KARACHI, May 9: Various NGOs working for human and women rights, on Thursday, demanded that Zafaran Bibi, who has been sentenced to be stoned to death, be shifted from the death cell to normal jail ward.

They said that Zafaran Bibi, who had been sentenced to death by a Shariat Court of Kohat, was a victim of laws that were discriminatory towards women, and that she was just one of the thousands of women languishing in jails due to these laws.

They further demanded that all discriminatory laws — Hudood Ordinance, Citizenship Act, Law of Evidence, etc, — be repealed as these laws wereon the statute book and women would not be able to get justice.

They also condemned the action taken by the Islamabad police against NGO workers protesting against the death sentence of Zafaran Bibi.

They also demanded for the implementation of Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), in light of the recommendation of the report of the Commission of Inquiry for Women. The commission was constituted by the Parliament in 1996, and its recommendations had not yet been implemented.

Pointing out various speeches made by the Chief Executive and other top government functionaries that the government wanted to improve the status of women, they said that if the government was serious in its claims, then all discriminatory laws that undermine the status of women should be repealed.

The demands have been put forward by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Aurat Foundation, Shirkatgah, Women Action Forum and Amnesty International.