Prison Bound the Denial of Juvenile Justice in Pakistan
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PRISON BOUND THE DENIAL OF JUVENILE JUSTICE IN PAKISTAN Human Rights Watch New York $$$ Washington $$$ London $$$ Brussels Copyright 8 November 1999 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 1-56432-242-4 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-067700 Cover photograph: reprinted with permission from Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA), Karachi, Pakistan. Cover design by Rafael Jiménez Addresses for Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10118-3299 Tel: (212) 290-4700, Fax: (212) 736-1300, E-mail: [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009 Tel: (202) 612-4321, Fax: (202) 612-4333, E-mail: [email protected] 33 Islington High Street, N1 9LH London, UK Tel: (171) 713-1995, Fax: (171) 713-1800, E-mail: [email protected] 15 Rue Van Campenhout, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: (2) 732-2009, Fax: (2) 732-0471, E-mail:[email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org Listserv address: To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail message to [email protected] with Asubscribe hrw-news@ in the body of the message (leave the subject line blank). Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some seventy countries around the world. Our reputation for timely, reliable disclosures has made us an essential source of information for those concerned with human rights. We address the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, and a vigorous civil society; we document and denounce murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Our goal is to hold governments accountable if they transgress the rights of their people. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Europe and Central Asia division (then known as Helsinki Watch). Today, it also includes divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. In addition, it includes three thematic divisions on arms, children=s rights, and women=s rights. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Dushanbe, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Reed Brody, advocacy director; Carroll Bogert, communications director;Cynthia Brown,program director; Barbara Guglielmo, finance director; Jeri Laber special advisor; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Patrick Minges, publications director; Susan Osnos, associate director; Maria Pignataro Nielsen, human resources director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Wilder Tayler, general counsel; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Jonathan Fanton is the chair of the board. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair. The regional directors of Human Rights Watch are Peter Takirambudde, Africa; José Miguel Vivanco, Americas; Sidney Jones, Asia; Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia; and Hanny Megally, Middle East and North Africa. The thematic division directors are Joost R. Hiltermann, arms; Lois Whitman, children=s; and Regan Ralph, women=s. The members of the board of directors are Jonathan Fanton, chair; Lisa Anderson, Robert L. Bernstein, David M. Brown, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Gina Despres, Irene Diamond, Adrian W. DeWind, Fiona Druckenmiller, Edith Everett, Michael E. Gellert, Vartan Gregorian, Alice H. Henkin, James F. Hoge, Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Bruce Klatsky, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Josh Mailman, Yolanda T. Moses, Samuel K. Murumba, Andrew Nathan, Jane Olson, Peter Osnos, Kathleen Peratis, Bruce Rabb, Sigrid Rausing, Orville Schell, Sid Sheinberg, Gary G. Sick, Malcolm Smith, Domna Stanton, and Maya Wiley. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair of Human Rights Watch. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report is based on research conducted in Pakistan during May and August 1998 by Vikram Parekh, a Human Rights Watch researcher, and Ali Qazilbash, a consultant to Human Rights Watch. The report was written by Vikram Parekh, and edited by Yodon Thonden, counsel to Human Rights Watch, and Patricia Gossman, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. Additional comments were provided by Michael Bochenek, counsel to Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch is indebted to several individuals and non- governmental organizations in Pakistan that have done extensive work on juvenile justice and who generously assisted us in the course of researching this project. They include Zia Awan of Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid; Hina Jilani, Mohammad Hamza, and Rana Muhammad Athar Jamal of the AGHS Child Rights and Legal Aid Cells; Afrasiab Khattak, I.A. Rehman, Aziz Siddiqui, and Brig. (ret=d) Rao Abid Hamid of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; Anees Jillani of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child; and Dr. Amin A. Gadit, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Hamdard College of Medicine, Karachi. We would also like to thank several government officials and judicial authorities for their generous cooperation and assistance in our research. They include Mian Saqib Nisar, who at the time of our initial visit was Secretary of Law in the Government of Pakistan; Dr. Faqir Hussain, Joint Secretary, Pakistan Law Commission; Dr. Abdul Majeed Ahmed Auolakh, Principal, Central Jail Staff Training Institute, Ministry of the Interior; Muhammad Masood Khan, Senior Lecturer (Law), Central Jail Staff Training Institute, Ministry of the Interior; Kamran Dost, Deputy Secretary (General), Home Department, Government of Sindh; Zain-ul-Abideen, Inspector-General of Prisons, Government of the North- West Frontier Province; Neelofar Shahnawaz, Judicial Magistrate (Juvenile Court), Karachi, and Mohammed Aslam, judicial magistrate, Lahore. Special mention should be made of the Government of Punjab province, which granted us permission to inspect each of the facilities that we requested. In particular we wish to thank Zia-ul-Hassan, Inspector-General of Prisons, who authorized our visits; Muhammad Arshad Bhatti, Additional Secretary, Home Department; Captain Sarfraz Mufti, Deputy Inspector-General of Prisons; Chaudhry Afzaal Mehmood, Superintendent, and Tareen Farooq, Deputy Superintendent, Borstal Institute and Juvenile Jail, Bahawalpur; Zia Ullah, Superintendent, District Jail, Lahore; and Kasim Baloch, Deputy Superintendent, Rawalpindi. Finally, we would like to thank the many children whom we interviewed, whose names have been changed in this report to protect their privacy. We also wish to thank those human rights activists and government officials whose names have been withheld so as not to jeopardize their security or position. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................1 Recommendations ..................................................................................7 To the Government of Pakistan................................................7 Regarding the Police..................................................8 Regarding the Prisons ................................................9 Regarding the Child Offenders Act (Bill), 1995......11 Regarding Other Laws Affecting Juveniles .............12 To the Governments of Punjab and Sindh Provinces.............13 To Donor Countries ..............................................................14 II. BACKGROUND ..........................................................................................15 Criminal Law........................................................................................16 Juvenile Justice Laws ...........................................................................18 III. CHILDREN IN POLICE CUSTODY .........................................................20 Custodial Abuse of Children ................................................................22 Conditions in Police Custody...............................................................24 Illegal Detention...................................................................................28 IV. JUVENILE WARDS OF PRISONS ............................................................33 International Standards.........................................................................33 Prison Rules .........................................................................................34 Pakistan=s Prison System ......................................................................35 Accommodations..................................................................................36