ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 15 -- After months of debate, the Pakistani government pushed legislation through Parliament today that would amend the country’s rape laws, which have been assailed as unfair to women.
The vote, despite continuing opposition from hard-line Islamic parties, was a litmus test of President Pervez Musharraf’s ability to bring actual reforms in his program of “enlightened moderation.”
Late tonight, President Musharraf, who is also the military chief, appeared on state-run television wearing a business suit and congratulated the nation on the passage of the Women Protection Bill, calling it a historic day.
“This movement of empowerment of women started in 2000,” he added. “This process of empowerment, protection of women will continue.”
Under the existing laws, known as the Hudood laws, a woman must produce four witnesses to prove rape. A failure to do so could result in her being charged with adultery. That stigma alone keeps many women from bringing charges against their attackers.
The Hudood laws were enacted in 1979 by the country’s last military dictator, Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq.
The new legislation is subject to approval by the Senate and president, which are considered formalities. It removes rape from the jurisdiction of Islamic law, which covers matters like marriage and divorce, and makes it a crime punishable under Pakistan’s penal code.
The new legislation does away with the requirement for four male witnesses and will allow convictions to be made on the basis of forensic and circumstantial evidence.
The new law would make extra-marital sex a criminal offense with penalties of up to five years or a fine equivalent to $166. This amendment was introduced at the insistence of religious scholars and was backed by religious opposition parties. Human rights activists here generally backed the law despite misgivings about this clause.
The amendment also introduces the concept of statutory rape, outlawing sex with girls under 16. The Islamic code had banned sex with girls before puberty.
President Musharraf said the government “did not cave in to the mullahs” and “the section regarding fornication was inserted after consultation with legal experts and government advisers.”
Mr. Musharraf said the legislation was not in violation of Islam.
The passage of the legislation came after months of drafting, re-drafting and back-door negotiations between the government and opposition political parties, as vociferous protests by an alliance of hard-line Islamist parties stalled the legislation first introduced in August.
Another attempt in September broke down amid vehement opposition by Islamists. Threats of en-masse resignations by an alliance of religious parties forced the government not to rush the legislation.
But today, the government broke ahead and Parliament passed the bill in one sitting.
"We went through a long and lengthy process of consultation on the bill before its passage in the assembly,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said.
Opposition members from hard-line Islamist parties boycotted the vote and walked out of the Parliament as the legislation was put forward by Wasi Zafar, the law minister.
Members from the religious coalition voiced anti-Musharraf slogans including “America’s friend is a traitor,” alluding to the perception here that the laws were being amended to placate the United States.
The liberal opposition party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto supported the bill today. Sherry Rehman, the central information secretary of Ms. Bhutto’s party, said her party “did not compromise with the government” but decided to support the legislation because it offered an emancipation and empowerment of women.
“We are not totally satisfied,” Ms. Rehman said. “We wanted a total repeal of the Hudood laws. But we are hopeful that the bill today is step in the right direction”.
Human rights advocates had demanded a total repeal of those laws and the move today was met with guarded words of welcome but also with some expressions of fear of new abuses.
Farzana Bari, a human rights activist from Pattan, a non-governmental organization, said she was extremely disappointed that the government had tried to appease the religious people by incorporating the section regarding “fornication” in the bill.
Adultery was not an offense against the state before Hudood laws, she said.
The adultery cases taken in the courts could now be abused as judges could be bribed, Ms. Bari said, adding that this clause “would now open a new chapter of misuse and abuse.”
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