Image copyright AFP Image caption The new law is being seen as a big step towards ending honour killings in Pakistan

Pakistan's government has closed a loophole allowing those behind so-called honour killings to go free.

New legislation means killers will get a mandatory life sentence.

Previously, killers could be pardoned by a victim's family to avoid a jail term. Now forgiveness will only spare them the death penalty.

It is being seen as a step in the right direction in a country where attacks on women who go against conservative rules on love and marriage are common.

According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), nearly 1,100 women were killed by relatives in Pakistan last year in such killings, while many more cases go unreported.

The loophole allowed the perpetrators of "honour killings" - often a relative acting on the pretext of defending family "honour" - to avoid punishment because they can seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.

Pakistan and 'honour killings'

'First step'

In recent months, a number of high-profile deaths have made headlines both in Pakistan and abroad, including the killing of British woman Samia Shahid in July, allegedly by her father and her former husband.

The same month, Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was strangled to death, allegedly killed by her brother in the province of Punjab.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Qandeel Baloch - a social media star in Pakistan - was allegedly killed by her brother in July in a so-called honour killing

The amended law was debated by Pakistan's National Assembly for four hours on Thursday, before being passed unanimously.

Campaigners have been calling for tougher legislation to protect women from violence for years.

A 2005 amendment to the law pertaining to "honour killings" prevented men who kill female relatives pardoning themselves as an 'heir' of the victim.

Pakistani activist and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid - who won an Oscar earlier this year for a documentary on "honour killings" - paid tribute to the people who had worked to get the bill through.

"It may not change much over night but it is certainly a step in the right direction," she said in a Facebook post. "And today I am proud that we have gone the distance on this bill."

Others were more cautious, raising concerns over the fact the bill still allows a judge to decide whether a murder qualifies as an 'honour killing' or not.

A controversial law which may prove a deterrent: By M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad

The bill - pending for a long time - has now been passed by both houses of parliament, which means they will soon make it to the statute books.

But it is yet to be seen how effective a deterrent the anti-honour killing law may prove.

The crime is often committed either as a result of sudden provocation or under tremendous social pressure. Killers have largely enjoyed impunity due to a legal provision under which a relative of the victim could pardon the perpetrator.

That clause has now been tweaked to ensure the offender pays the price. This may prove to be a deterrent in the long run.

In rape cases, the parliament has for the first time introduced a provision allowing DNA tests to ascertain identity of the offender. Experts believe this will effectively cover up for the weakness in the previous legislation that relied heavily on circumstantial evidence.</s>Despite objections from religious hard-liners, lawmakers Thursday took the first significant move to curb mounting numbers of "honor" killings in Pakistan, stiffening the penalties and closing a loophole that allowed such killers to go free.

Public outrage has been growing in Pakistan in the wake of a string of particularly gruesome slayings.

More than 1,000 women were killed last year in so-called honor killings in Pakistan, often by fathers, brothers or husbands who believed the victims had tainted the family name by marrying the man of her choice — or even meeting or being seen sitting with a man.

Those who carry out such killings are almost never punished. In accordance with Islamic Shariah law, Pakistan's legal code since the 1990s has allowed families of victims to forgive the killer. Since the killers in these cases are usually close relatives, the family almost always forgives them.

The measure passed Thursday imposes a mandatory 25-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of killing in the name of honor and bans family members from forgiving them.

Relatives can only forgive an honor killer who has been condemned to death, in which case the sentence is commuted to prison.

Activists and liberal opposition members who backed the law said it was a step in the right direction, although they said it should have gone further to eliminate forgiveness.

"Remove these clauses which allow the option of forgiveness, otherwise these killings will keep happening," warned Sherry Rehman, an opposition legislator and fierce champion of women's rights in a speech to parliament.

She pointed to the Oscar-winning documentary "Girl in the River" that told the story of a girl who survived an attempt by her uncle and father to kill her but then was forced to forgive them.

"We should be ashamed. We should all be ashamed. You should all be ashamed," she said of the forgiveness provisions. The film prompted Pakistan's conservative Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to promise legislation to end the practice.

Only about a third of the 446 lawmakers attended the session, but debate was raucous, with the loudest opposition coming from hard-line Islamists.

Conservative Sen. Hafiz Hamdullah said parliament should instead address elopements by women, claiming 17,000 had done so since 2014.

"Why don't we see what are the reasons behind such killings? Why are girls eloping from their homes?" he said.

Speaking later to The Associated Press, he echoed a stance taken by many hard-liners that the law is bringing Western-style independence for women.

"They are trying to impose Western culture over here. We will not allow (it)," he said. "We will impose the law that our holy Quran and Sunnah (tradition) say."

Conservatives demanded that the Islamic Ideology Council, a body of conservative Muslim clerics, weigh in on the bill before the vote. Supporters flatly refused, saying the council routinely vetoes legislation aimed at protecting women. The council once ruled it was permissible for a man to "lightly" beat his wife, though recently it did say that honor killings are "un-Islamic."

In the end, a voice vote was held, with a strong "yes" vote and a low mumbling of those opposed.

Government lawmakers, who had pushed the law, said they spent nearly a year negotiating with Pakistan's many political parties to get a draft that had a chance of passing.

Zafarullah Khan, a legal adviser to Sharif, said the bill was a compromise.

"This was the best possible solution," Khan said in an interview. It offered a concession to religious parties, while still ensuring a convicted killer spends 25 years in jail, he said, adding that what needs to change is the "mindset" of fathers and brothers, families and witnesses.

"The problem is societal behavior," Khan said. "It has nothing to do with laws."

Honor killings are rooted in traditions by which a family's honor is bound up with a woman's chastity. Such killings often are met with acceptance, even approval, by neighbors and relatives.

A man who killed his sister for marrying without family approval described how his co-workers taunted him relentlessly, even telling him he should kill her.

But public outrage over the practice has also been growing as proliferating TV channels and more access to social media have lifted the secrecy that once surrounded the killings.

In recent months, a social media celebrity, Qandeel Baluch was choked to death by her brother; a mother, with the help of her son, strangled and set fire to her daughter because she married the boy of her dreams; a teenage girl was tied up in a car and set ablaze on orders of tribal leaders because she helped a friend elope.

The legislation was originally introduced nearly a year ago by the opposition People's Party. But because the practice of forgiveness is part of Shariah, Parliament deferred it to a committee to try to build a consensus. The conservative Pakistan Muslim League took up the bill but added the possibility of forgiveness for the death penalty as a concession to religious parties.

"We have to work within certain confines ... but we have taken this step and we have come so far," said Shaista Pervaiz Malik, a government lawmaker.

A second bill was also passed Thursday that sought to make it more likely to get a conviction in the case of rape.

The measure, passed with little debate, allowed medical evidence to be admitted in court as well as the use of DNA, which had been opposed by religious hard-liners. It's not clear what prompted them to suspend their objection.

Previously, medical evidence was not enough for conviction, and instead four witnesses to the rape were necessary under Islamic law. In the past, the culprit simply accused the victim of being a willing partner, which often landed her in jail.</s>ISLAMABAD -- Despite objections from religious hard-liners, lawmakers Thursday took the first significant move to curb mounting numbers of "honor" killings in Pakistan, stiffening the penalties and closing a loophole that allowed such killers to go free.

Public outrage has been growing in Pakistan in the wake of a string of particularly gruesome slayings.

More than 1,000 women were killed last year in so-called honor killings in Pakistan, often by fathers, brothers or husbands who believed the victims had tainted the family name by marrying the man of her choice — or even meeting or being seen sitting with a man.

Those who carry out such killings are almost never punished. In accordance with Islamic Shariah law, Pakistan's legal code since the 1990s has allowed families of victims to forgive the killer. Since the killers in these cases are usually close relatives, the family almost always forgives them.

The measure passed Thursday imposes a mandatory 25-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of killing in the name of honor and bans family members from forgiving them.

Relatives can only forgive an honor killer who has been condemned to death, in which case the sentence is commuted to prison.

'We should be ashamed'

Activists and liberal opposition members who backed the law said it was a step in the right direction, although they said it should have gone further to eliminate forgiveness.

"Remove these clauses which allow the option of forgiveness, otherwise these killings will keep happening," warned Sherry Rehman, an opposition legislator and fierce champion of women's rights in a speech to parliament.

She pointed to the Oscar-winning documentary "Girl in the River" that told the story of a girl who survived an attempt by her uncle and father to kill her but then was forced to forgive them.

"We should be ashamed. We should all be ashamed. You should all be ashamed," she said of the forgiveness provisions. The film prompted Pakistan's conservative Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to promise legislation to end the practice.

Only about a third of the 446 lawmakers attended the session, but debate was raucous, with the loudest opposition coming from hard-line Islamists.

Conservative Sen. Hafiz Hamdullah said parliament should instead address elopements by women, claiming 17,000 had done so since 2014.

"Why don't we see what are the reasons behind such killings? Why are girls eloping from their homes?" he said.

Speaking later to The Associated Press, he echoed a stance taken by many hard-liners that the law is bringing Western-style independence for women.

"They are trying to impose Western culture over here. We will not allow (it)," he said. "We will impose the law that our holy Quran and Sunnah (tradition) say."

Conservatives demanded that the Islamic Ideology Council, a body of conservative Muslim clerics, weigh in on the bill before the vote. Supporters flatly refused, saying the council routinely vetoes legislation aimed at protecting women. The council once ruled it was permissible for a man to "lightly" beat his wife, though recently it did say that honor killings are "un-Islamic."</s>Perpetrators of so-called "honor killings" can no longer walk free if pardoned by the victim's family, after a new law was passed n Pakistan.

The bill, which failed to gain traction when it was first introduced in March, passed unanimously in both houses of parliament on Thursday.

"A vicious circle has now come to an end," Senator Farhatullah Babar told CNN. Now, a killer will face a minimum sentence of 25 years in jail. "No murderer will be able to walk away free even if his parents or family members forgive him for killing his sister, wife or mother in the name of 'honor.'"

This milestone comes three months after a social media star and " modern day feminist " was killed by her brother for "dishonoring" the family.

In July, Waseem Baloch strangled his sister , Qandeel Baloch, at their home because he believed "girls are born to stay at home and follow traditions." He confessed the murder on video and expressed no remorse, saying, "I am proud of what I did. I drugged her first, then I killed her."

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, as many as 212 women were victims of such killings in the first half of 2016. In a 2015 report by the World Economic Forum, Pakistan ranked 144 out of 145 countries on gender disparity</s>Pakistani lawmaker from the People's party who moved the bill against honor killing, Aitzaz Ahsan (center) addresses media at the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday. Pakistani lawmakers have passed a law that stiffens the penalty for convicted "honor" killers and closes a loophole that often allowed them to go free. The law gives a mandatory 25 years in prison to anyone convicted of killing in the name of honor and no longer allows family members to forgive the killers. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)</s>A joint session of the lower and upper houses of parliament, broadcast live on television, approved the new anti-honor killing law, removing a loophole in existing law that allows family members to pardon a killer.

"Laws are supposed to guide better behavior, not allow destructive behavior to continue with impunity," former senator Sughra Imam, who initially tabled the bill, told media.

Some 500 women are killed each year in Pakistan at the hands of family members over perceived damage to "honor" that can involve eloping, fraternizing with men or any other infraction against conservative values that govern women's modesty.

In a majority of cases, the victim is a woman and the killer is a relative who escape punishment by seeking forgiveness for the crime from family members.</s>ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani lawmakers have passed a law that stiffens the penalty for convicted “honor” killers and closes a loophole that often allowed them to go free.

The bill was passed Thursday after a raucous debate that lasted nearly four hours. The law gives a mandatory 25 years in prison to anyone convicted of killing in the name of honor and no longer allows family members to forgive the killers.

More than 1,000 women were killed last year in so-called honor killings in Pakistan, often by fathers, brothers or husbands, prompted by acts as innocent as a woman marrying the man of her own choice or being seen sitting with a man. Killers were rarely punished because of the forgiveness provision. Human rights activists have been battling for years for tighter laws.</s>ISLAMABAD: Pakistan passed long-awaited legislation Thursday closing a loophole that allowed people who killed for “honour” to walk free, three months after the murder of a social media star by her brother sparked international revulsion.

The legislation, passed unanimously by the National Assembly, mandates life imprisonment even if the victim’s relatives forgive the murderer.

The assembly also passed a bill increasing the punishments for some rape offences, mandating DNA testing and making the rape of a minor or the disabled punishable by life imprisonment or death.

Women have long fought for their rights in Pakistan, and so-called “honour” killings claim the lives of hundreds each year.

Rape conviction rates are close to zero percent, largely due to the law’s reliance on circumstantial evidence and a lack of forensic testing.

Rights groups and politicians have for years called for tougher laws to tackle perpetrators of violence against women in the country.

The gruesome murder of Facebook star Qandeel Baloch in July catapulted the issue into the international spotlight.

“This is a step in the right direction,” women’s activist and columnist Aisha Sarwari told AFP.

“We should take our little wins where we get them and proceed forward and not retreat.”

But rights activist Farzana Bari was more cautious, saying the bill still allowed a judge to decide whether a murder qualified as an “honour killing” or not.

Marvi Sirmed, feminist and rights activist, called the bill “very good news”, but echoed Bari’s concern, saying: “The challenge now is, how the honour crimes be defined.”

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later issued a statement hailing the passage of the bill and vowed police and courts would implement it.

“We will make… sure to fully enforce this legislation across the country,” a statement issued by his office said.

“Women are the most essential part of our society and I believe in their empowerment, protection and emancipation.”

The perpetrators of honour killings — in which the victim, normally a woman, is killed by a relative on the pretext of defending family “honour” — often walk free because they can seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.

A 2005 amendment to the law pertaining to honour killings prevented men who kill female relatives pardoning themselves as an “heir” of the victim.

But punishment was left to a judge’s discretion when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer — a loophole which critics say had been exploited.

The amendments passed Thursday and published on the National Assembly website mandate judges to sentence someone who kills in the name of “honour” to life imprisonment, even if they have been forgiven and thereby avoid the death penalty, said senior opposition lawmaker Farhatullah Babar.

“Even if the close family members pardon the murderer, the court is bound to send him to jail for 25 years,” Babar told AFP.

The amendments regarding rape, in addition to calling for DNA tests and toughening the punishment in some cases, also protect a victim’s identity and mandate that cases be brought to court within three months.

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won an Oscar earlier this year for a documentary on honour killings that was hailed by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who promised to push through the legislation in February.

But no action was taken, despite a slew of further high-profile killings.

The death of social media star Baloch, judged by many in the country as infamous for selfies and videos that by Western standards would appear tame, reignited polarising calls for action after her brother admitted killing her.

“I am not embarrassed at all over what I did,” he told media at a defiant press conference in July.

“Whatever was the case, it (his sister’s behaviour) was completely intolerable.”

Obaid-Chinoy slammed Baloch’s murder as symptomatic of an “epidemic” of violence against women in Pakistan. AFP</s>"A vicious circle has now come to an end," Senator Farhatullah Babar told CNN. Now, a killer will face a minimum sentence of 25 years in jail, Barbar said. "No murderer will be able to walk away free even if his parents or family members forgive him for killing his sister, wife or mother in the name of 'honor.'"

Pakistan's prime minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, has been under pressure to prosecute those who commit violence against women. "Honor killings" typically involve a woman being slain by a relative who believes she has brought shame upon the family.

"There is no honor in honor killing," he said earlier this year and again in a statement after Thursday's vote.</s>Pakistan on Thursday passed anti-honor killing and anti-rape bills, months after the ‘honor’ killing of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch.

The bills moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar were approved unanimously by a joint session of Parliament, Dawn.com reported.

The legislation on honor killings will introduce strict punishment for the convicts, making it tougher than the ordinary murder cases.

Under the new law, relatives of the victim would only be able to pardon the killer if he is sentenced to capital punishment. However, the culprit would still face a mandatory life sentence of twelve-and-a-half years.

Before moving the Anti-Rape Bill, Babar informed the joint session: “The bill will prove to be effective in curbing rape cases across the country.”

Debating during the session, Law Minister Zaid Hamid revealed that the perpetrator of the crime will also be medically examined after this bill is turned into a law.

“The verdicts in the rape cases will have to be given within three months, with the right to appeal in six months,” he added.

“The police station will be obliged to inform the victims of their legal rights,” Dawn.com quoted Hamid as saying, adding, “We have made it mandatory that the culprit must be imprisoned for 25 years.”

He said that rape of minors, as well as the mentally and physically ill, has also become punishable.

In July, days after the ‘honour’ killing of social media celebrity Baloch, a committee comprising lawmakers from both the lower and upper houses of parliament unanimously approved two bills aimed at tackling ‘honour’ killings and boosting rape convictions.
Pakistan's government removes a loophole allowing those behind so-called honor killings to go free with the new legislation instead requiring a mandatory life sentence.