An update..on honour killings
New Law Fails to Curb Honor Killings in Pakistan
Fri May 14, 7:30 AM ET Add World - OneWorld.net to My Yahoo!
Ahmad Naeem Khan, OneWorld South Asia
LAHORE, May 14 (OneWorld) - Honor killings continue in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh despite last month’s landmark court ruling prohibiting them, thanks to lax implementation and unchanging feudal attitudes.
A girl suspected of having an extramarital affair is labeled kari, or tainted woman, while the suspected man is called karo. Those found guilty of this “crime” are sentenced to death.
According to Madadgar, a joint venture of the nongovernmental organization Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) and UNICEF (news - web sites), 1261 cases of karo-kari, or honor killings, were reported during 2003. of these, 930 were committed against women, 316 against men, 8 against girls and 7 against boys.
Providing a break-up of the perpetrators of the crime, Madadgaar says that in 362 cases, the husband was guilty, in 182 it was the brother, in 129 cases it was in-laws, and in 87 cases, the father of the unfortunate woman had her killed.
In April this year, nearly 30 people in Sindh lost their lives in the name of karo-kari. The victims include 18 women and 12 men.
On April 23, the High Court of Sindh province banned the holding of jirgas (tribal juries) throughout the province, and demanded the registration of contempt of court cases against those who violated the judgment.
The judgment stated that while such trials were permitted under the West Pakistan Criminal Law (amendment) Act 1963, the law had been repealed, making the jirga system unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional.
The order was announced by Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery after hearing a petition by a young couple - Shazia Mangi and Ehsan Chachar, seeking court protection against tribal elders.
The couple, who married of their free will, had sought protection after being declared karo-kari by their tribe. The petitioner also asked the court to declare the jirga illegal, unlawful and against the law of the land.
The court observed that the police are duty bound to take appropriate action to prevent the holding of a council within their jurisdiction.
But the rash of killings has not abated after the ruling. In the latest incident, last week two young girls, Tahmeena and Abida, were killed on the orders of a council in Shikarpur town of Sindh, for leaving home without informing their family.
The killing was ordered by the head of the tribe, Abdul Rashid Bhutto, and eight others. Though a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the murderers, no action has been taken against them so far.
On learning about the heinous crime, the Hongkong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appealed to the Pakistani authorities, demanding a thorough investigation and enforcement of the court decision on jirgas. The AHRC has also asked the government to provide compensation and security to the victims’ families.
In another case last month, a man killed his 30 year-old sister Sabhai after taking her home from a women’s shelter home. Prior to this, he appeared before a district and sessions court, where he pledged to look after her.
Sabhai, a resident of Jacobabad district, had fled the village around two months ago after her brother declared her a kari. The police registered a First Information Report on the orders of the Chief Justice of Sindh, who acted on the complaint of an NGO.
District Police officer Kameeso Khan says the officials of the concerned police station were strictly directed to take action against the culprits and bring them to justice. He says they had been warned of disciplinary action if they failed to nab the murderers.
Khan regrets that the perpetrators escape punishment due to lax and discriminatory laws and weak evidence. He says discriminatory laws should be amended to punish the killers.
Syed Shoaib Bukhari, Sindh Planning and Development Minister, says the government will recommend changes in some sections of Pakistan’s Penal Code (PPC) to curb the menace of karo-kari, but only the federal government could take a final decision about amendments in laws on honor killings.
According to lawyer Sohail Raza Aarbi, though Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) clearly states that a “maximum sentence of death penalty will be awarded to killers who commit such crimes in the name of honor, land, woman, revenge or any other reason,” these laws are improperly implemented, and do not include women-related crimes like honor killings.
Aarbi stresses that Pakistan should also review existing laws, including the Hudood, Qisas, and Diyat Ordinances, adding that the government should prohibit all acts of violence against women and establish legal protection.
Madadgaar research revealed that in rural Sindh, a kari or karo is more ritualistically killed and hacked to pieces, often in view of and with the implicit or explicit sanction of the community.
Nongovernmental organization War Against Rape suggests that the police should be made duty-bound to take appropriate action to prevent such trials from being conducted.
Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, the governor of Sindh province, has also promised to end the practice of karo-kari in the province. He remarks that the infamous tradition reflects the cowardice of cruel people and their enmity towards humanity.
Khan says both the home secretary and law secretary have been directed to present the requisite legal rules to eradicate the crime within a week.
