The conduct of both the administration and the judiciary towards two children – Oishee Rahman and Khadiza Khatun Sumi, who were remanded for their alleged involvement in the killing of Oishee’s parents – clearly demonstrate that the government has done little to make these institutions child-friendly, experts alleged.
Along with government institutions, the media has also failed to respect child rights and behave in a child sensitive manner.
Child rights specialist Sharfuddin Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that this behaviours by different stakeholders towards children clearly showed that neither the government nor the individual institutions had done anything to ensure child rights in the country.
“See, the cabinet approved an act on children on February 25. What is the point of saying that it will be in effect from August 21? Why would it not be in effect from the day the cabinet approved it?” he asked.
Since the Children Act 1974 would be in effect as the existing law till August 21, Oishee would not be treated as a child by the law enforcement agencies.
The Children Act defined a person as a child if s/he is up to 16-years-old. However, the new law defines any person under 18-years-old as a child, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Children.
Earlier, police mentioned Oishee’s age as 16 years. However, in the remand forwarding application they said she was 18. According to her school records, Oishee’s birthday is August 17, 1996. Meanwhile, police said Sumi was 15-years-old.
Oishee and Sumi were remanded on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the killing of Oishee’s parents, Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman.
“We all are to be blamed for the situation which Oishee and Sumi are now facing. If they have committed any offence, obviously the law enforcers need to find it for the sake of rule of law. But it needs to be done with respect towards children."
"The Children Act has a provision for the appointment of probation officers for the juvenile accused. Why did the law enforcers pray for remand instead of a probation officer? The answer is simple: no police officer is actually aware of children's rights, though they are supposed to,” said Sharfuddin, who has been working on child rights for over a decade.
Echoing Sharfuddin, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association Executive Director Salma Ali said, apart from the existing law, there were several judgements over child rights.
“All these judgments from time to time gave directives and orders to the government’s institutions so that they behave with the children in a friendly way and respect them. Unfortunately, none of these High Court verdicts has ever been taken up by the government bodies, particularly the police,” she said.
There is no child-friendly officer at the police stations, despite a 2009 High Court verdict, Salma said.
On September 3 that year, the High Court bench of Justice Md Imman Ali and Justice Md Fazlur Rahman in a verdict said: “Each police station shall have at least two officers, of whom one shall be a female, to deal with cases involving children in contact with the law. That sub-inspector-level officer shall be designated as a Child-Friendly Officer, and will deal with children in conflict/contact with the law. They shall deal with all cases relating to children as far as practicable.”
Any child accused or convicted of any offence is termed a “child in conflict with the law” and any child who is a victim of, or a witness to, any offence are termed “children in contact with the law.”
So far, no such Child-Friendly Officers have been appointed at any police station and as a result, both children in conflict and contact with the law are harassed in different ways including legally, physically and mentally.
By all these flawed and negligible manners of the government bodies, the whole procedure of bringing Oishee and Sumi to book and taking into custody for questioning became “flawed,” Salma observed.
However, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed observed that the police and judiciary must have made their decision after examining the laws.
“Although it is a matter of the home ministry, commenting in this regard is difficult for me,” the minister told the Dhaka Tribune.
Meanwhile, Mizanur Rahman, the chairman of National Human Rights Commission, told bdnews24.com that the remand of Oishee and Sumi was a violation of child rights.