IN a new and damning report, Justice Project Pakistan has noted that at least six convicts, who, as evidence shows, were underage at the time of their crime, have been executed since the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in December 2014. Death Row’s Children asserts that not only do these executions offend the ethos of justice they also expose the state’s alarming and continued violation of national and international legal standards. With at least 10pc of the death-row population comprising juveniles, it is a travesty of justice when vulnerable children are convicted of crimes, as cases in the report demonstrate. In the absence of guidance on how and at what stage to determine the age of an accused person, there is confusion and arbitrariness when cases go to trial. There is no prescribed process under either the PPC or the CrPC to determine age at the time of arrest and during trial, which makes it even more difficult to establish a plea of juvenility. To add, the unwillingness of the superior judiciary to entertain inquiries into age during the appellate stages or even after the appeals process leads to more juvenile executions. This must be redressed through legislative protections. Recording the age of a child — either through birth records, education or medical tests — will determine the extent and severity of punishment. According to the law, the investigating officer must determine the age. For their part, police record age based on cursory visual assessments or witness statements. This means the result can be skewed as investigations are often replete with inconsistencies.

As an inhumane form of punishment — and one that this newspaper does not endorse — the death penalty, in most cases, does not accord the accused child the benefit of the doubt and disallows opportunities for rehabilitation or redemption. This is why, for now, the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000, must be adequately implemented so that young offenders are not treated as hardened criminals. Challenges abound with low birth registration and the lack of sensitisation to juvenile delinquency as demonstrated by law enforcement and the judiciary. The solution is in setting up juvenile courts and providing legal aid and rehabilitation options. Meanwhile, as a signatory to international covenants, parliament should pass a pending juvenile justice bill to ensure complete protection for child rights. Unlawfully sentencing and executing child offenders should not be the norm in a civilised nation.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2017