Pakistan
Contents
I. Ranking in Human Rights Violators Index: 5th
II. Political Freedom
III. Human rights violations by the security forces
a. Arbitrary, summary and extrajudicial executions
b. Arbitrary arrest and illegal detention
c. Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment
IV. Judiciary and administration of justice
VII. Freedom of the press
VIII. Violations of the rights of the
minorities
IX. Violence against women
a. Restrictions on participation in public life
b. Violence in the name of cultural
practices
I. Ranking in Human Rights
Violators Index: 5th
Ruled by quasi-military dictatorship of President
General Pervez Musharraf,
II. Political Freedom
Repression of the political opponents by the ruling
parties has been a part of the military regimes. Thousands of activists of the
opposition
The administration of President Pervez Musharaff
continued to deny the right to freedom of association and assembly to the
opposition political parties. On 31 March 2005, police baton charged and
arrested two leaders, Dr Arshad and Malik Muhammad Husain, Nazim of New
Satellite Town, and about 18 activists of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)
from the Shaheen Chowk in
On 13 April 2005, Punjab Police reportedly launched
a crackdown against activists and leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
in
On 15 April 2005, Pakistan People’s Party claimed
that over 50,000 of its activists, including women, were arrested all over the
country and the army had been deployed in Sindh to block the super highway to
prevent the PPP workers and supporters from welcoming Asif Ali Zardari, husband
of former prime minister and chairperson of the PPP, Benazir Bhutto, at the
Lahore airport on 16 April 2005. Besides, the party offices were sealed in
Raja Asad Khan, a Member of National Assembly (MNA)
of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party from Jhelum alleged in September 2005
that the government had implicated him and his family members in a murder case
because he did not defect to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.[7]
The arrest, detention and torture of political
activists continued throughout 2005.
Local elections were held in August-October 2005
but these were not free and fair. Ruling party contestants allegedly harassed
the opposition contestants. They forced the opposition contestants to withdraw
nominations[8]
and many were implicated in false cases for not doing so.[9]
Many opposition leaders were kidnapped to prevent
them from contesting elections. On 17 September 2005, the joint opposition
consisting of the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and MMA leaders
demonstrated outside the Lahore Press Club in protest against alleged
kidnapping of their candidate for
On 15 September 2005, proposer Syed Shabbir Shah
and seconder Aziz Soomro of PPP’s Awam Dost candidate for Nazim district in
Thatta, Arbab Muhammad Din, were allegedly kidnapped by ruling party thugs to
cause rejection of nomination of Mr Din. Their absence on the day of scrutiny
of the nomination papers due to the kidnapping led to rejection of Mr Din’s
nomination.[11]
On the night of 4 December 2005, nine political
leaders including Attaullah Qasmi, the former Pakistan ambassador to Norway, Dr
Farid Parracha, Khwaja Saad Rafique, a PML-N leader, Habibullah Shakir, a
Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians leader, Chaudhry Mumtaz Ahmad Jujja,
Samiullah Chaudhry, a member of Punjab Assembly, Sohail Warrich, Hassan Murtaza,
PPP Bahawalnagar district president, Aqeel Najam Hashmi were arrested under the
Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance for speaking against the army at
the launching ceremony of renowned journalist and Geo TV anchor Sohail
Warraich’s book, Generaloon Ki Siyasat, The Rule of Generals.[12]
Proceeding in a writ petition by former union
council nazim, Naimat Ali, a political rival of the NWFP Chief Minister Akram
Khan Durrani, challenging his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order
Ordinance, on 31 August 2005, a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court
comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Jehanzeb Raheem ruled that
the provisions of Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance could not be invoked in
an arbitrary manner without sufficient material on record against a detainee.[13]
III. Human rights violations by
the security forces
Security forces were responsible for serious human
rights violations including torture, rape and extrajudicial executions, with
virtual impunity. About 600 suspected terrorists were detained incommunicado
under anti-terror laws since September 2001 and hundreds were handed over to
the
a.
Arbitrary, summary and extrajudicial executions
The security forces were responsible for a large
number of extrajudicial executions. Many victims were killed because of
indiscriminate use of fire-arms by the security forces.
On 16 January 2005, a civilian identified as Farooq
died in arbitrary firing by a police constable posted at Pak Colony in
Inability to pay bribes and extortion demands
proved fatal. In early June 2005, Assistant Sub-Inspector Hafeez Rind and
police constables Mushtaq Rind and Mehar Ali Shahi of Buchheri police post,
Daur police station reportedly shot dead Rustam Ali Sehto, a PCO owner in
Buchheri town for demanding the money for the telephone calls made by the
assailant policemen.[16]
A few cases of extrajudicial executions were taken
up before the courts. On 28 January 2005, the district and sessions judge,
Khairpur issued notices to the District Police Officer of Sukkur, Town Police
Officer, three Station House Officers and a doctor of the Sukkur Civil Hospital
to appear in the court on 3 February 2005[17]
in a case of alleged extrajudicial execution of Shah Dost and Kariman on 18
January 2005 in indiscriminate firing.[18]
In another incident on 28 March 2005, the Lahore
High Court ordered a Deputy Superintendent of Police to book 17 officers,
including Station House Officer, Gulam Sarwar, Sub-Inspectors Muhammad Inayat,
Muhammad Imanat, Mehdi Khan, Shaukat and Shafiq and Assistant Sub-Inspectors
(ASIs) Ijaz, Rashid, Arshad Cheema, Muhammad Tufail and Khadim Hussain for
alleged extrajudicial execution of Ghulam Mustafa on 2 March 2005.[19]
In a few cases, court interventions resulted into
the arrest of the accused police personnel. On October 2005, the court ordered
the arrest of four policemen- Sub Inspector Tahseen Ahmed, Assistant Sub
Inspector Shamas, Head Constable Zulfiqar and Constable Abdul Sattar of Khosar
police station in
On 8 September 2005, Additional Sessions Judge
Shaukat Iqbal ordered exhumation of the dead body of Daawat-i-Islami leader,
Naeem Mehmood Qadri who was allegedly tortured to dead and secretly buried by
the police. Medical examination reportedly confirmed physical torture. The
deceased was picked up by a police team led by ASI Mohammad Aftab Baig from
Rahamania police check post in Mandi Bahaudding district of Punjab on 20 May
2005.[22]
Departmental inquiries were ordered in a number of
cases of alleged extrajudicial executions including execution of one Anees, a
garment trader in Rampura on 28 July 2005 by six policemen from Batapur police
station in
An autopsy on the body of Sajid Ali who was
arrested and detained at Machiwal police station in Vehari district of Punjab
on 27 May 2005 reportedly confirmed marks of torture on the chest, shoulder and
foot. The four accused policemen- SHO Rana Tanveer and constables, Haq Nawaz,
Imam Ali and Bagh Ali were reportedly suspended.[24]
Police also used disproportionate force while
arresting people. In late November 2005, a team of policemen from Gujjarpura
police station in
b.
Arbitrary arrest and illegal detention
Arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention were common
in
The courts in
However, the situation did not improve despite such
stringent orders of the courts as the executive continued to abuse their
powers. On its part, the federal and provincial governments in
The High Courts and the lower courts played crucial
role to appoint bailiffs to raid the police stations to rescue the detainees.
The number of judicial interventions to raid the police stations in
On 16 February 2005, Tariq Hashmani, a bailiff
appointed by the sessions court in
On 9 March 2005, the district and sessions judge of
Moro ordered registration of an First Information Report (FIR) against the SHO
of Moro police station for wrongful confinement of Ayaz, son of Qadir Bux
Soomro of Moro in Noushero Feroze district of Sindh province. Ayaz was arrested
and detained without any charge. Second judicial magistrate of Moro, Mr
Zafarullah Solangi, raided the Moro police station on the directives of the
district and sessions judge, and found Ayaz there in unlawful detention.[29]
On 14 March 2005, the Lahore High Court set free
Waheed-ur-Rehman after a bailiff recovered him from the custody of Kot Lakhpath police station in
On 21 March 2005, police from Noor Shah registered
a case of kidnapping, torture and violation of the Police Ordinance-2002
against an Assistant Sub-Inspector, Muhammad Ashraf, and five constables of
Tandlianwala police station at the orders of the Lahore High Court. The police
personnel entered the house of Thiraaj in Bothna village in Sahiwal of Punjab
on the night of 4 December 2004 and allegedly beat the women and looted
valuable from the house and took away one Thiraaj. A bailiff appointed by the
Lahore High Court recovered Thiraaj on 13 December 2004 from police custody and
a medical examination confirmed his torture in custody.[31]
In April 2005, the Lahore High Court appointed a
bailiff who recovered 12 detenues from Sabzpir police lock-up. The police could
not show the record of their arrest and no FIR was registered against any of
them either.[32]
In May 2005, the Lahore High Court directed the
District Police Officers at Chakwal and Hafizabad to register criminal cases
against Assistant Sub-Inspector Khurshid Baig of Hafizabad Sadar police.[33]
A bailiff appointed by the Court raided the police station and rescued Jaffar
Ali, Riasat Ali and Liaquat Ali, Akmal Husain, Shaukat Ali, Saifullah and
eight-year old Mohammad Tufail from illegal detention. The bailiff also
reported to the court that the Hafizabad officers, ‘moharrar’ Deedar Husain,
ASI Khurshid Baig and constable Mukhtar misbehaved with him and that the SHO
did not turn up to show him the official record. The police record had no entry
of the arrest of the seven persons.[34]
Civil judge-II of Sinjhoro, Syed Abdul Qayoom Shah
reportedly found seven detainees - Dilbar Shar, Sattar, Abdul Sattar Brohi, Yousuf
Brohi, Ghulam Rasool, Ali Hassan and Sain Bux[35]
- in illegal confinement at Jhol police station in Sanghar district of Sindh
during a raid on 23 May 2005. The judge had raided the police station upon
repeated complaints that a large number of innocent persons were being arrested
in connection with the Photo Mari murder case and were being released after
taking bribes.[36]
In May 2005, a bailiff appointed by the district
and session judge rescued Fatima and Zulekhan from Shah Jewna police post after
a raid by the police led by ASI Javed Iqbal from Chak Daulat Khan under
Qadirpur Police station in Jhang district of Punjab. After recording the
statement of the two women, the judge ordered the arrest of the accused police
officers.[37]
In October 2005, a raid commissioner appointed by
the Sindh High Court found one Asghar Khoso, a resident of Mehar town, in
wrongful confinement after being picked up by SHO of Mehar police station Abu
Bakar Chandio, and in-charge of Baledai police post Rafique Khoso in Lakarna district
of Punjab. The accused police officers were suspended and a case was registered
against them on 25 October 2005 on the directive of the Sindh High Court,
Larkana circuit bench.[38]
The courts also ordered the arrest of many police
officers. With regard to the illegal detention of Munawwar Ali, the second
additional sessions judge-II of Khairpur, Sindh, ordered registration of an FIR
under section 364, 342 F-I PPC against Khuhra police out-post in charge, ASI
Hakim Ali Jalbani, and seven other police personnel on 23 February 2005.[39]
In early March 2005, Lahore High Court set free
Tahir, Qayyum, Mazhar, Imanat, Ansar, Qurban, Rehan and Saddiqui from illegal
detention and ordered the arrest of the accused police officers- Lal Muhammad,
Station House Officer, Iqbal Bhutta, investigation officer, and Abdul Ghafar,
sub inspector, from the courtroom.[40]
On 31 October 2005, Lahore High Court ordered the
arrest of Sub-Inspector Raza Husain and registration of a case of kidnapping
against him and seven others for unlawfully arresting one Talib Husain, s/o
Fateh Muhammad of Kot Khadim Ali Shah in Sahiwal district of Punjab.[41]
In another case, on 10 November 2005, the Lahore High Court ordered the Sialkot
police to register criminal cases against three officials of Daska police
station in Sialkot distict of Punjab viz., inspector Tariq Mahmood and
sub-inspectors, Munawwar Husain and Zulfiqar Ahmad for framing Arshad Mahmood
in a false drug trafficking case, unlawfully detaining and torturing him.[42]
c.
Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment
Torture is prohibited under
Yet, numerous instances of torture by security
forces including sewing of lips of detainees were reported in 2005. As many as
1,100 cases of police torture were reported throughout
In the early hours of 17 July 2005, ASI Abad Khan
and seven other police officials from Hala police station in Nawabshah district
of Sindh allegedly barged into the house of one Mukhtar Ahmed in Hala and
thrashed him and his family members including women and children. Mukhtar
Ahmed’s mother, Sharifan 70, died on the spot due to alleged police torture.[44]
In a case of beastly torture, police officials of
Vehari police station of
In yet another case of similar beastly torture, in
October 2005, Mazhar Waheed, Deputy Superintendent of New Central Jail Multan,
allegedly sewed the lips of Ijaz alias Chiri just before he was scheduled to be
produced before the court in Khanewal in
On 3 June 2005, ASI Allahditta of North Cantonment
police station in
On 8 July 2005, Noorshah police, at the orders of
the district and sessions judge, reportedly registered a case against Bahadar
Shah police post in-charge SI Raees Ahmed, along with his three accomplices
Qalab Ali, Iqbal and Amir for abducting and detaining two brothers at a ‘forced
labour camp’. The four allegedly picked up two brothers Naseer Ahmed and Farid
Ahmed from Bhhuhar village under Noorshah police station in Sahiwal district of
Punjab on 25 January 2005. The police detained the brothers in police lockup
and subjected them to physical torture. Later, they were handed over to three
Pukhtoons, who took them to a forced labour camp, where they subjected them to violence,
and rigorous labour.[50]
While one of the brothers, Naseer somehow managed to escape from the labour
camp, Farid fell unconscious due to torture and hard labour.[51]
The police did not spare even women in an advanced
stage of pregnancy. On 17 July 2005, the police raided Alam Khan’s house under
Banamari police station in
IV. Judiciary and administration
of justice
The Supreme Court of Pakistan had been blamed for being subservient to the
political establishment especially validating the military regime and giving
judgements that failed to resolve deadlocks over important constitutional
matters.[53]
In September 2005, the Supreme Judicial Council
formed a committee comprising
In 2005,
Judicial delay was rampant. As of August 2005,
there were as many as 0.2 million pending cases in the courts across
The Access to Justice Programme introduced in 2001
reduced the numbers of pending criminal cases in the districts where it was
implemented.[60]
However, the lack of facilities and personnel such as judges, and police guards
and vans to transport the under-trial prisoners to and from court and the
frequent adjournments had been causing judicial delay and contributing to the
overcrowding of prisons.[61]
On 18 January 2005, Afzal Haider, an accused booked
in as many as 17 cases, mostly under section 17(3) and 14 of Enforcement of
Hudood Ordinance and for robbery in different police stations in
The conduct of some subordinate judges was found
questionable.[63]
In August 2005, Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
suspended Civil Judge Khair Mohammad Solangi and Judicial Magistrate Lakhi
Ghulam Shah on the grounds of misconduct, in-efficiency and corruption. In
October 2005.
The Chief Justice reportedly appointed Justice
Anwar Zaheer Jamali as inquiry officer to conduct an inquiry against them.[64]
V. Status of National Human
Rights Institutions
A draft National Commission for Human Rights Bill
was presented to the National Assembly in February 2005. In May 2005, the Bill
was referred to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law, Justice and
Human Rights for further consideration and deliberations.[65]
The Draft National Commission for Human Rights
(NCHR) Bill of 2005 failed to meet the Paris Principles of National Human
Rights Institutions.
Under section 2(d), human rights were defined
restrictively to mean “the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and
dignity of individuals guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan or embodied
in the International Instruments on Human Rights which the Government of
Pakistan has ratified and are enforceable by the courts in
The composition of the NHRC as provided for in
sections 3(2)(ii) and 3(2)(iii) of NCHR bill did not ensure sufficient representation
of all sections of society and negates the guarantees of independence and
pluralism as provided under Principle 4 of the Paris Principles. There was also
no guarantee for representation from religious minorities or the tribals.
Moreover, section 10 of the NCHR Bill provided that
the office and other staffs who were to assist the NHRC in the discharge of its
functions were to be appointed from amongst employees of the federal
government.
Under Sections 4 and 5, President would retain the
power to appoint and dismiss members of the NHRC thereby severely impacting
independence of the members.
There was no financial autonomy under section 20 of
the National Commission for Human Rights Bill.
VI. Repression on human rights
defenders
Human rights defenders in
Those who took up the equality of women have been
specific targets. On 14 May 2005, police detained about 40 human rights
defenders, including Ms. Hina Jilani, UN Special Representative of the
Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Asma Jehangir, Chairperson of
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), former law minister Iqbal Haider,
Gulnar Tabassum, working for an NGO providing shelter to homeless women and
Joseph Francis, a minorities’ rights activist in an attempt to prevent them
from participating in a mixed gender marathon organized in Lahore jointly by
HRCP and Joint Action Committee for Peoples Rights to raise awareness on the
issue of violence against women in Pakistani society. The police imposed
Section 144 Criminal Procedure Code banning assembly of more than five persons
and beaten up the participants including women. Women participants were
allegedly pulled by their hair and their clothes were torn by the police. All
the detainees were released without charge.[68]
Ms Asma Jahangir moved the Lahore High Court in a
writ petition seeking registration of criminal cases against the policemen who
allegedly outraged her modesty on 14 May 2005.[69]
In September 2005, Additional district and sessions judge
On 4 June 2005, a heavy contingent of the
VII. Freedom of the press
The journalists in
On 16 May 2006, the National Assembly adopted
amended Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to empower the
authorities to shut down broadcasting channels on the grounds of telecasting
“offensive to commonly accepted standards of
decency”.[74]
Under the amended Act, PEMRA is authorised to seize equipment, withdraw
licences and conduct investigations and empowers the police to arrest
electronic media journalists without a warrant. Violations are punishable by
prison sentences of up to three years and fines of some ten million rupees.[75]
On 2 March 2005, PEMRA ordered the BBC World
Service to halt its Urdu-language news programmes relayed to
On 22 December 2005, the PEMRA issued an order
asking the cable TV operators to stop airing some 30 foreign TV channels,
including entertainment, sports and news channels such as MM Movie, Star
Network, National Geographic and Fashion TV. Most of the banned channels were
Indian.[78]
On the World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2005, 30 journalists
including Chairman of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Pervez
Shaukat, were arrested by the police in
In July 2005, a photographer of Sindhi daily
Kawish, Munir Sangi and cameraman of private news channel KTN, Hadi Sangi were
allegedly hit by Head Constable Gulzar Ali of Hyderi Police Station, Larkana
with his submachine gun while covering a sit-in protests staged by hundreds of
residents of Stadium Road Mohalla, Larkana.[80]
Newspapers were often accused of publishing hate
literature. On 19 July 2005, police reportedly raided the offices of three
weeklies - Urdu weekly Friday Special,
Wujood on Elander Road, weekly Ghazi off Tipu Sultan Road and daily Ummat near
the National Hockey Stadium in Karachi and arrested Abdul Latif Abu Shamil of
Friday Special and Mohammad Tahir, editor of Wujood on charges of allegedly
publishing hate literature. Police had earlier raided the office of
Zarb-i-Islam and arrested its editor and assistant editor. Police had also
picked up newspaper hawkers from various localities.[81]
Three European documentary film-makers identified
as Leon Flamholc, his son David Flamholc (Swedish nationals residing in London)
and Tahir Shah, a British writer of Afghan origin, were arbitrary arrested by
military police on 18 July 2005 on the charges of filming a military base in
the northwestern city of Peshawar. They were secretly held for 16 days,
including 15 days in solitary confinement, before forcibly expelling from
Academic freedom was severely restricted. Dr.
Mujahid Mansoori, Punjab University Mass Communication Department associate
professor was served a notice under the Removal from Service Ordinance 2000 by
Punjab Governor’s Secretariat on 8 July 2005 for writing a column under the
heading ‘Sir Par Khara Mehngai Ka Aik Aur Tofan’ in Jang on 5 July 2005.[83]
On 28 July 2005, the Education Department served a similar notice to Dr Ajmal
Niazi, an associate professor of Urdu at
On 5 December 2005, Hayatullah Khan, a reporter for
the Urdu-language daily Ausaf and photographer for the European Press Photo
Agency (EPA), was kidnapped by five unidentified gunmen in Mir Ali in the
Tribal Zones bordering
The media also faced serious threats from the
fundamentalist groups. On 29 January 2005, members of a religious
fundamentalist group called Anjuman Tahafuz-e-Islami Aqdar attacked office of
the Jang group of publications in
On 24 July 2005, noted journalist Khursheed Ahmed
of the Urdu-language national daily Khabrain was attacked with three home-made
bombs at his house in Gilgit of the Northern Areas. Ahmed escaped unhurt. This
was the second attempt on his life. He was earlier attacked in a similar way on
3 March 2005.[88]
VIII. Violations of the rights of
the minorities
Religious minorities continued to be target of the
fanatics. In a grenade attack on the
The blasphemy law has been extensively misused not
only to target the minorities but also by Muslims against fellow Muslims to
settle personal score. Even Federal Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq
admitted in November 2005 that the blasphemy law was being misused and
expressed the government’s desire to bring more amendments to it.[90]
According to All Parties Minorities Alliance Chairman, Shahbaz Bhatti, hundreds
of innocent people had been imprisoned, forced to flee the country or killed by
extremists under the pretext of punishing blasphemers.[91]
At least 60 persons were accused of blasphemy between January and July 2005.[92]
Of these 60, formal charges were leveled against 53 persons, while seven were
acquitted.[93]
In 2004, a total of 23 blasphemy cases were registered. Of these, 14 cases were
registered against 55 Muslims, seven cases against 24 Ahmadiyas and two cases
against three Christians. According to a report by National Commission for Justice
and Peace, 634 blasphemy cases had been registered between 1986 and 2004. Of
these, 309 cases were registered against Muslims, 236 against Ahmedis, 81
against Christians and eight against Hindus.[94]
The alleged desecration of the Koran invited street
justice. On 19 April 2005, angry mobs in Nowshera district in
On 28 June 2005, Muslim mobs attacked about 200
Christian homes in three areas near
On 10 September 2005, police arrested a Christian
identified as Younis Masih at Waheed Park in Chungi Amer Sidhu under the
Factory Area police station in Lahore on blasphemy charges and sent him to Kot
Lakhpat Jail.[97]
But according to his wife, Meena, Younis had only requested a neighbour not to
sing Qawali in loud voice as his nephew had died on the previous night
i.e. 9 September 2005. A huge mob of
Muslims attacked the house of Younis and beat him and his wife, Meena.[98]
By 11 September 2005, some 50 Christian families fled the area due to fear of
attacks.[99]
Those who faced blasphemy charges continued to live
in fear even after acquittal by the courts. In January 2005, a Christian named
Anwar Masih of
Minorities also faced physical violence. Syed Rahat
Shah Qadri, the Imam of Owais Qarni Mosque and his students allegedly attacked
a church at Miskeen Musharraf Colony in
The minority girls were also vulnerable to
violence. On 8 February 2005, 13-year-old Fozia Zafar, daughter of Zafar Masih,
a Christian, of Mohalah Islamabad Muncher Road, in Alipur Chatta in Gujranwala
district of Punjab was kidnapped by three Muslim boys named Imran, son of Taj
Muhammad; Irfan, son of Muhammad Anwar Khokher; and Mukhtar alias Kalo, son of
Sharif of the same locality while she was going to her uncle Munawar Masih’s
house in the same locality.[103]
Despite eyewitness accounts and confessions of two of those involved, police
refused to register a complaint. Fozia’s father complained to the Gujranwala
District Police Officer, who directed local officers to register the FIR and
detain the two suspects. After filing the complaint, Masih was dismissed from
his local government job. Local Muslims also put pressure on him to drop the
complaint. Fozia and her third kidnapper, Mukhtar Kalo remained untraceable.[104]
On 14 September 2005, a minority Hindu girl, Sapna,
daughter of Gianchand of Jacobabad in Sindh was allegedly kidnapped by four
unidentified Muslim youths at gunpoint and was kept in illegal confinement for
a week by her captors.[105]
On 20 September 2005, she was produced before the judicial magistrate in
Jacobabad. In her statement before the Judicial Magistrate and Session Court,
Sapna named as Mehak after her conversion to Islam stated that she had embraced
Islam on her own will and got married with one Shamsuddin. She reportedly
claimed no one kidnapped her.[106]
On the other hand, the minority members of the National Assembly claimed that
Sapna was forced to convert to Islam during her one-week illegal confinement by
four accused men. According to them, Sapna was kidnapped, married and converted
into Islam in a bid to threaten the Hindu minority in Sindh.[107]
IX. Violence against women
In South Asia, the condition of women was the most
deplorable in
About 80% of the women prisoners in the jails were
victims of the Hudood Ordinance relating to adultery, rape, kidnapping and
abduction.[108]
The federal and provincial governments failed to implement the recommendations
of the National Commission on the Status of Women to repeal the Offence of Zina
(Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance of 1979.[109]
Hundreds of women and girls were subjected to
various forms of abuses such as discrimination, domestic violence, assault,
kidnapping, forced marriage, rape, unlawful detention and honour killings both
by civilians and security forces. There were many cases of custodial rape while
the traditional jirgas pronounced harsh punishment against women.
Nothing more clearly demonstrated the apathy of the
authorities towards the cause of the woman than the fact that in 2005, the
National Commission on the Status of Women did not have a chairwoman for over
10 months.[110]
a.
Restrictions on participation in public life
Women faced serious obstacles for participation in
public life. A record number of over 55,000 women candidates contested in the
Local body elections held in August-October 2005.[111]
However, many faced serious threats.
In May 2005, local tribesmen and religious
extremists reportedly barred women from filing their nomination papers for the
33 percent seats reserved for them in the local body elections in Diamer
district of the Northern Areas. Women sitting alongside male were viewed as
anti customs and traditions.[112]
Similarly in July 2005, political parties in Lower
and
In a worst case, Zubaida Begum, a former union
council member in Daroda village in