Pakistan: Pakistan's ruling party has given in to the demands of religious conservatives opposed to the amendment of Islamic laws which would have taken rape out of the sphere of religious law.
A bill to amend Islamic laws, including one which requires rape victims to produce four male witnesses or risk an adultery charge, has been fiercely opposed by the conservatives.
Women's rights activists had welcomed proposed amendments that would have put the crime of rape in the penal code, although some said Islamic laws should be repealed altogether.
However, in the face of objections from religious parties, the government said yesterday rape would remain in Islamic law, but become a crime under the penal code.
"If there are four witnesses, it will be tried under [ Islamic law]; if there are not, it will be tried under the penal code," said law minister Mohammad Wasi Zafar. "In the case of both adultery and rape, the judge will decide how to try the case," he said.
Controversy over the laws, known as the Hudood Ordinances, mirrors divisions in Pakistan, where a small class of urban liberals is often at odds with more conservative religious groups.
The laws, which laid down punishments for such crimes as rape, theft and adultery, were introduced in 1979 by military ruler Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and have drawn widespread criticism.
President Pervez Musharraf, who promotes "enlightened moderation", had earlier assured rights activists that he would back any moves to amend or repeal the laws. Mr Zafar said that a draft of a new amendment bill would be presented to parliament tomorrow. Supporters of the original amendments said that they would wait until they saw the new draft before commenting.
An opposition alliance of religious parties had threatened to withdraw from national and provincial parliaments if the original amendments were passed. It said it objected to changes that contradicted the Koran.
President Musharraf left yesterday for Europe and the US, where he is bound to face questions about human rights, in particular the situation of women, in his overwhelmingly Muslim country.
- (Reuters)