September 01, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 29, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 31: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has strongly criticised the acting chairman and a member of the Senate who, on the floor of the house, defended the barbaric act of burying women alive under a traditional custom.

In a statement, HRCP co-chairman Iqbal Haider noted that while Senator Israrullah Zehri tried to justify the abhorrent incident of burying three teenaged girls and two other women in Balochistan in the name of tribal tradition, acting chairman of the Senate Jan Mohammad Jamali disliked even the raising of the issue by another Senator, Yasmeen Shah, during a session a couple of days back.

Mr Jamali had reportedly responded to Ms Shah’s attempt to take up the issue by asking her: “Go to our society and see for yourself what the situation is like there, and then come back to raise such questions in the house.”

Mr Haider stressed that those involved in the barbaric act must be brought to justice. He recalled that on Aug 2, 1999, the Senate had refused to condemn honour killing, a barbaric custom. He said that it was unfortunate that some senators preferred to defend and protect inhuman customs even after taking oath of protecting the Constitution, that guaranteed basic human rights.

He called upon the federal and the Balochistan governments not to turn a blind eye towards the issue and ensure immediate arrest and prosecution of the killers of the five female victims without delay. The government should also ensure banning all such inhuman and barbaric customs, he added.