I RECENTLY visited the children’s section of a prison which in local parlance is known as bacha khana. There were a few dozen children confined in a couple of rectangular cells which is typical of prisons in Pakistan. Almost all were under trial. And many were kept for minor offences like the possession of a charas cigarette or vagrancy. One had killed a neighbour because he used to tease his sister, but he was the exception.

Not a single child wore shoes. The prison officials had not noticed. The children said that the police ask them to leave their shoes at the police station when they are transferred to a prison. The few chappals ­available in the cells had been borrowed by prisoners who had gone to attend court hearings.

The children had nothing to do the whole day. There was a computer monitor installed on one side of the long room, which was supposedly a ‘TV’ for children in that room. The children at the other end of the room would require a pair of binoculars to watch it from their beds. There were no indoor games. Not a single prisoner had a pillow as the jail officials feared that it could be used to conceal God knows what. Three blankets were provided to each prisoner, one of which could be folded to be used in place of a pillow. The blankets were so hard and prickly that they felt like cacti.

Barefooted and bored, children in Pakistan’s jails await their release.

I asked the jail administrator whether judicial officials visited the prison which they are legally required to do to review cases of petty offenders who could be released on the spot. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that many of them do regularly visit the prison. However, they seldom, if ever, order the release of any prisoners as they do not spend time reviewing their cases. They take a round, have some tea and then leave. Allegedly, some public officials also routinely pick up sacks of vegetables that are grown in the prison as if there is a scarcity of a particular vegetable in the market.

Clearly, there was resentment amongst the prison staff towards these officials as, according to them, the latter do not perform the functions they are expected to do and instead interfere in work which is not their domain.

They, according to the prison staff, do not review the cases of the prisoners and order their release, which is their primary function. Instead, they often touch some item or the other and complain about the dust on it. Once an official complained about the quality of food for prisoners to which the jail official asked him if he was a food inspector. Incidentally, one of the few good things in our prisons is the food that is provided to the inmates. Most of the prisoners probably get better food there than at home.

The judiciary at the moment is flying high. It seems there is hardly any issue which the superior judiciary has not taken notice of or looked into — ranging from corruption, water scarcity, the construction of dams, population growth to the quality of education and health facilities, the rights of trans people, environmental pollution, the grant of land to developers and the removal of billboards.

One should leave it to the readers to decide if any of these problems have been solved or whether intervention has made much of a difference. In fact, a concerted effort is needed by state authorities to concentrate on long-term reforms, as in the sphere of juvenile justice where challenges are manifold and often complex. All are important from a children’s rights standpoint. The Pakistan Penal Code (1860) remained the major law governing crime and criminals in relation to children until the introduction of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (2000). It was replaced last year by the Juvenile Justice System Act. There are many provisions of the PPC and the Criminal Procedure Code (1898), which also continue to apply to children.

What matters most for juvenile justice is whether or not the rights of children are respected when they break the law. The new law now also talks of prevention, diversion and detention, although it does not say much about prison conditions.

Ideally speaking, children should not be in prison and all possible steps should be taken to confine them if needed for the minimum possible period.

This can be prevented, firstly, by the police who arrest them and then send them to prisons. And secondly, it can be tackled by the judiciary releasing the maximum number of children each time an opportunity arises to handle the issue. Both the police and the judiciary have unfortunately failed to handle this important issue in the expected manner — which is from the point of view of the rights of children.

The writer is an advocate of the Supreme Court.
aJ@Jillani.org

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2019