O texto que aqui se publica no original inglês relata o caso passado no Paquistão e a prática ali continuada das mortes por honra. No próximo dia 22 de Setembro, num seminário organizado pela Marcha Mundial das Mulheres, com a presença de ministros e parlamentares, serão lidas mensagens de solidariedade, de indignação e de condenação perante as brutais mortes naquele país.
«The Umrani tribe is mainly concentrated in the Jafarabad and Naseerabad districts of Balochistan province that are about 300 kilometers from Quetta city, the provincial capital. Mr. Sadiq Umrani, the provincial minister for housing and construction, was elected to the Balochistan Assembly in the February 18, 2008 elections from Dera the Murad Jamali constituency of district Naseerabad. The incident of the women being buried alive occurred in a remote village, the Baba Kot, 80 kilometers away from Usta Mohammad city of Jafferabad district. It is believed that due to the influence of the minister and his brother the incident was not reported in the media.
According to the information received, five women were Ms. Fatima, wife of Umeed Ali Umrani, Jannat Bibi, wife of Qaiser Khan, Fauzia, daughter of Ata Mohammad Umrani, and two other girls, aged between 16 to 18 years. They were at the house of Mr. Chandio at Baba Kot village and to leave for a civil court at Usta Mohammad, district Jafarabad, so that three of the girls could marry the men of their choice. Their decision to have marriage in court was the result of several days of discussions with the elders of the tribe who refused them permission to marry. The names of two younger girls were not ascertained because of strong control of tribal leaders in the area.
As the news of their plans leaked out, Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani, a brother of the minister, came with more than six persons and abducted them at gun points. They were taken in a Land Cruiser jeep, bearing a registration number plate of the Balochistan government, to another remote area, Nau Abadi, in the vicinity of Baba Kot. After reaching the deserted area of Nau Abadi, Abdul Sattar Umrani and his six companions took the three younger women out of the jeep and beat them before allegedly opening fire with their guns. The girls were seriously injured but were still alive at that moment. Sattar Umrani and his accomplices hurled them into a wide ditch and covered them with earth and stones. The two older women were an aunt of Fauzia and the other, the mother of one minor. When they protested and tried to stop the burial of the minors that were plainly alive, the attackers were so angry that they also pushed them into the ditch and buried all alive. After completing the burial, they fired several shots into to the air so that no one would come close.
The minors were educated and were studying in classes from 10 to 12. They were punished for trying to decide about their marriages.
After one month the police have still not registered the case and it is difficult to get more detailed information. The provincial minister is so powerful that police are reluctant to provide details on the murder. When the AHRC contacted Mr. Sadiq Umrani, provincial minister, he confirmed the incident by saying that only three women had been killed by unknown persons. He denied his or his brother's involvement. He went on to say that the police will not disclose any information about the case as to do so now would be implicate themselves. However, concerned officers of two different police stations have confirmed the incident and explained that no one is providing any information. Also as they could not find the graves of the victims it is difficult to register the case. The victim's family members have since left the place and their whereabouts are unknown.
The alleged perpetrator, Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani, the brother of the provincial minister, was also involved in murder of three persons, including one young woman, in January 2006. That case was similar in that a school teacher, Mr. Mohammad Aslam, was going with his lover in a taxi to a civil court to court marry. The perpetrators stopped them at Manjo Shori, sub district Tumboo, District Naseerabad and killed all three persons by gun fire. The dead included the taxi driver, Mr. Jabal Aidee. The police were unable to institute a murder case for five months until the intervention of Mr. Iftekhar Choudhry, the deposed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and also the deputy speaker of Senate. But only one person was arrested and the perpetrator Abdul Sattar Umrani remained at large.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Every year in Pakistan hundreds of women, of all ages and in all parts of the country, are reported killed in the name of honour. Many more cases go unreported. Almost all go unpunished. The lives of millions of women in Pakistan are circumscribed by traditions, which enforce extreme seclusion and submission to men many of whom impose their virtually proprietarily control over women with violence. For the most part, women bear the traditional male control over every aspect of their bodies, speech and behaviour with stoicism, as part of their kismat (fate), but exposure to media, the work of women's rights groups and the greater degree of mobility have seen the beginnings of women's rights awareness seep into the secluded world of women.
But if women begin to exert these rights, however tentatively, they often face more repression and punishment: the curve of honour killings has increased parallel to the rise in the awareness in rights. State indifference, discriminatory laws and the gender bias of much of the country's police force and judiciary have ensured virtual impunity for perpetuators of honour killings. It is paradoxical that women who enjoy such a poor status in society and have no standing in family should become a focal point of a false and primitive concept of family honour, which they are accepted to uphold at the expense of their inclinations and preference in the matters of marriage.
Originally a Baluch and Pashtun tribal custom, honour killings are founded in the twin concepts of honour and commodity of women. Women are married off for a bride price paid to the father. There is no concept for girls to get marriage on their own choice and if it is found then, they are killed in the name of honour.
PAKISTAN: Bodies of the five women buried alive desecrated by the wild animals
The human remains of the five women who were buried alive in Balochistan province have been desecrated by the wild animals and the provincial government has done nothing to provide a decent burial for these victims of honour killings. The provincial government, through its home secretary, has denied the incident reported in the Asian Human Rights Commission’s Urgent Appeal, PAKISTAN: Five women buried alive, allegedly by the brother of a minister which may be seen at: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2969/. The provincial government instead reported that three women were killed by unknown tribal men. However, the secretary of home affairs has not clarified in his statement as to how the women in question were killed, the whereabouts of their graves, who their relatives are and why a case of murder has not been filed by the victim’s family. Furthermore they have not explained as to why the police have not taken any action since July 18, the date of the incident. In fact, the secretary was completely silent on the incident until the issuance of the AHRC’s Urgent Appeal. In fact, the authorities have spent more time and effort in trying to identify those who provided the information of murders than they have in trying to identify the murderers.
The police officers of the Jafferabad district, Balochistan have not been taken to task for failing to investigate this horrendous crime, nor for their gross and criminal negligence in not arresting the culprits. They have not even taken the time to visit the area reported to the site of the murders.
The alleged perpetrator, Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani, is the younger brother of the provincial minister for housing and construction and is moving about freely. He is pressurizing the activists of the opposition parties of the district to name those persons who provided the initial information of the incident to the AHRC.
Eye witnesses have reported that wild animals, including dogs are desecrating the bodies which have been partially uncovered. Villagers in the area are carrying out the grim task of collecting body parts and reburying them in the same area. The victims were two ladies and three young women between the ages of 16 and 18 whose only crime was wanting to marry the husbands of their choice.
The governments of Pakistan and Balochistan province appear to have no interested in solving this case and are simply relying on information provided by the local government officials who are protecting tribal and political leaders. The people of the area are being terrorized by these powerful tribal leaders who use the police as their personal thugs. According to media reports the women of the district are so scared that, after this incident, many families are refusing to send their girls to school.
It is the duty of the governments, both at federal and provincial levels, to provide protection to every citizen, particularly women from the tribal and inhuman customs against the fragile sections of the population. The government should start an enquiry into this incident in which five women were brutally buried alive. If nothing is done to bring the perpetrators to justice, honour killings, forced marriages and violence against women will become norms of the society and the powerful groups will unleash their atrocities on weakest sections of the society.
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani should take a personal interest in this case and ensure that action is taken against the perpetrators, whether they are from his own party or ministers of his provincial government. The police officers who have failed to take action to investigate and arrest the perpetrators should be investigated and disciplinary action taken against them. As an initial and immediate action they should be transferred so that independent investigators may make an impartial inquiry. The government must immediately recover the bodies, conduct autopsies and DNA tests. The government should also search for the whereabouts of the family members of the unfortunate women who have left the area because of intimidation and threats from the perpetrators. And finally, the government must afford these poor unfortunate women a decent burial.
It is shameful that the government of a Muslim country allows body parts to be desecrated and lay scattered by the roadside without taking action. It is also very depressing to note that the provincial government of Balochistan is denying the incident in order to protect one of its cabinet members.» [in Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)]
According to the information received, five women were Ms. Fatima, wife of Umeed Ali Umrani, Jannat Bibi, wife of Qaiser Khan, Fauzia, daughter of Ata Mohammad Umrani, and two other girls, aged between 16 to 18 years. They were at the house of Mr. Chandio at Baba Kot village and to leave for a civil court at Usta Mohammad, district Jafarabad, so that three of the girls could marry the men of their choice. Their decision to have marriage in court was the result of several days of discussions with the elders of the tribe who refused them permission to marry. The names of two younger girls were not ascertained because of strong control of tribal leaders in the area.
As the news of their plans leaked out, Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani, a brother of the minister, came with more than six persons and abducted them at gun points. They were taken in a Land Cruiser jeep, bearing a registration number plate of the Balochistan government, to another remote area, Nau Abadi, in the vicinity of Baba Kot. After reaching the deserted area of Nau Abadi, Abdul Sattar Umrani and his six companions took the three younger women out of the jeep and beat them before allegedly opening fire with their guns. The girls were seriously injured but were still alive at that moment. Sattar Umrani and his accomplices hurled them into a wide ditch and covered them with earth and stones. The two older women were an aunt of Fauzia and the other, the mother of one minor. When they protested and tried to stop the burial of the minors that were plainly alive, the attackers were so angry that they also pushed them into the ditch and buried all alive. After completing the burial, they fired several shots into to the air so that no one would come close.
The minors were educated and were studying in classes from 10 to 12. They were punished for trying to decide about their marriages.
After one month the police have still not registered the case and it is difficult to get more detailed information. The provincial minister is so powerful that police are reluctant to provide details on the murder. When the AHRC contacted Mr. Sadiq Umrani, provincial minister, he confirmed the incident by saying that only three women had been killed by unknown persons. He denied his or his brother's involvement. He went on to say that the police will not disclose any information about the case as to do so now would be implicate themselves. However, concerned officers of two different police stations have confirmed the incident and explained that no one is providing any information. Also as they could not find the graves of the victims it is difficult to register the case. The victim's family members have since left the place and their whereabouts are unknown.
The alleged perpetrator, Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani, the brother of the provincial minister, was also involved in murder of three persons, including one young woman, in January 2006. That case was similar in that a school teacher, Mr. Mohammad Aslam, was going with his lover in a taxi to a civil court to court marry. The perpetrators stopped them at Manjo Shori, sub district Tumboo, District Naseerabad and killed all three persons by gun fire. The dead included the taxi driver, Mr. Jabal Aidee. The police were unable to institute a murder case for five months until the intervention of Mr. Iftekhar Choudhry, the deposed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and also the deputy speaker of Senate. But only one person was arrested and the perpetrator Abdul Sattar Umrani remained at large.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Every year in Pakistan hundreds of women, of all ages and in all parts of the country, are reported killed in the name of honour. Many more cases go unreported. Almost all go unpunished. The lives of millions of women in Pakistan are circumscribed by traditions, which enforce extreme seclusion and submission to men many of whom impose their virtually proprietarily control over women with violence. For the most part, women bear the traditional male control over every aspect of their bodies, speech and behaviour with stoicism, as part of their kismat (fate), but exposure to media, the work of women's rights groups and the greater degree of mobility have seen the beginnings of women's rights awareness seep into the secluded world of women.
But if women begin to exert these rights, however tentatively, they often face more repression and punishment: the curve of honour killings has increased parallel to the rise in the awareness in rights. State indifference, discriminatory laws and the gender bias of much of the country's police force and judiciary have ensured virtual impunity for perpetuators of honour killings. It is paradoxical that women who enjoy such a poor status in society and have no standing in family should become a focal point of a false and primitive concept of family honour, which they are accepted to uphold at the expense of their inclinations and preference in the matters of marriage.
Originally a Baluch and Pashtun tribal custom, honour killings are founded in the twin concepts of honour and commodity of women. Women are married off for a bride price paid to the father. There is no concept for girls to get marriage on their own choice and if it is found then, they are killed in the name of honour.
PAKISTAN: Bodies of the five women buried alive desecrated by the wild animals
The human remains of the five women who were buried alive in Balochistan province have been desecrated by the wild animals and the provincial government has done nothing to provide a decent burial for these victims of honour killings. The provincial government, through its home secretary, has denied the incident reported in the Asian Human Rights Commission’s Urgent Appeal, PAKISTAN: Five women buried alive, allegedly by the brother of a minister which may be seen at: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2969/. The provincial government instead reported that three women were killed by unknown tribal men. However, the secretary of home affairs has not clarified in his statement as to how the women in question were killed, the whereabouts of their graves, who their relatives are and why a case of murder has not been filed by the victim’s family. Furthermore they have not explained as to why the police have not taken any action since July 18, the date of the incident. In fact, the secretary was completely silent on the incident until the issuance of the AHRC’s Urgent Appeal. In fact, the authorities have spent more time and effort in trying to identify those who provided the information of murders than they have in trying to identify the murderers.
The police officers of the Jafferabad district, Balochistan have not been taken to task for failing to investigate this horrendous crime, nor for their gross and criminal negligence in not arresting the culprits. They have not even taken the time to visit the area reported to the site of the murders.
The alleged perpetrator, Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani, is the younger brother of the provincial minister for housing and construction and is moving about freely. He is pressurizing the activists of the opposition parties of the district to name those persons who provided the initial information of the incident to the AHRC.
Eye witnesses have reported that wild animals, including dogs are desecrating the bodies which have been partially uncovered. Villagers in the area are carrying out the grim task of collecting body parts and reburying them in the same area. The victims were two ladies and three young women between the ages of 16 and 18 whose only crime was wanting to marry the husbands of their choice.
The governments of Pakistan and Balochistan province appear to have no interested in solving this case and are simply relying on information provided by the local government officials who are protecting tribal and political leaders. The people of the area are being terrorized by these powerful tribal leaders who use the police as their personal thugs. According to media reports the women of the district are so scared that, after this incident, many families are refusing to send their girls to school.
It is the duty of the governments, both at federal and provincial levels, to provide protection to every citizen, particularly women from the tribal and inhuman customs against the fragile sections of the population. The government should start an enquiry into this incident in which five women were brutally buried alive. If nothing is done to bring the perpetrators to justice, honour killings, forced marriages and violence against women will become norms of the society and the powerful groups will unleash their atrocities on weakest sections of the society.
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani should take a personal interest in this case and ensure that action is taken against the perpetrators, whether they are from his own party or ministers of his provincial government. The police officers who have failed to take action to investigate and arrest the perpetrators should be investigated and disciplinary action taken against them. As an initial and immediate action they should be transferred so that independent investigators may make an impartial inquiry. The government must immediately recover the bodies, conduct autopsies and DNA tests. The government should also search for the whereabouts of the family members of the unfortunate women who have left the area because of intimidation and threats from the perpetrators. And finally, the government must afford these poor unfortunate women a decent burial.
It is shameful that the government of a Muslim country allows body parts to be desecrated and lay scattered by the roadside without taking action. It is also very depressing to note that the provincial government of Balochistan is denying the incident in order to protect one of its cabinet members.» [in Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)]
Para mais informação sobre a Marcha Mundial das Mulheres, uma organização global, consultar o sítio Marche Mondiale des Femmes.
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