LAHORE: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned an assistant political agent’s decision in Khyber Agency to acquit two men who had confessed to killing their maternal uncle and their sister-in-law in a so-called honour crime based upon a jirga verdict.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the commission said, “HRCP is flabbergasted by the decision of assistant political agent Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency, of acquitting two brothers charged with murdering their sister-in-law and their maternal uncle in November last year and later claiming that the victims had ‘illicit relations’. According to statement, “The two brothers were arrested and they confessed in their recorded statements of committing the murders. A five-member jirga was appointed which concluded that the accused should be asked to take an oath on the Holy Quran that in killing their sister-in-law and their maternal uncle ‘they had done nothing wrong with malafide intention. The Jirga said that if the accused took the oath the murders stood ‘justified’ as per ‘Riwaj’ and the accused should be acquitted.”
The statement said, “The Riwaj refers to a custom in the tribal areas under which killing a woman in the family after killing a man and alleging ‘illicit relations’ effectively justifies both the murders and serves as a defence against prosecution for the crime.”
“In the findings, the accused innocent APA wrote in his order that the Jirga verdict is clear and in accordance with the local trend. He said, “I agree with the majority verdict of the jirga members. The verdict of jirga was read over to the parties. The defendant party is ready to take the oath prescribed by the jirga members. However, the claimant party refused to get oath from the defendant party. As the claimant party has refused to get the prescribed oath from the defendant party, the accused are held innocent and would be released on bail immediately”, it added.
The statement said, “All civlised human beings would be appalled by the fact that in this day and age such atrocious practices are not accepted in the tribal areas but are also enforced on a regular basis by what passes off as the justice system. The Constitution of Pakistan clearly declares all customs contrary to law to be void, and yet the riwaj survives and is enforced, as the superior courts have no jurisdiction in the tribal areas.”
It further said, “We call upon the government to immediately issue clear directions to judicial and quasi-judicial officials in the tribal areas to absolutely disregard the so-called Riwaj in trying criminal cases. A human life should not have such little value just because a citizen is unfortunate enough to reside in the tribal areas. The accused in the cited case must be brought to justice for their crime. However, unless someone in sufficiently senior authority intervenes, we are convinced that the accused will not be held accountable for their actions. As much has been evidence by the utter inaction of the local authorities, despite repeated pleas for justice by the slain woman’s husband.”
Human Rights Commission said, “Beyond highlighting this gruesome custom, the official involvement and the manner in which the political authorities administer ‘justice’, the case also offers further evidence of the lawlessness that passes off as law in FATA. HRCP demands immediate revamp of the system that allows and discriminates against the long-suffering residents of FATA. There is no justification for having one legal standard for FATA and another for all other areas that constitute the country.”