Pakistani Rape law amendment: divisions in Pakistani Society

[Denny Crane!]

=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Pakistan_Rape_Laws.html

Pakistan rape laws draw mixed reactions

By PAUL GARWOOD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


In this picture released by Pakistani Press Information Department, Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf delivers his televised speech, Wednesday, Nov 15, 2006 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Musharraf praised lawmakers for passing a controversial rape law bill in the Parliament which enraged Islamist lawmakers. Portait of Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah seen on top. (AP Photo/Pakistani Press Information Department,ho)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani lawmakers passed amendments to the country's rape laws Wednesday, ditching the death penalty for extramarital sex and easing a clause on making rape victims produce four witnesses to prove the case.

The amendments enraged Islamic fundamentalists, but won cautious support from human rights activists, who wanted the controversial laws scrapped altogether.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf praised lawmakers for approving the amendments and criticized Islamic fundamentalists for their "unnecessary" opposition and claims that his government was acting against Islam.

"I have taken a firm decision to change these unjust rape laws as it was necessary to amend them to protect women," Musharraf said in a televised address to the nation.

Pakistan's late military dictator, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, introduced the laws, known as the Hudood Ordinance, in 1979 to appease Islamic fundamentalist political groups opposed to the secularization of Pakistani society.

Human rights activists and moderates have long condemned the laws for punishing - instead of protecting - rape victims by placing the burden of proof on them and providing safeguards for their attackers, such as requiring four eyewitnesses to bring rape charges.

The amendments, which Musharraf urged the government-run Senate to approve within days, come amid efforts by Islamabad to soften the country's hard-line Islamic image and appease moderates and human rights groups opposed to the laws.

Hina Jillani, a leading female Pakistani human rights activist, praised the government for taking practical steps to amend the rape laws, but demanded more legislation to protect women's rights.



"The government has made some positive changes by passing this bill, but it does not meet our demands," said Jillani, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "We wanted a total repeal of the 1979 rape law, but the government has not done it."

International and local calls for change intensified after the 2002 gang-rape of a woman, Mukhtar Mai, who was assaulted after a tribal council in her eastern Punjab village ordered the rape as punishment for her 13-year-old brother's alleged affair with a woman of a higher caste.

The amendments include dropping the death penalty and flogging for people convicted of having consensual sex outside marriage and giving judges discretion to try rape cases in a criminal rather than Islamic court. Strict Islamic law dictates that a woman claiming rape must produce four witnesses, making a trial almost impossible.

Consensual sex outside marriage remains a crime punishable by five years in prison or a $165 fine, said a parliamentary official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Pro-Islamic lawmakers stormed out of the National Assembly Wednesday in protest of the new legislation, known as the Protection of Women Bill.

"We reject it," Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a top Islamist opposition leader, told reporters after the vote, which he described as a "dark day" in Pakistan's parliamentary history.

Rahman and other Islamists vowed to devise a strategy to block Senate passage of the bill. Islamic political groups have previously staged mass rallies to denounce moves by the military-led government deemed contrary to Islam.

The amendments were passed by a majority of the 342-member assembly, including Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who said it marked "a historic day" for the country.

"Nothing is against Islam in this bill," Aziz said, adding that the amendments were made in consultation with Islamic scholars, lawmakers and human rights activists.

Discussion on the bill broke down in September after the government failed to win support from opposition Islamic groups, particularly for abolishing the need for four witnesses to a rape.

In a compromise, the government proposed the clause allowing a judge to try cases in either a criminal court or in an Islamic court. The new bill also removed the right of police to detain people suspected of having sex outside of marriage, instead requiring a formal accusation in court.

Ali Dayan Hasan, a South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the Pakistani government had "failed to remove provisions criminalizing adultery" but had provided "partial relief" by repealing the death sentence.

"The Pakistani government remains in violation of its international obligations on ending discrimination against women," Hasan said.

This highlights the opposition Secular Pakistan government faces within its own government and society. To me though it also signifies that there is a strong movement in Pakistan towards Humanist issues and continuing its secular movement towards a just government.

Pete

[Bovril]

Good for Musharaf. Fundementalists everywhere stand for bigotry and oppression, and their defeat in this instance in Pakistan shows how strong the anti-fundamentalist movement has become.
Slowly the world moves towards liberalism; the principle that all actions are allowable so long as they do not harm others, and actions that do harm others are not allowable. And it also move towards the principle of the presumption of innocence, which excludes the absurd idea that you need more than two witnesses to a rape to prove it occured.

I hope that we do not see the ususal anti-Islamic reactions to this thread that are prevalent in the west today. Yes, most of the Islamic world is less liberal than Europe and North America, but that is true of most of the world in general, and the Islamic world is just one part of that general trend.

[Denny Crane!]

Good for Musharaf. Fundementalists everywhere stand for bigotry and oppression, and their defeat in this instance in Pakistan shows how strong the anti-fundamentalist movement has become.
Slowly the world moves towards liberalism; the principle that all actions are allowable so long as they do not harm others, and actions that do harm others are not allowable. And it also move towards the principle of the presumption of innocence, which excludes the absurd idea that you need more than two witnesses to a rape to prove it occured.

I hope that we do not see the ususal anti-Islamic reactions to this thread that are prevalent in the west today. Yes, most of the Islamic world is less liberal than Europe and North America, but that is true of most of the world in general, and the Islamic world is just one part of that general trend.

This is a clear sign that it is moving towards more western ideas as well.

It points out in this article that these laws were only introduced to appease fundamentalists who were protesting Pakistans move towards secular society.

Peter

[Lavastein]

i think its funny that they call it a "dark day". The day their darkness is being put out.

[Idwayreth]

Good, that guy had some balls and finally realized women are human beings too.

[Rhah]

This is very good news, and Kudos to Musharraf. How those fundamentalist morons can actually defend a law that is so absolutely abhorent is beyond me. Sick ******. A law like that is almost a license to commit rape.

Unfortunately, this will probably be another nail in Musharraf's coffin. Expect him to be assassinated very soon


edit*

Here's some more on this, from the BBC Site
Seems the 'mentalists are not too pleased.

Islamists debate rape law moves

Qazi Hussain Ahmed (r) of the MMA boycotted Wednesday's debate
Pakistan's opposition Islamic alliance, the MMA, is threatening country-wide protests over amendments to the country's rape laws.
The six-party alliance has been meeting in Islamabad after the national assembly voted that rape should no longer fall under Sharia law.

President Pervez Musharraf in a television speech said the Islamists were isolated on the issue.

The Sharia laws have been widely criticised by human rights groups.


The lower house of the parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to amend the controversial Sharia law that dates back to 1979.

Until now, rape cases were dealt with in Sharia courts. Victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - if not, they faced prosecution for adultery.


'US pressure'

Under the amended law, the civil courts will be able to try rape cases according to the British-influenced penal code.

The MMA parties boycotted the vote, saying the bill encouraged "free sex".

They also accuse President Musharraf of pleasing foreign powers.


"This bill has been brought under the directions of the United States and implemented by their representative in Pakistan, General Musharraf," Liaquat Baloch, an MMA leader, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

In its Thursday meeting, the MMA is expected to discuss whether to resign en-bloc from the parliament.

The MMA found themselves politically isolated by the vote.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) voted for the amendment.

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), led by another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, abstained, although it had indicated earlier that it would support the MMA on the issue.

Both the leaders are bitterly opposed to President Musharraf's government and the military's role in politics.

The two parties are partners in the opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) that seeks to oust the president.


The ARD and MMA have occasionally joined forces in anti-government campaigns, and both have been working towards a grand anti-Pervez Musharraf alliance.

But the BBC's M Ilyas Khan says the amendments to the rape laws could drive a wedge between the opposition forces.

Analysts now indicate a re-alignment of political forces ahead of the national elections, expected towards the end of 2007.

Some say the situation, which seemed to be leading to a face-off between the military and the civilian leadership, may now transform into one that pits the Islamists on one side, faced up against the secular political parties and President Musharraf, who argues for a goal of moderate Islam.

But others discount chances of political collaboration between Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto.

Attempts to pass a new bill failed in September in the face of angry opposition from the Islamists as well as some sections of Gen Musharraf's political allies.

The version of the Women's Protection Bill put before legislators then caused such an outcry that parliament was prorogued.

But the MMA's top leader in parliament, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, was rather subdued in his opposition of the proposed legislation when it was tabled on Wednesday, media reports said.

A hardline MMA leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, did not attend the session at all.

Under the amended bill, rape cases will be tried in civil courts

Adultery, which has always been illegal, will still be tried by both civil and Sharia courts, depending on which system the complainant chooses.

Religious parties called the new legislation "a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country", and against the strictures of the Koran and Sharia law.

The government has said that some of the MMA's proposals had been included in the bill.