'Honour Killings' in Pakistan and Compliance of ... - Aurat Foundation

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e an important reason for the subsequent rise in honour killings since the promulgation of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance in 1990. 37 The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2004 38 In 2004, after years of advocacy from civil society, the Government finally passed an act making ‘honour’ crimes, especially ‘honour’ killings illegal. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2004, referred to as the Honour Killings Law made a number of changes in the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 (PPC) and the Criminal Code of Procedure 1898 (CrPC), mainly making additions to existing provisions to include qatl-i-amd (intentional murder) under the pretext of ‘honour’. However, it is important to note that despite the huge amount of advocacy and collaboration with parliamentarians, a number of the vital changes demanded by civil society were not incorporated into the Act. The major amendments made by the law are summarized below. Amendments as per the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2004 The most important addition in the introduction of a definition of honour crimes was "offence committed in the name or on the pretext of honour means an offence committed in the name or on the pretext of karo kari, siyah kari or similar other customs or practices," which allow family members to kill women, and also men, on the pretext of having brought dishonour to the family. 37 Are Knudsen, ‘License to kill: Honour Killings in Pakistan’, Chr. Michelsen, Institute of Development Studies and Human Rights, 2004 38 This section has been produced with reference to Aurat Foundation publications: Honour Killings of women: Problems in the Law; We Demand Strong and Effective Legislation to Eliminate ‘Honour’ Crimes; ‘Honour Killings’ and the law in Pakistan’ 31
The discretion of the court to decide where according to the injunctions of Islam the punishment of qisas was not applicable has been removed in reference to murder committed in the name, or on the pretext of honour. It also removes the possibility of the murderer being the wali (guardian), while also allowing the State to take the responsibility of wali if necessary. The punishments have been raised from 14 to 25 years. Giving of women as badl-i-sulah (for marriage or otherwise in compensation for a crime committed) has been made illegal with penalties. In cases where all the wali do not waive or compound the right of qisas, or on the principle of causing fasad-fil-ard (chaos or disorder in society), the court may punish an offender against whom the right of qisas has been waived or compounded, while also giving a minimum imprisonment for 10 years in case of honour crimes. Minimum sentences are also given for different related offences. In cases of hurt where qisas will not be enforced, the court, along with arsh (compensation for hurt) may award a punishment of tazir, especially if it is an honour crime. In situations where the heirs choose to waive or compound the offence, in cases of honour crimes, a procedure has been laid down i.e. subject to conditions as the court sees fit according to the facts and circumstances of the case. Changes in the CrPC include changes made to procedure, i.e. higher ranks of police officers will be assigned to investigate honour crimes and zina (sexual relationship outside marriage) offences. It clarifies, as above in the PPC, anyone who can waive or compound the offence, the conditions have to be approved by the court. It also takes away the provincial governments’ power to remit or suspend any sentence on honour crimes. 32
Page 2 and 3: A Pilot Study on: ‘Honour Killing
Page 4: Table of Contents Preface 1 Introdu
Page 8 and 9: Preface Elimination of all negative
Page 10 and 11: the nature and extent of its compli
Page 12 and 13: Introduction The Criminal Law (Amen
Page 14: formalised by the State and ‘lega
Page 17 and 18: Gender is one of the organisational
Page 19 and 20: their rights were achieved on paper
Page 21 and 22: elatives), in effect excluding all
Page 24 and 25: 3. “Honour Killings”: their Pre
Page 26 and 27: patrilineage 17 . From this follows
Page 28 and 29: compensation negotiated to end a di
Page 30: divorced or excommunicated, an act
Page 33 and 34: Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal
Page 35 and 36: monitor women’s movements and kil
Page 37: mitigation, compensation for the he
Page 41 and 42: down for such cases. This applies t
Page 43 and 44: to properly determine the issue bef
Page 45 and 46: Table 1: Number & Percentages of Ca
Page 47 and 48: the police stations are not even eq
Page 49 and 50: Findings of the Research The findin
Page 51 and 52: When asked about the lack of filing
Page 53 and 54: Gujrat Gujrat also shows a similar
Page 55 and 56: community. Perhaps this has been on
Page 57 and 58: eporting it will do when registerin
Page 59 and 60: Jillani reiterated Justice Abbasi
Page 61 and 62: death and it was subsequently disco
Page 63 and 64: Lahore High Court The Lahore High C
Page 65 and 66: meditation falling under the defini
Page 67 and 68: for conservative and biased interpr
Page 70 and 71: 6. Perspective of the Community Whi
Page 72 and 73: mindset and existing confining soci
Page 74 and 75: even if cases are brought to them,
Page 76 and 77: Role of the Community It is general
Page 78 and 79: court settlement is preferred. Such
Page 80 and 81: 7. Conclusion and Main Findings It
Page 82 and 83: 6. There are also problems with the
Page 84 and 85: 12. These precedents are not necess
Page 86 and 87: hold through these illegal forms of
Page 88:
24. The police can play a very nega
Page 91:
The police system is in dire need o
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