Participants stress need for safeguarding the most vulnerable

Over 5,000 capital cops to be sensitised about human and child rights.

ISLAMABAD:

A national conference for police officials on human and child rights was held on Thursday as part of a project to sensitise over 5,000 city police officials by December.

The initiative, funded by the European Commission, aims to educate the police on the importance of rights and to bridge the trust deficit between the public and the police.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Chief Law Instructor Khalid Saeed said the judiciary, police and jail administration need to be familiar with the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance in order to protect rights of child offenders. He urged police officials in the audience from Islamabad and other provinces to change themselves first if they wanted to see a change in societal attitude towards them.

Sukkur Special Branch Deputy Inspector General Javed Akhtar Odho recommended a revision of the existing legal framework for the protection of children in police custody. “The police are not provided sufficient funds to provide facilities for children in conflict with the law to safeguard their rights in lock-ups and jails,” said Karak Superintendent Investigation Aslam Khan Khattak.

Sindh Senior Superintendant of Police Khalid Hussain Rind shared success stories of Child Rights Desks established with the support of Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) in the province, where acting on information, the police recovered two children from the custody of human traffickers.

Acting Chairman Senate Sabir Baloch stressed the need to build awareness regarding child rights and emphasised the role of the police in imparting a sense of protection to people, especially children.

The capital’s Inspector General of Police Bani Amin said Islamabad Police had recently taken measures to cultivate a more people-friendly image, including the establishment of Human Rights Cells in police stations.

Children from Revolutionary Roop Theatre performed a motivational play on the role of the police in facilitating the public, particularly girls.

The conference was organised by Plan International, Islamabad Police and SPARC. It was attended by members of civil society, national and international non-governmental organisations, UN agencies and representatives of provincial police departments.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2012.