Universal children's day— a campaign is launched for the ratification of Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on Child Rights

The Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC), on the occasion of   Universal Children's Day, urges for the "Implementation of UNCRC and ratification of Optional protocol on involvement of children in armed conflict." The SPARK has also started a campaign of activities for the implementation of optional protocol along with other civil society organizations, Child Rights Clubs, and Child Rights Movement in Sindh province.

The Optional Protocol to the UN CRC was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2000 and entered into force in 2002. Currently 150 countries have ratified the said Optional Protocol. The need for this Optional Protocol was felt and discussed as article 38 of the UN CRC was not consistent with the protection of children as it mentioned the age of 15 years old not to take part in direct hostilities and not to recruit under 15 years old into armed forces. It has stressed that in the light of definition of a child and in the best interest of the child, that no child under the age of 18 should be allowed to be involved in hostilities, either directly or indirectly and that no child under the age of 18 should be recruited in to armed forces was the conclusion of participants on consultation on implementation UN CRC and optional protocols.

Once states sign or ratify international conventions state parties are bound to make their domestic laws in conformity with international obligations. Furthermore, states are accountable for respecting, protecting and fulfilling those rights even those rights are violated by Non-State Actors.

National and international advocacy can play important role in pressuring countries to implement to become governments to become part of international system while Pakistan wants to become member of Human Rights Council then ratified all core conventions but when it comes to implementation governments are only making pledges and conferences.

Civil society has played its role in monitoring and disseminating information regarding UN CRC. State that ratifies the Optional Protocol must raises "in years" the minimum age of voluntary recruitment, set at 15 in the convention. Also State must take all feasible measures to prevent recruitment and use in hostilities of children under 18 by the armed groups. The State will take legal measures to prohibit and criminalize such practices. After taking all such measures if any person who may have been recovered or released from any such group State will be responsible for taking serious measures to provide assistance, if required, for the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of such persons.

This was the case, as what we have seen in the past when young boys were recovered from militants camps where they were to be trained as suicide bombers. Every child has the right to protection from all forms of abuse and exploitation. The rehabilitation and reintegration of children used as child soldiers is also the right of such children. Pakistan however, has failed to protect the rights of these children and despite the fact that it has signed the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict way back in October 2001 it has failed to ratify it yet. Regrettably, Pakistan, despite being among the first 20 countries to sign and ratify the UN CRC has failed to ratify the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (ratified by 150 countries) .

In case where Pakistan ratify the Optional Protocol on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, Pakistan will have to submit an initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child within two years detailing the steps which Pakistan has taken to ensure that no child under the age of 18 will be involved directly in any kind of hostilities. The age of voluntary recruitment must be raised from 15 years to 18 years and there should be no under 18 compulsory recruitment in to its armed forces.   

UN General Assembly has adopted a new Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) establishing a complaints procedure for violations of children's rights. The new treaty will enable children, or their representatives, claiming that their rights have been violated to bring a complaint to an international committee of children's rights experts if they have not been able to get remedies for these violations in their countries.  

Source  http://www.humanrights.asia/news/forwarded-news/AHRC-FST-053-2012

India arrests 17 Pak fishermen amidst promises of detente

The process of freeing fishermen as a goodwill gesture may suffer a setback after an international network confirmed that Indian coastal border authorities on Monday seized a Pakistani boat—Al-Khair – with 17 crew members on board for allegedly violating maritime boundaries.

A spokesman for the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum claims to have received this information via their international network—World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP). Despite repeated demands from civil society and human rights activists of India and Pakistan to resolve trans-boundary issues, fishermen from both countries continue to get arrested from the open sea, where they go for livelihood purposes.

The fishermen were arrested near Kajir Creek, said to be most dangerous for Pakistani fishermen as they are arrested as soon as their boats reach anywhere close to it.

The WFFP could not ascertain where these fishermen were from or when their boat left the local jetty. However, it is confirmed, the seized boat and crew were brought to Pore Bunder, India, on Monday morning.

33 Indian fishermen held

The Maritime Security Agency (MSA) arrested 33 Indian fishermen and seized five of their boats the other day and handed them over to the Docks police station in Karachi for legal matters.

The MSA said that the fishermen were held for violating maritime borders. They alleged that these boats were found fishing illegally approximately 200 nautical miles inside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Pakistan.

The Indian fishermen had been warned time and again not to indulge in illegal fishing but they repeatedly come in our EEZ to exploit benefits of rich fish resources at the mouth of Indus Delta, said the MSA.

The police have lodged an FIR against the said fishermen.

Fisherman’s body arrives

He left his family for the sea almost a decade ago and returned home dead.

The body of Pakistani fisherman Nawaz Ali Jat, who died in Indian custody last month, was received by his family amid tears when it arrived in his hometown at the Rehri Mayan village situated in the outskirts of Karachi.

He was later laid to rest in Rehri graveyard. His funeral was attended by close relatives and officials from various civil society organizations.

Ali breathed his last on September 8, 2012, at the Civil Hospital, Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. The 32-year old fisherman had gone missing with three of his relatives in a devastating cyclone that hit Pakistan’s coastal area in May 1999.

Nawaz spent 13 years in jail before he expired, while his three relatives are still languishing in jail.“We were waiting for 13 years to receive him alive. But to whom we should blame about this,” said Bachal Jat, a family elder receiving people outside the home on the day of the funeral.

Nawaz was born to a traditional fishing family of Ali Jat at an island village called Khobar Creek, off the Kharo Chhan coastal town of Thatta district.

When the four fishermen from the same family went missing during the cyclone, the families shifted to the house of a relative in Dabla Muhalla of Rehri Mayan village, Karachi in the hope of a better life. They have been living there since.

Bachal said all the relatives are very much concerned about the fate of other three persons, who have been languishing in Indian jail.The deceased’s parents were unable to see his body because of their deteriorated health condition took away their sight..

His home village, Khobar creek, once the main outlet for the River Indus, is now a small island inhabited by a few families, all of them relatives of the deceased.Nawaz is survived by his blind parents, a widow, two young children, and five siblings.

Source  http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-135145-India-arrests-17-Pak-fishermen-amidst-promises-of-detente

Trading allegations

THE Afghan government, clerics and civil society have once again alleged that rockets are fired from Pakistan on villages located near the border area of Kunar, where several people have been killed and injured.

… Afghan religious clerics have demanded that the US play a more effective role in bringing an end to rocket attacks from Pakistani soil.

But Pakistan also has the same complaints: that armed militants frequently enter from Afghanistan into the Pakistani territories and carry out acts of sabotage. Without any provocation, they have killed and injured many Pakistani people, including personnel of the law-enforcement agencies; they have destroyed infrastructure. The Afghan government has further alleged that the Pakistan’s secret agency was behind the rocket attacks and that it will take this issue up in the UN Security Council.

On the one hand, the US has announced the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan the handing over of charge to local-law enforcement agencies. On the other hand, Afghanistan blames Pakistan for attacks on its soil. With the foreign ministers of the two countries meeting recently and discussing bilateral issues, it is surprising that allegations are nevertheless traded openly. It is the duty of both countries to extend full cooperation to each other against the common enemy and serve each other’s interests to overcome the menace of terrorism. In case these countries developed differences, the ultimate result will be in favour of the terrorists

Source  http://dawn.com/2012/08/03/trading-allegations/

Remarks at Afghan Civil Society Event

Let me welcome this wonderful group of men and women from across Afghanistan who are here as part of the Tokyo Conference. We are very pleased that we have the benefit of your experience and your views, and I look forward to our conversation. I want to thank Ambassador Marc Grossman for helping to organize this meeting Ambassador Grossman is our Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and he has been very focused on making sure that the voices of the people are heard, not just the government. Because we know that any lasting peace, any economic development, the opportunities that we have been discussing here at the Tokyo Conference, are only possible if civil society is there to advocate for them.

I also am pleased that Ambassador Ryan Crocker could join us from Kabul. Thank you, Ambassador Crocker. Also with us is Ambassador Melanne Verveer, our Special Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, and Don Steinberg, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. And I am particularly looking forward to hearing from our two representatives of Afghan civil society, Samira and Hiyatula, in a few minutes. 

I want to hear how you believe we can do more to work with you to support open and accountable governance, economic opportunities, and social equality and inclusion. And I want particularly to hear about the challenges that you see ahead. The United States is committed to helping the Afghan people and the civil society groups that you represent, among others, to work toward a secure, independent, and democratic future.

But as we transition to Afghan-led security across your country, we want to make it clear that being strong, sovereign, and independent does not mean being alone. We want to continue to stand with you. The Strategic Partnership Agreement that our President signed in Kabul in early May that is now fully in effect provides a long-term framework for our relationship, sending a clear signal that America’s support will endure. And it outlines the basis for our extensive cooperation over the next decade in fighting violent extremism, strengthening democratic institutions, and protecting human rights.

We have also been very clear – and we just finished a meeting between the Afghan Government and the Pakistani Government – about Afghan-led reconciliation, that it can only happen with groups and individuals who sever ties to al-Qaida, renounce violence, and pledge to abide by the Afghan constitution, including its protections for women and minorities. Reconciliation cannot, must not, come at the expense of the gains you have made in the last 10 years. So we want to be sure your voices are heard. We want to stand up for your rights and we want to condemn extremism and any kind of abuses that affect people and particularly women in Afghanistan.

We also want to support a free press and journalists who hold governments accountable, report the facts about what is happening, and exchange ideas so that better decisions can be made. We also wish to support constitutional and transparent parliamentary and presidential elections. And for us, when we talk about Afghan-led, we don’t mean just the government. We mean the Afghan people.
So with that, let me ask you, please, to translate before we come and hear from our representatives, and then turn it over to all of you.

Source  http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1207/S00296/remarks-at-afghan-civil-society-event.htm

Kashmiri on Death Row Galvanises Opposition to Death Penalty

"Is Afzal Guru really the person that so many Indians supposedly want dead? Or are they taking out their frustrations on an easy target?" asked Human Rights Watch, referring to the death sentence handed down to the Kashmiri man who was convicted of conspiracy in the 2001 suicide attack on the Indian Parliament.

"For many, Afzal bears the burden of representing all those who dare to oppose Indian rule in restive parts of the country, because the attack on Parliament was an attack on India," said the statement by Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia researcher for global rights watchdog HRW.

"Conversely, many Kashmiris would say that Afzal is a freedom fighter, planning an attempt at the symbol of Indian oppression," adds the statement, titled ‘Life, Not Death: Why Afzal Mustn’t Hang’. "Both views are flawed. For this multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural state to survive, Indians have to believe in equal justice for all. And in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, there has been consistent failure to deliver on this promise."

A Kashmiri, supported by a wife who is a doctor and a lone teenage son, Mohammad Afzal, commonly called Afzal Guru, was found guilty of conspiracy in the attack on parliament which killed more than a dozen people. He was given the death penalty, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004.

The sentence was to be carried out in 2006, but the execution was stayed following a mercy plea filed by Afzal Guru.

Although most nations across the globe – a total of 139 – have abolished the death penalty, India continues the practice, as the World Day Against the Death Penalty once again rolled around on Oct. 10.

India joined 53 other countries to vote against the December 2007 United Nations General Assembly moratorium on executions, passed with 104 votes in favour and 29 abstentions. However, Indian judges generally follow the 1983 Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty may be resorted to only in the "rarest of rare cases".

Afzal’s death penalty has not gone down well amongst various quarters in Kashmir. The separatist leaders view it as an unjust step, which would endanger the political situation in Kashmir

"I am completely against execution of Afzal Guru. He didn’t get a fair trial. Hanging him would be pure human rights violation," said Shabir Ahmad Shah, the chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party, a separatist organisation.

He says that Afzal’s hanging could have a negative impact on the situation in Kashmir. "When Maqbool Bhat was hanged in India’s Tihar jail in 1984, it was followed by insurgency. And if Afzal is also hanged, it will as well result in dangerous consequences," Shabir told IPS. "People would surely come on streets and protest against it as no Kashmiri wants his hanging."

The unrest in Kashmir has its roots back in 1947, when Britain granted India independence and the Muslim-dominated areas became part of Pakistan. A U.N. resolution, meantime, gave Kashmiris the option to join either Hindu-dominated India or Pakistan or to become independent. But Kashmiris had no chance to make a choice as their homeland is claimed by both India and Pakistan.

Roughly a third of modern-day Kashmir is administered by Pakistan while the rest is under India. But many Kashmiris challenge this, and protesters living on the Indian side rose up in arms in 1989 in an insurgency that simmers to this day.

Saying Afzal did not get a fair trial, Sajjad Lone, another separatist leader, said intellectuals, NGOs and civil society in general needs to stand up against Afzal’s execution, which he said "will not suit the people of Kashmir."

Hardline separatist leader of Kashmir Syed Ali Shah Geelani warned of "dire consequences" if Afzal Guru is hanged, saying in a statement in August that "it will unleash a storm."

Human rights activists and organisations have also criticised Afzal's death sentence, which they see as a human rights abuse.

"Afzal Guru's case is being adjudicated upon in terms of its politics, not in relation to the violations of process and hearing that have taken place. The death penalty has no place in a democracy," said Angana Chatterji, a professor of social and cultural anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, and the co-convener of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir.

Chatterji says despite the international movement to abolish capital punishment and the 2007 U.N. moratorium on executions, "India continues to impose the (death) penalty. The allocation of capital punishment continues to be influenced by racism, ethnocentrism, and class prejudice, authorising the state to act against a person's right to life."

Kashmir-based human rights activist Khurram Parvez, a co-founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), says the sentence handed down to Afzal was not based on a fair trial.

"If anyone reads that judgment, one would come to know that he was pronounced guilty on secondary evidence. No direct evidence was produced in the court against Afzal Guru," Parvez told IPS.

Citing the Supreme Court sentence, he said it states that "the incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, has shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender."

"When there is no evidence against Afzal, why should he be hanged? To satisfy the collective conscience of society, it appears India needs a sacrifice," Parvez added.

Advocate Faisal Qadri said the death penalty should be abolished in India. "I am completely against the death penalty. It is the worst kind of human rights violation. Humans have no right to kill anyone, even if it is a criminal."

And Qadri argued that in Afzal Guru’s case, capital punishment is completely unjustified: "Even India’s own leading lawyers admit that Afzal was not given a fair trial."

For ordinary people, the sentence handed to Afzal is a manifestation of India’s bias against Kashmiris.

"The Indian system is biased against Kashmiri people…there are scores of innocent Kashmiri youth who are arrested on the basis of mere suspicion and put behind bars for years with no evidence. How can we expect India to be just to Afzal?" said Iqbal (who provided only one name).

"Whenever any Kashmiri is found involved in any wrong act, India has to act in an unjust manner. That has been India's policy towards Kashmir," says Amina Maqbool, a political science student from the University of Kashmir

The HRW statement says the group "unequivocally opposes the death penalty. Guilty or not, we believe that neither Mohammad Afzal Guru, nor (law student) Priyadarshini Mattoo’s killer, Santosh Kumar Singh, nor (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein, nor anyone else, should be executed.

"Taking the life of a human being is inherently cruel, and as a form of punishment is unique in its irreversibility. The intrinsic fallibility of all criminal justice systems assures that even when there is a fair judicial process, innocent persons will still be executed. On a practical level, there is no evidence that it is an effective deterrent," it adds.

Source http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105411

Front Porch: Brian Vogan plays Everett

Kiddie musician Brian Vogan and his band, the Good Buddies, offer a show with indie rock, R&B, country, jazz, rock, 80's pop and classical influences.

They plan to entertain from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday at Thornton A. Sullivan Park at Silver Lake, 11405 Silver Lake Road in Everett. Admission is free.

Vogan is a songwriter, performer and early childhood music teacher in Seattle. His music is inspired by the interests and ideas he gets from the children he teaches, according to his bio.

The audience can bring blankets and chairs. Silver Lake offers a playground next to the stage area, a sandy beach and a designated swim area, picnic tables, restrooms and is ADA accessible.

Mingle with nature: Kids of all ages are invited to join Washington State University's Snohomish County Extension faculty and staff for the fourth annual Forest and Wildlife Fun Day.

This outdoor field day is planned from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE in Everett. The event is free and food will be provided, but participants are asked to register.

The Forest and Wildlife Fun Day will allow kids (and their parents) to explore nature, including excursions to explore the forest, searching for critters in old logs, geocaching, marine life-themed arts and crafts, and examinations of bugs, animal skulls, and other interesting parts of the natural world.

Kids will get to make origami cups in which to grow lettuce.

Source http://heraldnet.com/article/20110725/NEWS01/707259949

Viral messaging: ‘Text messages facilitate productive relationships’

Due to extreme penetration of mobile cellular technology in the country, a policy lab dedicated to innovation in population engagement, has done a case study on Pakistan and how text messages serve as a facilitator of productive relationships, between institutions and the people they serve.

According to the authors of the report, Alex Gilchrist and Jim Linton Williams, one of the reasons they chose Pakistan from a list of countries where SMS and mobile were common, was because there is little civil society engagement.

Viral text messaging is widespread in Pakistan, according to the report, which focuses on the use of two-way SMS communication in the country and explores how Pakistanis use SMS and mobile technology – elaborating on the possible tools available to engage the population and stakeholders of the country.

According to the report, it is common in Pakistan for text messages to be forwarded from one friend to another, without knowing the identity of who sent the message. The reason this is possible is because of the remarkably low cost of text messages in Pakistan, which allows this one-to-one viral transmission to reach a considerable scale.

Report findings also suggest that since mobile phones are approaching ubiquity in Pakistan – and allow low-cost access to all types of community members, “the mobile phone can be an effective tool to communicate with ordinary people in Pakistan, as well as to learn from them, and even collaborate with them.” According to the report, SMS enhances two-way communication among ordinary people. Citing examples of ways in which SMS can be used in Pakistan, include having a community bulletin board where users could receive adverts and announcements, vote on community development expenditures, call for help against domestic violence and also sign a petition.

Apparently, the report suggests that the use of SMS is common across phone owners of all demographics in Pakistan, and although literacy rates in Pakistan present a barrier, illiterate phone users are also SMS savvy. Interestingly so, it is common for such phone users to ask literate relatives and friends to read text messages to them, and sometimes even write text messages for them as well, the report states.

Furthermore, an equal number of men and women have access to mobile phones, through one means or another. However, while, men tend to own a phone or use the phone of a friend or of a public call office, women tend to use a phone owned by an adult male family member.

The writers are waiting to see how civil society organisations react to this report, and say that if their recommendations are looked upon positively, the authors, together with these organisations will try to collect funds to implement these recommendations. According to them, they’d like to carry out a similar report exploring the use of voice based mobile communications.