New Delhi: Amnesty International has flayed Pakistan for violating rights of children and said around 4,500 children were currently in jail with more than 3,000 of them not even convicted of any offence and children are even sentenced to death in violation of international norms.

"Children can sometimes spend several months or even years in detention simply because their families cannot afford to pay for their bail. Once they eventually get to trial, conviction rates are as low as 15-20 per cent," Amnesty International said in its latest report on the treatment of children by the justice system in Pakistan.

Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and introduced domestic measures, such as the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) which came into force in 2000, as part of efforts to fulfill the obligation to protect the rights of children who come in conflict with the law.

"However, widespread lack of awareness and failure to implement these measures mean that the rights of children in police custody or prison in Pakistan are often neglected," Amnesty International added.

The JJSO does not allow a court to hear children and adult cases the same day and this happens regularly. This results in children, including first-time offenders, being transported and held in lock-ups with adults where they are at the risk of abuse in violation of law.

The handing down of the death penalty to children is strictly prohibited by both international Human Rights law and the JJSO, but children continue to be sentenced to death in Pakistan.

PTI