The government vowed on Friday to revive a long scrapped jury system —comprising the judiciary, civil society and community members — for trials of human rights cases, particularly pertaining to domestic violence against women, but added that it was a cumbersome process.
“We can try to reactivate the old system,” Prime Minister’s Adviser on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar told the National Assembly after the proposal was floated by some of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members.
The suggestion came from PPP’s Nawab Ghani Talpur and Shagufta Jumani on a point of order about the reported increase in domestic violence against women, especially in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The call to revive the jury system that is reportedly working in some developed countries including the UK came amid reports that most human rights abuse cases in Pakistan go unreported due to social and cultural taboos.
However, the proposal of giving the judiciary, society and community the right to try such cases, especially in rural areas, appears to be ignoring threats associated with allowing non-state actors in these matters.
In semi-urban or conservative rural parts of the country, village councils or jirgas have been at the centre of several controversies over the years for issuing hostile verdicts against women and the oppressed.
Khokhar told the house that the National Assembly was set to pass a bill next week seeking the establishment of a commission on women that would be empowered to assume the role of a court of law for domestic violence cases.
“This [commission] will be as good as a jury,” the adviser added.
The debate on human rights abuses and domestic violence against women drew appreciation and some advice from Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza for the media to proactively highlight such cases.
However, the speaker also urged newspapers and television channels to be socially responsible and suggest a solution as well.
“It will be of great help for the society if the media starts educating people as well, along with sensitising them in such cases,” Mirza advised.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2011.
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