Islamabad: The United Nations strongly condemned the increasing number of so-called ‘honour’ killings and urged the Pakistani Government to prevent such killings and to bring those responsible to justice.
UN resident coordinator Neil Buhne said in a statement that hundreds of women and girls are killed in Pakistan every year to protect family’s or community’s ‘honour’.
But the large numbers and tragic nature of killings over the last few weeks highlights the terrible cost from such killings to women, children, families, communities and all of Pakistan, as tragically shown by the 22-year-old Muqaddas Bibi who was brutally murdered by members of her own family simply because she married a man of her own choice.
He said that last week 18-year-old Zeenat Rafiq was burned to death by her mother for “bringing shame to the family” by marrying a man of her choice. On May 31, family members tortured the school teacher 19-year-old Maria Sadaqat and burned her alive for refusing an arranged marriage proposal.
-Young girls are also affected-
On April 29, the body of 16-year-old Ambreen Riasat was found inside a vehicle that had been set on fire after a ‘jirga’ ordered her death for helping her friend in marrying of her own choice. In one case a man’s throat was slit by relatives of his wife who disapproved of their match, a rare instance of a male victim.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) 1,096 women (of whom 170 were under the age of 18) were killed for ‘honor’ in 2015. As there are no official figures on such killings, the real figure could be much higher with many such killings believed to be disguised as accidents or going unreported by family members.
“Under international and national laws and standards, there is a clear State responsibility to uphold women’s rights and ensure freedom from discrimination, which includes the responsibility to prevent, protect and provide, regardless of sex, and regardless of a person’s status in the family,” added Buhne.
He said that it is both the State’s and the judiciary’s responsibility to deter such crimes, and ensure that people who commit them are brought to justice. The UN General Assembly, in three separate resolutions in 2001, 2003 and 2005, called on member states to intensify legislative, educational, social and other efforts to prevent and eliminate ‘honour’-based crimes, and to investigate thoroughly and prosecute effectively, bringing the perpetrators to justice.
The Government of Pakistan has recognized this, as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also said in February. “Honour killing is a most critical issue and the Government is determined to adopt all possible ways and means to remove this stain from our society,” the PM said.
Neil Buhne said that the UN system stands ready to assist the government of Pakistan to take urgent measures to do this. In this direction, a strengthened and adequately resourced national and provincial Women’s Commissions and Women Development Departments can play a major role.
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