THE Child Rights Unit of a non-profit organisation, Dastak, has revealed some glaring lapses of the law in its data collected over the past two years on child prisoners in Punjab. First, there are 33 juvenile prisons and two borstals in the province, but children are sent to the district and central jails, sharing space with adult convicts. Second, children under the age of 16 are kept in police custody, despite this being against the law. Third, disturbingly large numbers of child prisoners have complained about torture and abuse at the hands of the police. They are also made to engage in labour, despite it being forbidden. Last, the CRU found children who had allegedly committed offences related to the Anti-Terrorism Act or Control of Narcotic Substances Act being tried under those laws and at risk of being given the death sentence or life imprisonment. Unsurprisingly, the CRU found a lack of knowledge and understanding of the law of the land amongst the very people responsible for implementing it. There was also a lack of vigilance over the visitors who came to see the juvenile prisoners, with some suspecting that members of criminal syndicates are given free access to vulnerable children.

In 2018, the Juvenile Justice System Act sought to improve upon the flaws in the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (2000), and incorporate the spirit of the UN’s Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Our justice system — particularly where it concerns children — must continue to strive towards being more restorative, not retributive. Juvenile detention centres must provide a safe space for children to learn, grow and transform. While the walls of the prison are a less-than-ideal confinement for anyone, children are particularly susceptible to abuse and exploitation. Given that they are not fully developed, to subject them to unfairness at an impressionable age is risking not only the life and future of the child, but society at large. More often than not, broken children grow up to be broken adults.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2019