
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan director IA Rehman said that it was generally in the best interest of the child that it not be kept in prison along with its parents. Rehman added that bail should be made 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 rights of children whose parents are imprisoned are not violated.
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 recommendation 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 is a matter of great concern which requires both counselling for mothers and suitable alternative child care. He said pre-arrest and post-arrest data should also be collected and analysed.
SPARC Executive Director Arshad Mehmood 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 are highly neglected in the country. Mehmood said currently there are between 1,200 and 1,300 women in various prisons in Pakistan out of which almost 850 are in the Punjab. He added that it was unfortunate that these were only four female probation officers in Punjab for women offenders.
MPAs including Arifa Khalid and Deeba Mirza were present at the meeting. Khalid said there was a need to train politicians so they can take into account the technical details of issues pertaining to children of incarcerated parents.
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