Human Rights organizations urge repeal of Hudood laws
ISLAMABAD, July 11 2006: National Solidarity for Equal Rights (NSER), a coalition of eleven human rights organisations has urged the government to complete repeal of Hudood Laws. Addressing a press conference on July 10 convenor and executive secretary National Commission for Justice and Peace, Peter Jacob has stated that NSER clearly demanded that complete repeal of Hudood Laws because these laws are thoroughly incompatible with the norms and standards of justice.
Peter said that any amount of amendment would fail to improve the law, which were inherently flawed, narrow in their approach. There the laws are Damocles’ swords hanging over women and minorities. He said that the Hudood laws have a thoroughly in-built religious discrimination as under these laws non-Muslim citizens can neither be full witness not can a non judge preside over the hearing in cases under these laws despite same qualifications as Muslim judge.
Peter said that the non-Muslim lawyers were barred from pealing the Hudood cases in appellate court, which was the Federal Shariat Court. He added these laws therefore contradict the fundamental rights of citizens pledged in the article 25 of the constitution, which guarantees equal rights for all irrespective of sex, religion, race and creed. He said that Hudood laws had been proved legal lacunas and lack of confidence of many Muslim jurists, which is enough to show that abuse of religion was part and parcel of these laws. “Repealing them is the only solution.
Source: B. Recorder
Date:7/11/2006
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