Daily Times

Lahore: Killings in the name of honour continue unabated in the country and these incidents are not confined only to rural or far-off areas but have also been reported from major cities.

The most recent incident took place last Friday. A man and a woman were reportedly killed in Karachi in the name of honour by woman’s relatives. On July 12, a woman was gunned down by his brother in Lahore in what was claimed by the perpetrator’s relatives as an honour-based crime.

In June, cases of ‘honour killings’ were reported from places across the country. These included Kohat, Faisalabad, Nawabshah, Jacobabad, Bahawalpur, Taxila, Chiniot and Khyber Agency.

When it comes to honour-based crimes, the widespread perception has been that the country’s justice system lacks laws to adequately punish perpetrators. Thanks to provisions on Qisas (retaliation) and Diyat (blood money), on most occasions the country’s law treats murder as a matter concerning two private parties rather than the state and the citizen. This leaves it open to abuse, particularly in instances of killings committed by next of kin in the name of honour.

In most cases, ‘honour’ killings are committed by one of the family members of the deceased. The family eventually pardons the killer out of fear of losing another member, even if they don’t condone the murder.

This privatisation of murder is a reason why conviction rate in cases of ‘honour’ killing remains disturbingly low. What is worst, there is still some acceptance in our patriarchal society of the mindset that condones violence in the name of ‘honour’.

Rights activists have been campaigning for elimination of legal loopholes that allow families to decide the fate of those accused in ‘honour’ crimes. Legal experts say that the solution to these loopholes is rather straightforward: Murder is a crime against the state and the state should be the complainant in all cases of murders.

While the law has failed to serve as a deterrent, societal norms also contribute to the problem.

Nonetheless, there have been some efforts towards raising awareness about the need for stronger laws against honour-based killings. Media had debated the issue for a brief period last year after a documentary on the story of a woman from Lahore, who had survived an attempt at her life in the name of family honour, won an Oscar award. The documentary was screened at the Prime Minister’s house and PM Nawaz Sharif promised tougher legislation against ‘honour’ killings. And in October 2016, Pakistan passed an anti-honour killings law that promises mandatory prison term of 25-years to perpetrators and bars families from legally pardoning them.

The law was hailed as a strong deterrent, but not much has changed in terms of societal behaviours that lend to crimes in the name of honour.

Speaking to Daily Times, Lawmaker Nafisa Shah notes that with the newly-passed legislation the problem is only half solved and more needs to be done. “Laws on Qisas and Diyat were introduced during the Islamisation process which made heinous crimes compoundable. The conviction rate will not improve until we don’t get rid of the compoundability principle from all forms of murder,” she says.

Shah says that through these laws the power of state has been transferred to families and they have been given legal authority. “Even if the Islamic rhetoric surrounding murder has to be maintained, the victims’ families should not have a say in forgiving the murderer because it is a crime against the state,” she adds.

Laws on Qisas and Diyat have rendered the system susceptible to bargaining and, as a result, the state has long been marginalized, says lawyer Asad Jamal. However, he adds, Islamic laws and their misuse are not the only factor responsible for the low conviction rate in ‘honour’ crimes. “There are secular provisions in the legal framework introduced simultaneously with the Qisas and Diyat laws to maintain compoundability. Therefore, only abolishing Qisas and Diyat laws will not help. Other legal complexities also add to the difficulties in investigation of such killings,” he told Daily Times.

“Legislation alone cannot solve the problem. Capacity building of police, lawyers and judiciary is a must if we are to improve the conviction rate,” he says. The justice system, as a whole, is biased against women. No matter how determined and strong a woman victim of a crime may be, she ends up surrendering to the circumstances because the justice system sides with the powerful, he says. The solution lies in reforming the justice system from scratch and laws with loopholes need to be amended, Jamal adds.

Published in Daily Times, July 25^th 2017.