Crime Against a Pakistani Girl - A National Hour of Refelction

On June 22, 2002, an 18-year old Pakistani Girl was subjected to unspeakable treatment
and humiliation in Village Jatoi of Muzaffargarh in Multan District, Pakistan. She was
gang-raped by a group of barbaric individuals who were carrying out the "orders" of a
"panchayat" -- a council of tribal elders -- as a punishment of a crime that she did not
commit, and then made to parade naked as the community of hundreds looked on to this
show of "collective immorality" of a community and a nation without intervening to stop it.
Later on, the local authorities, government and law-enforcement, and individuals tried to
cover up the incident. Days later, after the crime was leaked by the foreign and local
media, the Governments of Pakistan and Punjab have apparently moved swiftly to try to
bring the perpetrators to justice. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, under the leadership of
CJP Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, has taken a suo moto notice of the incident and has
summoned the Punjab's Advocate general, IG Police and other officials to explain.

The gravity and the absurdity of the incident, however, demands that more than that be
done, and that the people of Pakistan, apply whatever resources and influence they can to
bear on this situation, to push for speedy and appropriate justice to the victim and
punishment to the perpetrators and their legitimizers in a manner that it becomes a
deterrent for the entire nation.

With that in mind, we, the undersigned, demand from our government, Federal, Provincial
and Local, as well as the Judiciary and Law-enforcement agencies, to do the following:

Swift Justice that Establishes a Deterrent
===========================
Do whatever it takes to bring justice and closure to this incident and to ensure that never
again such an act -- or even a iota of this one -- would be committed on the land called
Pakistan. The ugliness of the above incident, as described by foreign and local press, is
beyond words and leaves a tremendous sense of horror, grief and shame in the hearts and
minds of any sane-minded individual. While there is really no "just" punishment for this
unspeakable crime against humanity and human dignity, and that even laws against animals
are "humane and merciful" to their subjects, what the perpetrators and of this crime did
was much worse than animals, and therefore, should be treated as such. We appeal to the
Pakistani State, our judiciary, the human rights agencies and all its people, to ensure that
the harshest possible punishment, is awarded to the individuals in question
so as to set an example and a strong deterrent for the rest of us to remember. To that effect,
we demand a speedy trial with a predefined conclusion date and a capital punishment,
preferably as prescribed by the Law of Allah, to be carried out in public.

Collective Punishment for Collective Crime
=============================
Declare and deal with this incident as a "collective" crime, for it was a collective crime on
the part of the entire community, through which the perpetrators derived their misguided
strength and legitimacy. We believe, a collective crime should have a collective
punishment too. The 500-odd people / community members who watched as the poor
girl was raped in front of them and then made to parade naked should all get their due
share, according to the Law of Allah, if not the Law of the land. The punishment, to be
decided through an appropriate judicial procedure, should be such that nobody in the
future finds the courage and heart to stand watching or be a tacit party to a criminal act
like this. By the same token, we appeal that proceedings of "criminal neglect" and "cover
up" be undertaken against local government officials, nazims, naib nazims and councilors
as well as law-enforcement officials of the region.

Eliminate Extra-Judicial Treatment and Structures (e.g. Honour Killings & FATA)
=======================================================
Act decisively against the cancer of lawlessness and "state impotence" in Pakistan. This
was not merely a collective act on the part of a few or a few hundred, it was one duly
sanctioned by a deplorable "panchayat" (or tribal council) whose members actively
participated. This is a cancer that has pervaded our society at all levels. We demand that
the requisite authorities act to end this lawlessness in all parts of Pakistan, once and for all,
and NOW. We also demand an end to the extra-legal status of honour crimes that is
sometimes tolerated in the Pakistani society. How can somebody, who cares so much
about honour, "trample" somebody else's honour with such barbarism and immorality?
And if somebody has so much honour that he/she is willing to kill for it then, he/she should
also be willing to go to the gallows in exchange. We demand an end to the practice of
treating honour killings as an extra-legal aberration that somehow falls out of the purview
of law, whereby the killer gets away with the killing in the name of preserving the family
honour and the State watches like a silent spectator. The writ of law must be established
on all parts of Pakistan and extra-judicial procedures and structures that we have allowed
till now, be they the village panchayats or the jirgas in the tribal areas, be abolished, by
force if not otherwise. The current action against the Bugtis in the tribal areas is a
beginning of this exercise. This campaign should be expanded, with all the State's might to
bring all parts of Pakistan under the rule of law.

Expend Efforts to bring an end to "Crime Against Women", Internally & Externally
========================================================
As a dramatic departure from past, take swift and decisive action to condemn any
individual, community or nation that uses "crime against women" to serve any purpose,
whatsoever. The government must undertake this task as a TOP NATIONAL PRIORITY at two
levels. Firstly, the government must commit itself internally, and reaffirm its commitment
after October 2002, to show marked improvement in the country's record, on a
variety of measures to be appropriately decided, relating to the treatment of and
discrimination against women and the girl child. Secondly, we demand and expect from
our government to become a pioneer in pushing towards an international treaty that
reaffirms the commitment of the international community to condemning "crime against
women" and honoring the dignity of women even during times of international conflict. We
hope that a universal coalition of nations can be motivated to unanimously agree on strict
guidelines and redressal measures on that issue. Let this "eye-opener" that jolted our
collective consciousness and values like Islam, morality, justice and human dignity be a
springboard for positive change and decisive action.

National Day of Reflection and Reaffirmation
==============================
Declare an appropriate day out of the three sixty five, preferably the day the criminals (still
at large) are brought to justice, as a "National Day of Reflection and Reaffirmation" for the
country. Let this be a day, every year, for Pakistanis to be reminded of their
responsibilities towards bringing and end to injustices like these that pervade our society.
Let this be day when the nation reflects over where and when did it go wrong? What has
it done over the previous year to set things right, and what does it plan to do the next year
to further improve upon its record on the treatment of women and the girl child? Let this
be a day when we all reaffirm our resolve not to tolerate such injustices again, both within our
boundaries and the rest of the world. An internal transformation would prevent
violence against women in our society, enable them to exercise their rights as equal
humans, and contribute equally to the national life.

We, the undersigned, appeal to all Pakistanis, anywhere on the face of the earth, to use
their influence, in whatever way possible, to rise up against this barbarism in their own
society and communities and to the Government, Judiciary, Human rights agencies, Media
and others to work collectively towards the achievement of the objectives identified in this petition.