Pakistan votes to amend rape laws

[Rubaiyat]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6148590.stm

Pakistan's parliament has voted to amend the country's strict Sharia laws on rape and adultery.

Until now rape victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - if not they faced prosecution for adultery.

The new bill allows prosecutions under secular rather than religious law. Religous parties boycotted the vote saying the bill encouraged "free sex".

The reforms are being seen as a crucial test of President Musharraf's stated commitment to a moderate form of Islam.

It is still not clear if a rape victim or a judge will decide whether her case is tried by a civil or Sharia court.

'Lewdness'

A woman is raped every two hours and gang-raped every eight hours in Pakistan, according to the country's independent Human Rights Commission.

The bill will turn Pakistan into a free-sex zone
MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman

Rape victim's blog
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Correspondents say these figures are probably an under-estimation as many rapes are not reported.

Campaigners say Pakistan's laws have made it virtually impossible to prosecute rape.

Attempts to pass a new bill failed in September in face of angry opposition.

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

It would have allowed alleged rapists to be tried under civil as well as Islamic law.

Human rights activists said this would have created confusion, allowing powerful religious lobbies to manipulate what is seen as a weak judicial system.

Pakistan's religious parties called the legislation "a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country", and against the strictures of the Koran and Sharia law.

They have threatened nationwide protests over the revised bill.

Addressing parliament on Wednesday, the leader of the six-party MMA Islamic alliance, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, said the bill would "turn Pakistan into a free-sex zone".

Law Minister Wasi Zafar, meanwhile, told a television station that "some of the MMA's proposals had been included in the bill".

Lashings

Rape and adultery in Pakistan are dealt with under the Hudood Ordinance, a controversial set of Islamic laws introduced from 1979 by Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

A Pakistani woman passes a portrait of President Pervez Musharraf
Gen Musharraf has said women need to be better protected

They include sections prescribing lashing and stoning as punishments for adultery.

The bill tabled in the summer has since been reviewed by a panel of ulema, or Islamic scholars, who suggested three revisions.

The government says it wants to achieve consensus. Observers say much depends on which draft has been tabled in parliament.

"The version which they distributed in the assembly appears to be the ulema committee's version," a senior ruling coalition MP told the BBC on the eve of the debate.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the women's bill is also being seen as an indication of what political alliances might contest elections next year.

[Rubaiyat]

What I find very very disturbing is that the victim has to produce 4 withnesses. That is definitely not Islamic (http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/S...EAskTheScholar) and how thatlaw got the approval in Pakistan is beyond me. Anyway, I don't know much about that place. Can anyone from Pakistan in this forum clarify on this issue?

[Al Baitel 'ateeq]

Question:
I know that in the past if someone has committed adultery, they had to bring 4 witnesses. My question is can we prove that today by using latest scientific methods as the DNA test, instead of bringing 4 witnesses.

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

According to Islamic sharee’ah, zinaa can only be proven by clear evidence, namely the testimony of four trustworthy and sound witnesses who saw it actually happen, or by confession of guilt, or by the woman becoming pregnant. It cannot be proven by DNA testing or by use of cameras and videos in place of the things mentioned above. And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

[Al Baitel 'ateeq]

Another fatwa:

Islam Q&A

[Ahmed2007]

Media is exaggerating numbers about rapes in Pakistan. A woman is raped every single minute and gang-raped every1 hour in U.S.A, according to the independent Human Rights Commission.

[theory]

Question:
I know that in the past if someone has committed adultery, they had to bring 4 witnesses. My question is can we prove that today by using latest scientific methods as the DNA test, instead of bringing 4 witnesses.

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

According to Islamic sharee’ah, zinaa can only be proven by clear evidence, namely the testimony of four trustworthy and sound witnesses who saw it actually happen, or by confession of guilt, or by the woman becoming pregnant. It cannot be proven by DNA testing or by use of cameras and videos in place of the things mentioned above. And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

That fatwa is about adultury not rape

For rape

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The scholars are unanimously agreed that the rapist is to be subjected to the hadd punishment if there is clear evidence against him that he deserves the hadd punishment, or if he admits to that. Otherwise, he is to be punished (i.e., if there is no proof that the hadd punishment for zina may be carried out against him because he does not confess, and there are not four witnesses, then the judge may punish him and stipulate a punishment that will deter him and others like him). There is no punishment for the woman if it is true that he forced her and overpowered her, which may be proven by her screaming and shouting for help. End quote.

Al-Istidhkaar, 7/146

Secondly:

The rapist is subject to the hadd punishment for zina, even if the rape was not carried out at knife-point or gun-point. If the use of a weapon was threatened, then he is a muhaarib, and is to be subjected to the hadd punishment described in the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“The recompense of those who wage war against Allaah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter”

[al-Maaidah 5:33]

So the judge has the choice of the four punishments mentioned in this verse, and may choose whichever he thinks is most suitable to attain the objective, which is to spread peace and security in society, and ward off evildoers and aggressors.

See also question no. 41682

So the punishment is always there for the rapist but depends the type of punihsment depends the use of weapons, or the evidence used to prove that rape was commited.

[Shadower]

I feel sorry for the women that were raped and then punished for Zina on top of it. That is disturbing.

[Al Baitel 'ateeq]

Theory ... yes you're right akhi, but the article states;

Pakistan's parliament has voted to amend the country's strict Sharia laws on rape and adultery.

I guess i covered one part, and you the other.

[Rubaiyat]

I feel sorry for the women that were raped and then punished for Zina on top of it. That is disturbing.

Disturbing is an understatement. I don't have a word to describe that. What is bothering me the most is, how some distorted law (regarding rape, not zina) like this got labelled as Islamic Law? Moreover, it's so out of line, that I'm pretty much in a state of denial that the Government actually allowed this to pass though. I mean if this is what the Muslim leaders are doing in the name of Islam, we are seriously screwed and Bush and Co. are angels compared to them.

I still got doubts if such a law really does exist in Pakistan or is the media portraying the zina law as rape law and twisting the facts big time. Anything is possible these days!

The article doesn't state or define the law, just gives the impression that if a woman is raped she has to produce 4 witnesses or will be charged with adultery. Now that is some sick stuff.

[Al Baitel 'ateeq]

More sickening is the fact that the family of the rape victim might actually kill her in order to ... hmm ... can't really tell you what the reasoning is behind it ... i guess it's what they perceive to be "shame" when a member of the family is raped, and they feel in order to hide the shame, it's best to just kill the victim ... yes, the V I C T I M !

[saida]

As a mother to a daughter I just don't understand the logic behind something like that.

[Ahmed2007]

Disturbing is an understatement. I don't have a word to describe that. What is bothering me the most is, how some distorted law (regarding rape, not zina) like this got labelled as Islamic Law? Moreover, it's so out of line, that I'm pretty much in a state of denial that the Government actually allowed this to pass though. I mean if this is what the Muslim leaders are doing in the name of Islam, we are seriously screwed and Bush and Co. are angels compared to them.

I still got doubts if such a law really does exist in Pakistan or is the media portraying the zina law as rape law and twisting the facts big time. Anything is possible these days!

The article doesn't state or define the law, just gives the impression that if a woman is raped she has to produce 4 witnesses or will be charged with adultery. Now that is some sick stuff.

I can try to explain. according to the law if woman is rapped, the person who has done will spend all his life in prision but if she can provide four witnesses as well then he will be hanged till death.. this was the old law
which Musharif Government has changed now..