition, child victims and their families are dragged through the criminal
justice system.
Recommendation
3.8- Pakistan should
ensure that professionals working on the front line with children, such as
teachers, medical professionals, school counselors, and police personnel, are
sensitized and trained to appropriately respond to child sexual abuse, including
prevention, detection and management.
3.9- Introduce
strict penalties for child sexual abuse by implementing the existing laws and
introduce new laws.
3.10- Street Children: There are an estimated 1.2 million street
children in major cities of Pakistan. Following the floods in 2010 and 2011,
and ongoing conflict in the tribal areas, there has been a surge of street
children in major cities of Pakistan. While there has been little done to
counter this.
Recommendation
3.11- Pakistan
should support mechanisms for rehabilitation and reunification of street
children. The efficiency of existing institutions such as child protection and
welfare bureaus should be improved by allocating more financial, technical and
human resources.
3.12- Administration of Juvenile Justice: The
Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), 2000, is little recognized or known
among law enforcement agencies, and officials are generally not sensitized or
qualified to deal with children’s issues. Sadly the JJSO does not override, but
is in addition to, several acts such as
the Army Act, Frontier Crimes Regulation, Action (in Aid Civil Power)
Regulation, Anti-terrorism Act, Control of Narcotics Substance Act, Punjab Prohibition of Kite Flying Ordinance and the Railways Act.
Under these laws, harsh punishments including death sentences and life
imprisonment can be imposed upon children.
Recommendation
3.13- Pakistan
should take measures to ensure that the JJSO overrides other laws in cases
involving children and establish exclusive juvenile courts in accordance with
the JJSO and ensure that children’s cases are tried separately from adult
cases.
3. 14- Birth Registration: Pakistan has not
taken sufficient measures to remove structural obstacles to birth registration
and harmonize birth registration systems across the country. No detailed
by-laws, and an overall lack of awareness about the importance of birth
registration among the general public, are the biggest hurdles in the way of
birth registration in the country. The national average for birth registration
is only 29.5 percent.
Recommendation
3.15- Pakistan
should take legal and administrative measures to remove obstacles to birth
registration (particularly for marginalized segments of society, e.g. single
parents children, children out of wedlock, street children and orphans) and
harmonize laws related to birth registration across the country by 2015.
4. Education:
4.1- The CRM is
afraid that Pakistan is far from reaching the Education for All target by year
2015. About 7 million children are not attending primary school in Pakistan;
approximately 60 percent of these are girls. Accordingly, more than 50 million
Pakistanis above 10 years of age are illiterate.
4.2- Under Article 25A of the Constitution of Pakistan, education is
fundamental right of every child from 5 to 16 years of age but neither federal
nor provincial governments have introduce laws to implement the Article.
Recommendation
4.3- Pakistan
should comply with Article 25-A (the Right to Education), the Government under
the ECA should ban labour for children below 16 years of age in all
occupations.
4.4- Pakistan should
increase the budget for education by 5 percent by 2013, substantially increase budgets for girls education, to meet its
MDG and EFA targets.
5. Malnutrition
5.1-
Malnutrition is contributing to 35 percent of all under-5 deaths in Pakistan.
According to UNICEF, 32 percent of infants have low birth-weight (recorded in
2006 and 2010). In 2010, the infant mortality rate was 70/1000 and under-5 mortality
rate was 87/1000. As a result, Pakistan is at risk of failing to reach its MDG
targets on maternal and child health.
Recommendation
5.2-
Pakistan should take all legislative, administrative and other appropriate
measures to develop and implement comprehensive food security and malnutrition
prevention and response programs.
6. Legislative Weaknesses affecting children
6.1- 120 days detention without the authority
of the magistrate: Pakistan has introduced the Action in Aid for Civil
Power Regulations (AACPRs) for the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas and
Provincially Administrated Tribal Areas. These regulations allow for the
confinement of an individual, whether a child or adult, for 120 days without
the authority of the magistrate. Furthermore, the Regulations state that for
120 days, there will be no legal representation or trial, and a single
statement by an official from the Law Enforcement Agencies is sufficient to
prove a child guilty of an offence and set a death sentence, which cannot be
challenged by any other legal forum.
Recommendation
6.2- Pakistan
should immediately abolish the AACPRs and proper administrative and judicial
procedures should be applied in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan in
FATA and PATA.
6.3- The Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility:
The minimum age of criminal responsibility is 7 under Section 82 of the
Pakistan Penal Code. This has resulted in arrests, detention and humiliation of
children less than 10 years of age by the police. A Child Protection Criminal
Laws (Amendment) Bill has been pending since 2009 in which the minimum age of
criminal responsibility was proposed to increase from 7 to 10 years.
Recommendation
6.4- Pakistan should
revise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years in the Criminal Laws
(Child Protection) Amendment Bill and expedite the passage of the Bill.
6.5- Sale of Children, Prostitution and
Trafficking: Pakistan
ratifies the Optional Protocol to UNCRC on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution
and Child Pornography in June 2011; however, which Pakistan has still not
passed The Criminal Laws (Child Protection) Amendment Bill 2009, which would
provide for preventive and protective measures against sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography. There is a lack of legislation on internal
child trafficking, and the measures against international child trafficking are
weak as well. Pakistan does not provide legal and
administrative measures for preventing and protecting children from trafficking
between provinces inside Pakistan or
even between regions.
Recommendation
6.6. Pakistan
should translate ratification of the Optional Protocol on Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography into national laws.
7. Child participation
7.1- Children in
Pakistan are seen but not heard. Children have limited or no participation
in decisions that affect their lives. There is no mechanism for seeking
children’s views at the policy or practice level.
Recommendation
7.2- Pakistan should establish platforms for children
participation into social and economical issues concern their lives and should focus
on developing TV/radio programmes for children and encourage participation of
children in all spheres of life especially the media. Pakistan should establish
formal forums and mechanisms for children’s participation in civic life.
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