Child Militant new chapter in rights violations

Child militants new chapter in rights violations

The increasing use of children for militancy in the year 2008 added a new chapter to the violation of children’s rights in Pakistan, a report ‘The State of Pakistan’s Children 2008’ states.The annual report by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) will be made public on the World Day Against Child Labour, which is being marked on Friday (today).The comprehensive 270-page report says the political and economic turmoil in the country adversely affected everyone, but children were the worst off. Almost 30 percent of children under the age of five are malnourished. There are approximately 70 physicians for every 0.1 million people and a mere 1,000 government-run hospitals to cater to the entire population. The report says according to official figures, the number of suicide bombings in 2008 surpassed that in 2007. There were 31 suicide attacks killing 889 innocent people and injuring 2,072 people, including many children. The seven major chapters in the report are on violence, education, health, juvenile justice, disasters, child labour and violence against the media.The report cites a study by the Initiator Human Development Foundation in 2008, saying children studying at religious seminaries also fall victim to sexual violence. Parents from the lower strata of society prefer to send their children to madrassas as compared to formal schooling systems. The study claims seminary teachers sexually abused 21 percent of sample students.The report says about 40 percent schools in the public sector are without boundary walls, 33 percent without drinking water, 56 percent without electricity, 41 percent without lavatories and seven percent without buildings. Considering that a majority of the institutions are located in rural areas with a higher percentage of population residing there, the availability of basic facilities is inadequate. The report says the draft of the Children Protection Bill has been circulating in the corridors of power since 2006 and the same draft is still being reviewed. The draft lays emphasis on setting up national and provincial commissions for the protection of children. It urges that new offences relating to child sexual abuse, child pornography and neglect be added to the child protection laws. It also stresses the need to raise the age when girls can be married from 16 years to 18 years. The report says at any given time, approximately 9,000 to 10,000 children remain in criminal litigation in Pakistan.
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