The federal government has sought details from the Peshawar High Court regarding cases of child abuse and juvenile offenders so as to provide information to the United Nations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It is learnt that the UN Committee on the CRC has requested for additional data/information on the reports submitted by the Pakistani government. Under Article 44 of the CRC, Pakistan has to submit reports on the measures it has adopted for implementation of the convention. The convention entered into effect on Sept 2, 1990, and within two years all the state parties had to submit the initial report and thereafter the reports have to be submitted after every five years. The joint secretary, ministry of women development, social welfare and special education, Shaukat N. Tahir has sent a letter to the registrar of the high court a few days back, seeking the required information. The letter states that Pakistan has so far provided two periodic reports which have been reviewed by the UN Committee on the CRC. The letter states that the said committee has requested for additional data in this regard following which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested for the said information. After receiving the said letter, the registrar of the high court, Saleem Khan Minakhel, has asked all the district and sessions judges in the province to provide details in two categories of cases. The registrar has sent circulars to all the district and sessions judges on July 10. The first category of cases included child abuse, including sexual abuse for the last three years including age, gender and type of violation reported. The details included: average duration of case from the time of reporting to a court decision and the proportion of cases in which the victim was removed from his/her family and where he or she was placed; and, number and proportion of victims that have received counselling and assistance in recovery. The second category of cases included: number of juvenile subject to criminal procedures who were sentenced by courts to sanctions and the nature of sanctions (community service, detention, other types of sanctions); number of suspended sentences; and, percentage of recidivism cases. Under the CRC, reports made under article 44 shall indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment of the obligations under the present convention. Reports shall also contain sufficient information to provide the UN committee with a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of the convention in the country. [Dawn]