PAKISTAN

März 2005

4. märz

Pakistan court quashes death verdicts in tribal jury rape

MULTAN, MARCH 3 A Pakistani court on Thursday overturned the convictions of five men sentenced to death in 2002 for raping a woman on the orders of a tribal council for her brother’s alleged affair, officials said.The death penalty of the sixth convict in the attack on Mukhtiar Mai, who went on to become a rights campaigner, was commuted to life imprisonment by a two-member bench of the high court in the central city of Multan.

‘‘Justice has been done,’’ lawyer for the defence, Mohammad Salim, said.Mai, in her early 30s, was raped for over an hour in the village of Meerwala in Punjab province in June 2002, as punishment for her brother’s alleged affair with a woman of a powerful rival clan.The case shocked the country and sparked international outrage. Later the same year, an anti-terrorist court in Punjab province sentenced six men to death by hanging and acquitted another eight defendants.

Defence lawyers said the Multan High Court on Thursday acquitted convicts Ghulam Farid, Fayyaz Hussain, Faiz Baksh, Ramzan Bhojar and Allah Ditta Mastoi, while Abdul Khaliq was given life imprisonment.‘‘The verdict of the anti-terrorism court in August 2002 was largely influenced by media hype and government pressure,’’ lawyer Salim said. Four of those originally sentenced to death were found guilty of participating in the rape itself. The other two were members of the tribal jury. —PTI

6.märz

Pakistan queries rape acquittals

The Pakistan government is to appeal against the acquittal of five men convicted of a gang-rape in a so-called "honour" punishment.

They had been sentenced to death but the verdict was overturned by the Lahore High Court last Thursday. Mukhtar Mai was raped in 2002 as an alleged punishment after her younger brother was accused of sexually assaulting a woman from a senior clan.Women's organisations have described the acquittals as "shocking". Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the BBC: "We have decided to file an appeal shortly in the Supreme Court."

Safety fears

Village elders allegedly ordered the punishment after allegations surfaced that Ms Mai's then 12-year-old brother had had sex with a woman from a more prominent clan.The boy denied the charge. The rape was ordered to restore the honour of the clan, prosecutors alleged.The same year, the four alleged attackers and two village elders were sentenced to death.Five of those convictions were overturned in Lahore this week. A sixth man, one of the village elders, had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.The men have not yet been released, but Ms Mai, who is also intending to appeal against the ruling, says that if they are, she is sure they will look for her and harm her."There's a lot of danger now for me, even though I have policemen protecting me. But I am going to go back to my village, I have to go back there," she told a news conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad."The decision that's been taken by the court saddens me. God willing, I am going to appeal in the Supreme Court, for which I need you people as well," she added, calling on the press for their support.

Accepting fate

Mukhtar Mai has one of Pakistan's most prominent lawyers fighting her case in the Supreme Court.She also has Pakistan's human and women's right community solidly behind her.A joint statement issued by several leading non-government organisations saluted her courage and bravery in taking on the system.The BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad says most women involved in attacks against them which are designed to restore the slighted honour of a family, clan or tribe, accept their fate, believing that tribal or feudal leaders are too powerful to resist and that the police and judicial systems are stacked against them.The statement said the reason for the increasing violence against women in Pakistan was the fact that men, guilty of assaulting them, were rarely punished.

Hundreds of women are killed or injured in honour attacks each year.

7.märz 2005

VICTIM TO FIGHT RAPE VERDICT

The Pakistani government will appeal a court decision to allow five men convicted of gang rape to walk free. The men were originally found guilty and condemned to death but the Lahore High Court acquitted them, citing lack of evidence.The rape victim, 33 year old Mukhtar Mai, now fears for her life.“There are all kinds of dangers for me now,” Ms Mai told media in the capital Islamabad.“They can kill me. They are a threat for my family … I appeal to the government not to free them.”Ms Mai’s assault happened three years ago when a village council ordered four of the men to rape her as an ‘honour’ punishment against her family.

The attack was payback against Ms Mai’s 12 year old brother who was falsely accused of having sex with a woman from a more prominent tribe.Ms Mai has pledged to stay in her village and fight the verdict until justice is served.“I will fight a legal battle to death. I want all those people who molested me hanged,” she said. Gang rape and honour killings of women are common in rural and tribal Pakistan.Human rights groups believe the attacks are increasing.According to a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report, 670 women were raped or gang-raped in the first 10 months of last year.President Pervez Musharraf has pressed for tougher measures against such crimes but Islamic parties oppose them.

8. märz 2005

The rape victim who fought back

By Chiade O'Shea in Islamabad

When Mukhtar Mai was gang raped in Pakistan in February 2002, she lost her so-called "honour" and, along with it, her chance to lead a normal life in her village.She comes over in most photographs as a fragile and frightened woman, but those who have met her speak of a strength and faith not visible on the surface. Many expected Ms Mai to commit suicide, as is all too common after rape in Pakistan.But she refused and started what has become a three-year legal battle against her alleged rapists.She also built her village's first two schools with her compensation money and now campaigns internationally for women's rights.

'Living in danger'

Ms Mai's first test of courage was to survive her initial suicidal feelings. She recounted that "a passion grew in me to fight back" when more than 200 villagers offered their moral support.This was a small minority of her community, but enough to convince her that there were some who wanted to change the status quo.Meerwala, in southern Punjab, is in many ways a typical Pakistani farming village. Women often work as hard as men in the fields and always far harder at home.Government services such as education and basic health care are considered rich people's luxuries. Justice can be a scarcer commodity still.

Four men were sentenced to death for raping Ms Mai and two others for participating in the decision. Five of these convictions have since been overturned and one man's death penalty commuted to life in prison. The Pakistani government has said it will appeal against the decisions.Now Ms Mai must face the possibility that the men she accused of raping her will be free to return to their village. "There is a danger to my own life and also to my family," she said at a press conference in Islamabad.Although she is visibly shaken by the prospect of the men's return, she refuses to flee her home. "I won't leave Pakistan or my village. I will continue my work in the schools."

Improving minds

Mukhtar Mai credits her strength and successes to God, but always reserves a mention for the children of the two schools she has founded."Because of the girls and the students, there are colours in my life," she says. Although she had never seen a school before she built one, Ms Mai's expression of the value of education rivals most education ministries' spin."Education can change people through awareness of their rights and duties as well," she said. "We must improve the minds of both the boys and the girls if we're to improve women's rights."

Easily underestimated as an illiterate village woman, Mukhtar Mai's articulate, concise answers are the first clue to how media savvy she is.In fact, she took a strategic decision after her attack to put herself in the public eye.Although drawing attention to her rape went strongly against her culture, she judged that the media spotlight could help ensure her a fair trial and keep her safer from the threats she says she regularly receives against her life.

Fame

A slick operator, Ms Mai courts publicity in order to raise money for her charity work. She has worked with a number of NGOs, some of which have funded her campaigning trips abroad, and she has received many donations from the public.After an article written about her in the New York Times, readers were so moved that they sent in $133,000 (£69,000) for her schools. This is a phenomenal sum in Pakistan where, at the last census, the average monthly income was a mere $65.

Her original schools were built with $9,400. The US aid organisation Mercy Corps has been drafted in to help manage the influx of cash.In November, Mukhtar Mai was planning to install electricity in her school, but wasn't sure if she could afford the bills. This is no longer a worry as she plans to build schools for other villages and set up local medical services.

She recently set up www.mukhtarmai.com where her supporters around the world can make credit card donations online.Mukhtar Mai has long been characterised by events beyond her control - as an illiterate village woman, the victim of gang rape and brutal tribal justice.But her recent charity successes are testament to some of the underlying mettle that has been sustaining her for the past three years.

11. März 2005

Court declares acquittal of woman's rapists illegal

By PAUL HAVEN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's highest Islamic court on Friday reinstated the convictions of five men sentenced to death for raping a woman on orders from a village council, following a firestorm of criticism after a lower tribunal ordered the suspects freed.

The decision by the Federal Shariat Court was yet another twist in the case of Mukhtar Mai, a 33-year-old woman who said she was raped in 2002 after elders in her village ordered the attack as punishment for her brother's alleged illicit affair with a woman from another family."We welcome the decision, and we know our case is strong," said Ramzan Khalid Joya, Mai's lawyer. An lawyer for the men, Mohammed Yaqub, said he had not had time to study the decision and would have no comment.Six men, including village elder Faiz Mastoi, were sentenced to death in 2002, but on March 3 the sentences of five of them were overturned. The sixth man had his death sentence reduced to life in prison.

Human-rights groups in Pakistan and around the world denounced the ruling, and thousands of Pakistani women rallied in Multan in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province earlier this week demanding justice and protection for Mai, who said she fears the men would seek revenge if released.Canadian High Commissioner Margaret Huber visited Mai in Meerwala, a village about 565 kilometres southwest of the capital, Islamabad, to pledge about $45,000 for a school she runs. Her visit Tuesday coincided with International Women's Day.Huber handed Mai a cheque to help build classrooms, drawing cheers from young girls in attendance.In its decision Friday, the Federal Shariat Court ruled on technical grounds that the Multan tribunal had no powers to hear the case. It said it alone had the power to rule on appeals in rape cases.

The Shariat Court works separately from the normal legal system but has the power to overturn decisions involving Islamic law, such as in instances of rape, adultery and some cases of murder.The court indicated it would hear the men's appeal but did not say when. All six men remain in jail. Once the Federal Shariat Court rules, a final appeal from either side could only be heard by a special Shariat Branch of Pakistan's Supreme Court, the highest court in the nation.

Mai denies that her 13-year-old brother ever had illicit relations with the woman and says the village council's decision to order her rape was made to cover up a sexual assault on the boy by men from the Mastoi clan, which enjoys local power.Violence against women is common in deeply conservative Pakistan, particularly in rural areas where the government has little control. Hundreds of women are killed or brutally disfigured - often at the hands of their fathers, brothers or husbands - in so-called "honour" attacks.

The government promised to crack down on such attacks following Mai's rape, pushing through tougher sentencing laws, but women's rights activists say little has changed for most women.

11. märz 2005

Men acquitted in Mukhtar case still in jail

MULTAN: The five accused acquitted by the LHC’s Multan Bench in the Mukhtar Mai rap case could not be released on Saturday because their release order had not reached Dera Ghazi Khan District Jail. However, they were shifted from death cells to general barracks.

“We have shifted Ghulam Fareed Mastoi, Fayyaz Hussain Mastoi, Faiz Bakhsh, Ramzan Pujar and Allah Ditta from death cells to general barracks since the LHC’s Multan Bench consisting of Justices Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Mehmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui quashed the judgement of the ATC anti terrorism in Dera Ghazi Khan,” Kazim Baloch, Dera Ghazi Khan jail superintendent, told Daily Times.“We have neither received the orders of the Federal Shairat Court about the suspension of the LHC’s judgement nor have we received their release order from the LHC,” he added.

Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Syed Ahsan Mehboob said, “Though we have not received any orders from the Federal Shariat Court regarding serving Rs 100,000 bailable warrants to Ghulam Hussain, Hazoor Bakhsh, Rasul Bakhsh, Muhammad Qasim, Muhammad Aslam, Allah Ditta, Khalil Ahmed and Ghulam Hussain and the five accused in prison, we are searching them the people out of jail because they have gone into hiding.”

12. märz 2005

gegen die vergewaltigte frau sowie mehrere menschenrechtsgruppen wurde jetzt von einem anwalt eine klage erhoben da sie das gericht beeinflussen würden. die demonstrationen und die medienöffentlichkeit des falles hätten / würden die richter gegen die angeklagten beeinflussen.

Pakistani lawyer files contempt of court petition against rape victim, protesters

MULTAN, Pakistan - A Pakistani lawyer on Saturday filed a petition against a gang-rape victim and several human rights groups, accusing them of being in contempt of court for protesting the decision by an appeals tribunal to free her alleged assailants.

Thousands of women held a rally in Multan on March 7, days after a court overturned the death sentences of six men accused of taking part in the June 2002 gang-rape of Mukhtar Mai, 33, which was ordered by a village council as punishment for her brother’s alleged affair with a woman from another family.

On Saturday, lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Chohan filed a petition in High Court in Multan, claiming Mai and 13 representatives of the right groups had defamed the judiciary by holding the protest.It was not immediately clear when the court will take up the petition.Mai drew international attention when she came forward to speak about her ordeal. In August 2002, a court sentenced six men to death after finding them guilty.

However, an appeals court early this month overturned the convictions of five men, citing lack of evidence and reduced the sixth man’s sentence to life in prison.The case took a new twist Friday when Pakistan’s highest Islamic court reinstated the convictions of the six men on technical grounds, saying the appeals court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.The Federal Shariat Court will soon fix a date to hear appeals from the men, and it has also asked Mai to appear before it.