At least 80 children of incarcerated parents in Punjab are currently living in prisons, while the figure is close to 180 for prisons across the country. This was revealed by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) National Program Manager Abdullah Khoso at a consultative meeting on the issues of children of incarcerated parents in Lahore on Thursday.
Khoso revealed that around 234 children of incarcerated parents were living in prisons in 2010.
The program manager, who recently participated in a consultation by the Commission on the Rights of Child in Geneva, said that Rule 326 of Pakistan Prison Rules stated that a woman offender in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa can keep her child till the age of six years, while in Balochistan the provision was for up to three years.
SP Shahida, from the Police Department, said that the police should trained to ensure that no parent is arrested in front of their child and that the officials should make a personal effort in trying to ascertain whether there are any children in the house when an arrest in being made.
“What is unfortunate in police stations is the fact that entire families of the accused are brought in for questioning including children,” she said. She added that if an investigation required questioning a child, it should be conducted in the presence of social welfare officers.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) General Secretary IA Rehman said it was in the best interest of the child that he or she are not kept in the prison along with their parents.
Rehman added that bail should be mandatory for women who are pregnant or are mothering an infant. He stressed on the need for incorporating non-custodial methods in the judicial system, to ensure that the rights of children whose parents are imprisoned are not violated.
Punjab Law Department Deputy Secretary Abid Reza said the core issue was the violation of the rights of the child.
Reza said the Home Department and the Social Welfare Department should send their recommendations to the Law Department for policy making.
Rao Khalil from the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau said the willingness of the imprisoned mother to give up her child to alternate care was a matter of great concern which required both counseling for mothers and suitable alternate child care. He said pre-arrest and post-arrest data should also be collected.
Arshad Mehmood, Executive Director at SPARC, said despite Pakistan being the first Islamic country and the sixth in the world to have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children were highly neglected in the country. Mehmood said currently there were almost 1,200 to 1,300 women in prisons across Pakistan, out of which almost 850 were Punjab. He added that considering the statistics in Punjab, it was unfortunate that only four female probation officers were present for women offenders.
Members of the Punjab Assembly, including Arifa Khalid and Deeba Mirza, were also present at the meeting. Khalid, while addressing the gathering, said there was a need to train politicians in order to consider the technical details of issues pertaining to children of incarcerated parents.
The participants recommended the use of the probation system for women with young children, along with bail and parole provisions, and those who are solely responsible for taking care of their children.
Other participants at the meeting included representatives from the Ministry of Human Right and various NGOs including SAHIL, Sanjog, and SOS Villages.
Khoso revealed that around 234 children of incarcerated parents were living in prisons in 2010.
The program manager, who recently participated in a consultation by the Commission on the Rights of Child in Geneva, said that Rule 326 of Pakistan Prison Rules stated that a woman offender in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa can keep her child till the age of six years, while in Balochistan the provision was for up to three years.
SP Shahida, from the Police Department, said that the police should trained to ensure that no parent is arrested in front of their child and that the officials should make a personal effort in trying to ascertain whether there are any children in the house when an arrest in being made.
“What is unfortunate in police stations is the fact that entire families of the accused are brought in for questioning including children,” she said. She added that if an investigation required questioning a child, it should be conducted in the presence of social welfare officers.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) General Secretary IA Rehman said it was in the best interest of the child that he or she are not kept in the prison along with their parents.
Rehman added that bail should be mandatory for women who are pregnant or are mothering an infant. He stressed on the need for incorporating non-custodial methods in the judicial system, to ensure that the rights of children whose parents are imprisoned are not violated.
Punjab Law Department Deputy Secretary Abid Reza said the core issue was the violation of the rights of the child.
Reza said the Home Department and the Social Welfare Department should send their recommendations to the Law Department for policy making.
Rao Khalil from the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau said the willingness of the imprisoned mother to give up her child to alternate care was a matter of great concern which required both counseling for mothers and suitable alternate child care. He said pre-arrest and post-arrest data should also be collected.
Arshad Mehmood, Executive Director at SPARC, said despite Pakistan being the first Islamic country and the sixth in the world to have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children were highly neglected in the country. Mehmood said currently there were almost 1,200 to 1,300 women in prisons across Pakistan, out of which almost 850 were Punjab. He added that considering the statistics in Punjab, it was unfortunate that only four female probation officers were present for women offenders.
Members of the Punjab Assembly, including Arifa Khalid and Deeba Mirza, were also present at the meeting. Khalid, while addressing the gathering, said there was a need to train politicians in order to consider the technical details of issues pertaining to children of incarcerated parents.
The participants recommended the use of the probation system for women with young children, along with bail and parole provisions, and those who are solely responsible for taking care of their children.
Other participants at the meeting included representatives from the Ministry of Human Right and various NGOs including SAHIL, Sanjog, and SOS Villages.
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