PESHAWAR, Dec 26: With 412 juvenile offenders languishing in prisons in the province, 124 have been released on probation during the last three months.

The inspector-general of prisons, NWFP, Abdur Rauf, informed a seminar here the other day that of the 412 imprisoned offenders, 347 were under trial and 65 were convicts.

He said the provincial government was keen to establish borstal institutions here and in Bannu. He said there was no separate prison for juvenile offenders and they were kept in enclosures in normal prisons.

The seminar on “Juvenile justice system and Juvenile Justice System Ordinance,  2000” was arranged by Dost Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Wife of the NWFP governor, Shamim Iftikhar, who was the chief guest, said the country had ratified the International Convention on the Rights of  Child, which spoke of the nation’s commitment to ensuring juvenile justice and protecting their rights.

She urged the society to join hands for the reformation and rehabilitation of juveniles in conflict with the law. “Nobody is born a criminal but it is the society which compels him to resort to criminal  acts due to many reasons, including ignorance, frustration, poverty, deprivation and denial of their rights and access to justice,” she remarked. She said Islam laid stress on the protection and look after of  the children.

She said juvenile offenders were languishing in jails for petty crimes but nobody was taking care to rehabilitate them. She urged the people and organizations dealing with law and justice to play their role in ensuring juvenile justice.

Peshawar High Court Bar Association President Asadullah Chamkani said that in view of the concessions given to juvenile offenders, people had been instigating their minor relatives for killing their rivals.

He said there were various flaws in the JJSO, 2000, as under it joint trial of a juvenile offender could not be conducted with an adult accused. In such circumstances, trial of an offence would be conducted twice, with the witnesses appearing twice, and there might be conflicting judgments.

The speakers said the detention of juvenile offenders should be avoided unless there was no other option it should be for the minimum possible time.