Expressing alarm at the reported rise in forced marriages and conversions of underage girls from religious minorities in Pakistan, UN experts on Monday called for immediate efforts to curtail the practices and ensure justice for victims.
Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts – such as the five endorsing Monday’s statement from the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls – are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
“We urge the Government to take immediate steps to prevent and thoroughly investigate these acts objectively and in line with domestic legislation and international human rights commitments. Perpetrators must be held fully accountable,” the experts said, as quoted in a statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.
“We are deeply troubled to hear that girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to locations far from their homes, made to marry men sometimes twice their age, and coerced to convert to Islam, all in violation of international human rights law,” the experts said. “We are very concerned that such marriages and conversions take place under threat of violence to these girls and women or their families.”
Noting Pakistan’s previous attempts to pass legislation prohibiting forced conversions and protecting religious minorities, the UN experts deplored the lack of access to justice for victims and their families.
According to UN Human Rights Office, reports suggest these so-called marriages and conversions take place with the involvement of religious authorities and the complicity of security forces and the justice system.
Writing for the Bitter Winter online magazine, Italian sociologist of religions, Massimo Introvigne argued that sexual relationships with underage girls, even if “voluntary” or after a “religious marriage,” should in theory be regarded as statutory rape in Pakistan.
“However, both the police and courts do not prosecute the kidnappers and “husbands,” and are happy to accept videos made or statements signed under duress where the girls claim that they are of age and consented to the “marriages.” Courts also accept documents that are obviously false, or ask friendly doctors to determine the “biological age” of girls that are then declared fit to marry,” he added.
According to the UN, these reports also indicate that the court system enables these offences by accepting, without critical examination, fraudulent evidence from perpetrators regarding victims’ adulthood, voluntary marriage, and conversion. Pakistan courts have occasionally misused religious law interpretations to justify victims remaining with their abusers, according to UN Human Rights Office statement.
“Family members say that victims’ complaints are rarely taken seriously by the police, either refusing to register these reports or arguing that no crime has been committed by labelling these abductions as “love marriages,” the experts said. “Abductors force their victims to sign documents which falsely attest to their being of legal age for marriage as well as marrying and converting of free will. These documents are cited by the police as evidence that no crime has occurred.”
The experts said it was imperative that all victims, regardless of religious background, are afforded access to justice and equal protection under the law
“Pakistani authorities must adopt and enforce legislation prohibiting forced conversions, forced and child marriages, kidnapping, and trafficking, and abide by their international human rights commitments to combat slavery and human trafficking and uphold the rights of women and children,” they said. (ANI)
This report is filed by ANI news service. TheNewsMill holds no responsibility for this content.
