The National Assembly on Wednesday passed the ‘Zainab Alert, Recovery, and Response Bill, 2020′, aimed at raising alert as well as taking timely action for the recovery of missing and abducted children.
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari moved motion for the bill to be considered as passed by the Senate with amendments. The House passed the motion and considered the bill as reported by Senate.
Under the legislation, investigations pertaining to all cases of kidnapping, rape and murder of minor children will be required to be completed within three months. The law will raise the required alerts and initiate adequate responses for the recovery of missing, abducted, abused or kidnapped children in Pakistan. It would also help provide a speedy system for the alerts, responses, recoveries, investigations, trails and rehabilitation to prevent and curb child abuse.
The bill is set to ensure harmonisation and cohesion in the workings of the new agencies and institutions established for the protection of children and already existing mechanisms within the field. According to the bill, the maximum sentence handed down to child sexual abusers will be life imprisonment, with a Rs 1 million fine while the minimum sentence would be 10 years.
It suggested that Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA) will be established, headed by a director-general who would be appointed by Prime Minister Imran Khan in such manner and in such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in the rules. It demanded that the ZARRA’s management staff should be suitably equipped with skills of managing databases, conducting planning and monitoring of programs, analyzing data, preparing reports, and coordinating with all other officers.
It suggested that the ZARRA work closely with the 1099 helpline or such other helpline operating under the mandate of the Division concerned. In this regard, the helpline shall forward complaints relevant to the mandate of ZARRA, which shall be acted upon in partnership between ZARAA and the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) established under the National Commission on the Rights of Child Act, 2017.
The bill also proposed taking action against police officials who cause unnecessary delay in investigating such cases, adding that those who fail to respond to the alert within two hours may also face action. The local police and relevant law enforcement agencies shall on receipt of information take immediate action and launch investigation, search, rescue and recovery operations.
ZARRA shall, wherever required, coordinate the efforts of the relevant police stations and other federal and provincial agencies, authorities or departments. Upon receiving information that a child is missing, the officer in charge of a police station shall reduce the same into writing in the same book and in the same manner as prescribed for a cognizable offense under section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and shall be under duty to cause investigation of the same and recover the missing child and also ensure that the required information in Schedule A to this AC, is made part of the complaint.
Mazari, in this regard, thanked all the political parties for the supporting the bill. “I am pleased that all the political parties have supported the bill,” she said. “I am also thankful to the Human Rights Committees of Senate and National Assembly for their support,” she added.
