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NA ignored recommendations on Blasphemy Law, says NCJP

Staff Report

LAHORE: The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) has termed the changes in the Pakistan Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code under the newly passed bill on honour killing by the National Assembly as superficial and misconstrued because they postpone the much-debated repeal of the Hudood Ordinance and the Qisas, Diyat and Blasphemy laws.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha, the NCJP Chairperson, and Peter Jacob, the executive secretary, said that the national assembly had ignored the recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry and the National Commission on Status of Women in 1997 and 2003 to repeal these laws. “The issue of compoundability has not been resolved as the bill passed by the National Assembly limits itself to honour killing and makes no provision for ordinary crimes pertaining to hurting others including culpable homicide.”

The NCJP said that the National Assembly had ignored public concern as well as the recommendation of the UN Special Rapporteur, who recommended in 1996 that these laws be made compatible with Human Rights. “The government has placed the issue of blasphemy laws out of context because the prejudiced and ambiguous drafts of Sections 295-B and C, 298-A, B and C have not been amended. It is the substance of the law that has caused the miscarriage of justice rather than the procedure for case registration. Moreover, the option of case investigation by higher officials has been tested and proven futile,” the statement said.

The NCJP appealed the Senate to send the draft back to the National Assembly for a review. “It is in the best interest of Pakistan to repeal such laws rather than to pass them and induce negative results,” the statement added.

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