PAKISTAN: A dual murder of 16-year-old girl and a 19-year-old boy on the pretext of honor killing 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received another honor killing case from Sindh Province, Pakistan. According to the information received, a 16-year-old girl, Gulzar, and her 19-year-old cousin, Ghulam Mustafa, were killed by Gulzar’s brother, Abdul Majeed, on 21 April 2004 on the pretext of honor killing.

Even though he has filed the complaint against the perpetrator, Ghulam Mustafa’s father has shown his distrust in the Pakistani legal system and wants to settle this matter through a tribal court jirga, which was banned by the Sindh High Court decision of last April. In Pakistan, the victims’ families prefer the jirga system rather than the government’s judicial system to deal with their matters, because it has failed to provide speedy justice to the victims.

Please send a letter to the local authorities and request them to prevent a tribal court jirga being held in this case. Please especially urge the Sindh State government to lay down procedures to ensure honor killings are prevented in the future, as a large number of the honor killings have happened in Sindh Province.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victims: 1) Ms. Gulzar, 16 years old, of Maarfani tribe, unmarried, 2) Mr. Ghulam Mustafa, 19 years old, a farmer, of Maarfani tribe, unmarried
Alleged perpetrator: Abdul Majeed, Ms. Gulzar’s elder brother, of Maarfani tribe
Complainant: Mr. Ghulam Abbas, Mr. Ghulam Mustafa’s father, son of Abdul Rahman, of Maarfani tribe
Witnesses: 1) Abdul Wahab, son of Mazar Khan, 2) Ghulam Hayder, son of Abdul Karim, both are relatives of complainant and of Maarfani tribe
Date of Incident: 21 April 2004 at about 1:00am
Place of Incident: Jagan Village, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province, Pakistan
Case reported on: 21 April 2004 at 11:30am at the Jagan Police Station at Humaayoon (FIR NO. 18/04 under Section 504,302 PPC)

Account of the incident:

On 21 April 2004, a 16-year-old girl, Gulzar, and her 19-year-old cousin, Ghulam Mustafa, were killed by Gulzar’s brother, Abdul Majeed, on the pretext of honor killing.

According to Abdul Majeed’s father, he and his relatives, Abdul Wahab and Ghulam Hayder, who were visiting his house, woke up at around 1:00am due to a loud noise. They then saw that Abdul Majeed was holding a gun in his hand and was abusing Ghulam Mustafa. They tried to calm Abdul Majeed down but he refused to listen to them and then fired on Ghulam Mustafa. The bullet penetrated Ghulam Mustafa’s right arm and hit his ribs. As a result, he fell to the floor and died soon after. While the victim’s father and his relatives were overwhelmed with shock, Abdul Majeed went back to his house, which was next to the victim’s house, and shot dead his sister Gulzar, who was sleeping in her room. She was shot in her chest and forehead. Thereafter, he left the place. Abdul Majeed’s father and his two relatives were witness to all of these events as there was no fence between the two houses.

Because he could not find an available vehicle late that night, Abdul Majeed’s father waited until the next morning to lodge a complaint about the incident to the Jagan Police Station. (FIR NO. 18/04 under Section 504,302 PPC) In the First Investigation Report (FIR) of the case, he mentioned that Abdul Majeed killed his son and Gulzar out of anger accusing them of having illicit sexual relations. However, the father insisted that Abdul Majeed killed the two victims without any concrete evidence to prove the allegation.

When Abdul Majeed’s father was reached by a human rights organization, he told them that he would not pursue the case in court, preferring instead to settle the matter through a tribal court jirga. He said that it would take too long time to fight the case in court and that it would cost too much.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Honor killings often occur on the pretext of maintaining honor. The male relatives who commit the murders are rarely prosecuted in traditional communities. It appears that any action, real or fabricated, if deemed by the family as compromising their honor, may be considered a valid reason to commit murder. While illegal according to national laws and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Koran and Sharia, the lack of consistent positive action by Pakistani law enforcement agencies and the seemingly commonplace belief in the practice of honor killings, facilitate this inhuman practice.

Moreover, even though the victim’s family lodged the FIR to pressure the offenders, in most of honor killing cases, the victim’s family does not pursue the cases at court due to the high cost and long delay in getting justice. The government’s judicial system has failed to provide speedy justice to the victims and an individual case often takes several years.

Therefore, the victim’s family goes to the traditional justice system (jirga-tribal court), where the cases are mostly settled within a few days. This traditional system has been practiced for a long time and it is commonly accepted. Most of the cases under the tribal court are disposed compoundable under the Ordinance of Qisas and Dayat. (According to the Ordinance of Qisas and Dayat, if the offender provides compensation to the victim’s family as they claimed, the offender can be released without any punishment.) Therefore, it is difficult for the victims to expect fair trials.

On April 23, 2004, the High Court of Sindh in Pakistan has rendered a decision in which it declared that all tribal jirgas are illicit, and the court has strictly banned any efforts to organize or arrange any type of jirga. However, Pakistan’s jirga system continues to lead the country in feudal practices due to the lack of strong action of Pakistani law enforcement agencies to implement the decision of the Sindh Hight Court.

The AHRC strongly urges the government of Pakistan to take strong steps to implement the April 2004 decision of the Sindh High Court, banning all jirga trials as illegal and exhorting law enforcement agencies to take effective action against such jirgas. The perpetrator of this case should be prosecuted and punished by law.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to following addresses and express your concern about this serious case.

 

 

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