March 26, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 22, 1424

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PESHAWAR, March 25: The Juvenile Justice Network (JJN), a body formed by various non-governmental organizations working for child rights, has urged the NWFP government to extend the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000, to tribal areas to protect the rights of the  children languishing in prisons.

According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the JJN has pointed out that many children, in the areas, below the age of eighteen were denied the relief offered by the ordinance.

The JJN demanded of the government to grant equal rights to the juveniles in the tribal areas, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Peshawar High Court had designated the district and sessions courts, in the NWFP, as Juvenile Courts in May 2002, but the JJSO was yet not extended to the tribal areas.

 The extension of the ordinance to the tribal areas will help the juveniles in their release, expedite their bails and will be supportive in abolishing the capital punishment for the juveniles involved in different cases. The statement said that extension of the JJSO will not put any extra financial burden on the NWFP government.