SPARC - First Ever Children's Parliament of Pakistan Takes Oath

1,446 killed in nine months, says HRCP report

Karachi, December 16, As many as 1,446 people were killed in Karachi from January 8 to October 8, 2008, according to data compiled by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). Amongst those killed included 139 political activists, indicating the extent of heightening intolerance and lack of plurality in the financial hub of Pakistan.

Pakistan: A threat to future of thousands of underage kids

Islamabad, November 30, Increasing domestic child labor, an invisible worst type of exploitation, has become a potential threat to the future of thousands of underage children belonging to poor households who otherwise can become useful members of society.

Call for Revision of Child, Family Laws

Islamabad: November 20: Save the Children on November 19 called for revision of the child and family laws. The launch of the campaign – 20 to 20: Protect Us, Provide Us, Involve Us – coincided with the World Children’s Day marking. The campaign will be rolled out across Pakistan in coordination with public departments and local partner organizations including SPARC.

SPARC Frees Girls from Debt Bondage
Islamabad: November 5: In the posh area of F-11, Islamabad a woman aided by husband had kept three minor girls between the ages 9-15 in debt bondage, untill SPARC intervened. They were not allowed to meet their parents who then approached the ngo for help. A case was filed in the jurisdiction of the local police station where it was found that the woman’s allegation did not have any sound footing. SPARC appreciates the positive role of police officials rendered towards liberating innocent children from a life of misery. and in the jaws of death, she was riddled with bullets. The act was staged before the girl’s father who was specifically brought from a house where he had been under detention for about a year.

Too Early To Tie The Knot

KARACHI November 1: Two confused children, seven-year old Waseem and his four-year old cousin have been sitting in the same room since Thursday night, guarded by policemen. Their hands are brightly decorated with Henna, but their eyes are full of tears. The police have kept them in the room and not allowed them to play.

Merely hours before they were brought in, Waseem and Nisha were wedded by their parents. The Nazimabad police took into custody the two children, and arrested their fathers and Nikah Khawan Qari Gul Hasaan, who conducted the wedding ceremony.

School Administration Faces Death Threats Over ‘Blasphemy’

LAHORE, November 2: A large police contingent guards a Walton Road private school that was closed down several days ago following threats from locals who accuse the administration of blasphemy.

Books printed by the school for classes V and VI included a lesson titled Hero/Role Model, listing six names: the Holy Prophet (pbuh), Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Fatima Jinnah, Abdul Sattar Edhi and Qurban Ali the patron of the school trust – resulting in allegations of blasphemy and threats of murder. A mob led by clerics gathered outside the school shouting slogans calling for the murder of school officials. The school’s 4,000 students had to be evacuated from the campus.

Death Penalty Review Bill This Month: Naik

LAHORE, November 2: The Ministry of Law is planning to review various laws under which capital punishment is awarded in the country, Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik said on Saturday.

The government had decided to review the laws as part of the move to abolish death penalty in the country. Naik said that the review bill would be ready by the middle of November and parliament would pass it by the end of the current month

Children’s Plight

ISLAMABAD: Oct 22: For decades we have ignored the plight of this country’s children who continue to be victims of poverty, exploitation and violence in all its manifestations. In fact, such has been the disinterest in their lot that the government has not been able to make up its mind about the age marking the end of childhood. As pointed out by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), an applicant for the national identity card must be 18 years or older while according to the Employment of Children Act, a child is one who is under 14 years of age. Meanwhile, Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which stipulates that a child is anyone under 18. Without clear thinking on the issue, how can Pakistan hope to legislate and implement reform — in this case the Child Protection Bill that has been pending since 2006 — aimed at protecting children and their rights?

Number of Polio Cases Reported Rises to 81

ISLAMABAD: Oct 18: The fresh polio cases take the number of children incapacitated by the disease so far this year to 81. In the past, most of the polio cases would surface from the NWFP and the FATA due to ineffective immunization campaigns, or no immunization at all. However, now the trend seems to be changing gradually as more polio cases are reported from the Punjab than other provinces.

Four fresh polio cases have been reported from Punjab and NWFP when the much-publicized anti-polio campaign of the government concluded. Three of the four polio victims are from Bahawalpur, Kasur and Okara districts of the Punjab and one from the NWFP.
Despite being administered more than seven oral polio vaccine (OPV) doses, polio symptoms were observed in four children with ages ranging between one to two years.

Cabinet Panel Suggests Drastic Changes in FCR

ISLAMABAD: Oct 14: The Cabinet committee has recommended drastic changes in the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), including allowing the right of appeal against actions of political agents or district coordination officers in some tribal regions. A meeting of the committee, presided over by Law Minister finalized its recommendations for submission to the prime minister.

The FCR, in force in seven federally administered tribal agencies and six frontier regions, basically deals with procedure for settling inter-tribal matters. Instead of its abolition as was hinted by the prime minister in his first speech in the National Assembly, the government would amend some draconian provisions of the FCR, a legal expert observed.

Toxic Milk Kills Four Babies, 53,000 Hospitalized

September 20: China’s tainted milk scandal spiraled into uncharted territory with the government announcing that up to 53,000 children were taken to hospitals after drinking milk thought to have been contaminated by the industrial chemical melamine. Four infants have died in the scandal, which prompted countries to ban or limit Chinese dairy imports. Most had “basically recovered” after developing kidney stones, the main symptom of drinking the tainted milk, but 12,892 of them remained in hospital, a health ministry official said.

Militants Cause Gastroenteritis in Swat Valley

SWAT: 15 Oct: Militants blow up a an electricity sub-station, causing tube wells and the water supply to be disrupted; people resort to using dirty water and then fall sick. This, in a nutshell, is what has happened in parts of Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province. Thousands have descended on Saidu Teaching Hospital (STH) in Swat District complaining of diarrhoea, stomach ache and vomiting over the past few weeks.

Over 2,000 have visited the hospital since 2 October, amid rumours that cholera had erupted in Saidu Sharif, capital of Swat District, about 3km from the city of Mingora, where the grid station was blown up by militants.
Swat Valley has been no stranger to militants, arson attacks and indefinite curfews in the past year, say local residents and observers. (IRIN)