Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Based on the professionals’ narrative, this article examines the impact of policy and practical measures taken by the Government of Sindh (Pakistan) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the rights of juveniles in five detention centres in Sindh. Theoretically, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) did not give due consideration to juveniles’ rights. In practice, prison authorities largely overlooked children’s fundamental rights, such as their right to protection from abuse in the isolated barracks used for quarantine purposes. Children’s rights to play and health, as given in articles 31 and 24 of the UNCRC, were also compromised.

Keywords

child rights COVID-19 detention centres juveniles psychological rights Sindh-Pakistan

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barnert

(2020) COVID-19 and youth impacted by juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Pediatrics 146(2): 1–2.

Barrett

(2019) Child Perpetrators on Trial: Insights from Post-Genocide Rwanda. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bhutta

Siddiqui

(2020) Situation of prisons in India and Pakistan: Shared legacy, same challenges. South Asian Studies 27(1): 171–181.

Buchanan

Castro

Kushner

Krohn

(2020) It’s f**ing chaos: COVID-19’s impact on juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice. American Journal of Criminal Justice 45: 578–600.

Burrell

Wilber

(2021) COVID-19 and California’s detained youth: Vulnerable and overlooked. California Journal of Politics and Policy 13(1): 1–27.

Committee on the Rights of the Child (2013) General comment No. 17 (2013) on the right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts (art. 31). Available at: https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/GC/CRC-C-GC-17_en.doc

Committee on the Rights of the Child (2016) Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Pakistan. Available at: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/835009?ln=en

Committee on the Rights of the Child (2020) CRC Covid-19 statement (2020). Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/crc/pages/crcindex.aspx

Cudjoe

Kwabia

Chiu

MYL

Abdullah

(2021) ‘Adding salt to wounds’: Parentification among children living with parents with mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of social workers. Developmental Child Welfare 3(1): 58–67.

10.

Day

(2021) Children in prison during COVID-19: The new ‘double jeopardy’. Safer Communities 20(2): 57–61.

11.

Defence for Children International (2020) The impact of COVID-19 on children’s rights. Report from DCI sections (Geneva, DCI, 2020). Available at: https://defenceforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DCI-Survey-on-COVID-19-11.pdf

12.

Dworkin

(2012) Sample size policy for qualitative studies using in-depth interviews. Archives of Sexual Behavior 41: 1319–1320.

13.

Express Tribune (2021) Sindh population is 61m: CM. Available at: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2294834/sindh-population-is-61m-cm

14.

Fix

Thompson

Doan

(2024) Is there a mental health wake following the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents in a male juvenile prison? Journal of Research on Adolescence 34(4): 1486–1499.

15.

Forde

Kilkelly

(2023) Children and police questioning: A rights-based approach. Criminology & Criminal Justice 24(3): 648–669.

16.

Ghani

Ayub

Ras

(2022) Innocent until proven guilty: Addressing problem of criminal investigation in Pakistan. Baltic Journal of Law & Politics 15(3): 1193–1208.

17.

Gill

Stewart

Treasure

Chadwick

(2008) Methods of data collection in qualitative research: Interviews and focus groups. British Dental Journal 204(6): 291–295.

18.

Gordon

Klose

Storrod

(2021) Youth (in)justice and the COVID-19 pandemic: Rethinking incarceration through a public health lens. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 33(1): 27–46.

19.

Grinyer

(2002) The anonymity of research participants: Assumptions, ethics and practicalities. Social Research Update 36(1): 1–4.

20.

Gul

(2018) Our prisons punitive or rehabilitative? An analysis of theory and practice. Policy Perspectives 15(3): 67–83.

21.

HRCP (2021) The state of human rights in Pakistan in 2020. Available at: https://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/website-version-HRCP-AR-2020-5-8-21_removed.pdf

22.

HRCP (2023) The ailing prisoner: Accessing to healthcare in Pakistan’s prisons. Available at: https://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2023-The-Ailing-Prisoner-Access-to-Healthcare-in-Pakistans-Prisons.pdf

23.

Human Rights Watch (2022) Pakistan: Make torture a crime. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/23/pakistan-make-torture-crime

24.

Ijaz

(2023) ‘A nightmare for everyone’. The health crisis in Pakistan’s prisons. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/03/29/nightmare-everyone/health-crisis-pakistans-prisons

25.

Janjua

(2021) Eight-year-old becomes youngest person charged with blasphemy in Pakistan. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/aug/09/eight-year-old-becomes-youngest-person-charged-with-blasphemy-in-pakistan

26.

Justice Project Pakistan (n.d.) Policing as torture. Available at: https://data.jpp.org.pk/api/files/1572258710876c5yerseuz7s.pdf

27.

Khan

(2020) Virus strikes Karachi Central Jail leaving a quarter of inmates infected. Available at: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1692966/amp

28.

Khoso

P A

Khushk

G M

(2018) Factors Influencing Juveniles’ Perception of the Police in Karachi, Pakistan. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities 26(1): 59–74.

29.

Khoso

Hussin

(2020) Malaysia’s Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children: A Child Rights Perspective. Otoritas: Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan 10(2): 97–119.

30.

Khoso

Kousar

(2022) Theoretical and practical challenges to stop recidivism among juveniles: Three cases studies of male juveniles in Karachi, Pakistan. Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond 9(1): 79–86.

31.

Khoso

(2023) Challenges for the government school teachers during COVID-19 and tribal conflicts/feuds in Shikarpur district, Sindh, Pakistan. Education and Conflict Review 4: 30–36.

32.

Khoso

(2024) The Problems of Rural Youth: A Case Study on Conflict, Justice, and Resilience in Sindh, Pakistan; Chapter 4. In Shah

T M

(eds) Children and Youth as ‘Sites of Resistance’ in Armed Conflict (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 34), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-466120240000034005

33.

Kilkelly

(2008) Youth courts and children’s rights: The Irish experience. Youth Justice 8(1): 39–56.

34.

Kilkelly

(2023) Child first and children’s rights: An opportunity to advance rights-based youth justice. In: Case

Hazel

(eds) Child First. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 109–133.

35.

Kilkelly

Bergin

(2021a) Advancing Children’s Rights in Detention: A Model for International Reform. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

36.

Kilkelly

Bergin

(2021b) Children’s rights in detention. In: Kilkelly

Bergin

(eds) Advancing Children’s Rights in Detention. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 5–19.

37.

Kilkelly

Liefaard

(2022) International children’s rights principles and responses to serious offending by children: Recent developments, topical issues and global challenges. In: Lynch

van den Brink

Forde

(eds) Responses to Serious Offending by Children: Principles, Practice and Global Perspectives. London: Routledge, 11–26.

38.

Kilkelly

Pleysier

(2023) Rights of the child in the child justice system. Youth Justice 23(2): 135–139.

39.

Kiyani

(2022) US aid and substitution of human rights violations. Conflict Management and Peace Science 39(5): 587–608.

40.

LAW and MRDO (2022) Tracing of juveniles facing / Convicted of offences punishable by death penalty (DP) & life imprisonment (LI). Available at: https://legalawarenesswatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Tracing-of-Juveniles-Full-Book-Web-1.pdf

41.

Lockwood

Viglione

Peck

(2021) COVID-19 and juvenile probation: A qualitative examination of emergent challenges and useful strategies. Criminal Justice and Behavior 50(1): 56–75.

42.

Lockwood

Viglione

Peck

(2023) COVID-19 and juvenile probation: A qualitative examination of emergent challenges and useful strategies. Criminal Justice and Behavior 50(1): 56–75.

43.

Logar

Leese

(2021) Childhood detention during COVID-19 in Italy: Building momentum for a comprehensive child protection agenda. International Health 13(1): 1–2.

44.

Lundy

(2019) A lexicon for research on international children’s rights in troubled times. The International Journal of Children’s Rights 27(4): 595–601.

45.

Lynch

Kilkelly

(2021) ‘Zooming in’ on children’s rights during a pandemic: Technology, child justice and Covid-19. The International Journal of Children’s Rights 29(2): 286–304.

46.

McNair

Ravenscroft

Rizzini

Tisdall

Biersteker

Shabalala

Thwala

Dlamini

Bush

Gwele

Berry

(2022) The impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic in early childhood education within four countries. Social Inclusion 10(2): 160–171.

47.

McNeill-Johnson

(2022) COVID-19: Perspectives from youth in detention (Poster presentation). Available at: https://scholarlyexchange.childrensmercy.org/researchdays/GME_Research_Days_2022/ResearchDay1/3/

48.

Manji

Hanefeld

Vearey

Walls

de Gruchy

(2021) Using WhatsApp messenger for health systems research: A scoping review of available literature. Health Policy and Planning 36(5): 774–789.

49.

Meyer

Franco-Paredes

Parmar

Yasin

Gartland

(2020) COVID-19 and the coming epidemic in US immigration detention centres. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 20(6): 646–648.

50.

Morse

Barrett

Mayan

Olson

Spiers

(2002) Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 1(2): 13–22.

51.

Mugheri

(2020) Lockdown imposed in Sindh for next 15 days; movement restricted to need-only basis. Available at: https://www.dawn.com/news/1542901/lockdown-imposed-in-sindh-for-next-15-days-movement-restricted-to-need-only-basis

52.

Nastasi

Naser

(2014) Child rights as a framework for advancing professional standards for practice, ethics, and professional development in school psychology. School Psychology International 35(1): 36–49.

53.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2012) The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Children/Study/RightHealth/OHCR_Brochure_Report_Health_2012_Eng.pdf

54.

Parker

Meek

Lewis

(2014) Sport in a youth prison: Male young offenders’ experiences of a sporting intervention. Journal of Youth Studies 17(3): 381–396.

55.

Raman

Harries

Nathawad

Kyeremateng

Seth

Lonne

(2020) Where do we go from here? A child rights-based response to COVID-19. BMJ Paediatrics Open 4(1): 3–6.

56.

Research Society of International Law (2021) Mapping Pakistan’s response to COVID-19 in prisons. Available at: https://rsilpak.org/2021/mapping-pakistans-response-to-covid-19-in-prisons/

57.

Rosenthal

Thompson

(2020) Child abuse awareness month during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. JAMA Pediatric 174(8): 812.

58.

Sindh Police (2024) Heinous crime reports: Crime figures of Sindh province for year 2024. Available at: https://sindhpolice.gov.pk/crime-statistics

59.

Sofaer

(1999) Qualitative methods: What are they and why to use them? Health Services Research 34(5(2)): 1101–1118.

60.

SPARC (2020) Chapter: The juvenile justice system. Available at: https://sparcpk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/The-State-of-Pakistans-Children-2020.pdf

61.

State Department (2022) Pakistan 2022 human rights report. Available at: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/415610_PAKISTAN-2022-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf

62.

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and UNICEF (2020) Technical note: COVID-19 and children deprived of their liberty. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/ChildrenDeprivedofLibertyandCOVID.pdf

63.

The Juvenile Justice System Act (2018) The juvenile justice system act. Available at https://lpr.adb.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/pakistan-juvenile-justice-system-act-2018.pdf

64.

The Sindh Prisons and Corrections Services Act (2019) The Sindh prisons and corrections services act. Available at: https://sindhlaws.gov.pk/setup/publications_SindhCode/PUB-NEW-23-000010.pdf

65.

Tisdall

EKM

Morrison

(2023) Children’s human rights under COVID-19: Learning from children’s rights impact assessments. The International Journal of Human Rights 27(9–10): 1475–1491.

66.

UNICEF (2020) Children in detention are at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 and should be released, statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-detention-are-heightened-risk-contracting-covid-19-and-should-be-released

67.

UNICEF (2021) Detention of children in the time of COVID-19. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/media/110196/file/Detention-COVID-Children-2021.pdf

68.

United Nations (1989) Convention on the rights of the child. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx

69.

UNODC (2020) Prisons and pandemic preventive measures in Sindh. Available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan/UNODC_COPAK-Advocacy_Brief_2_Prisons_-COVID-19-Sindh-Revised.pdf

70.

Waldram

(1998) Anthropology in prison: Negotiating consent and accountability with a ‘captured’ population. Human Organization 57(2): 238–244.

71.

Wasilczuk

(2020) Lessons from disaster: Assessing the COVID-19 response in youth jails & prisons. Arizona State Law Journal 2: 221–245.

72.

Whitley

Tastenhoye

Downey

Rozel

(2022) Mental health care of detained youth within juvenile detention facilities. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics 31(1): 31–44.

73.

WHO (2007) Promoting physical activity in schools: An important element of a health-promoting school. Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43733

74.

Wilkinson

Price

Crossley

(2022) Developing creative methodologies: Using lyric writing to capture young peoples’ experiences of the youth offending services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice 8(2): 105–119.

75.

Zemrani

Gehri

Masserey

Knob

Pellaton

(2021) A hidden side of the COVID-19 pandemic in children: The double burden of undernutrition and overnutrition. International Journal for Equity in Health 20(1): 1–4.

The Government’s Policy and Practical Response to Contain the Spread of COVID-19 and Its Impact on Juveniles’ Rights in Detention Centres in Sindh-Pakistan

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References