http://www.forbes.com/business/services/feeds/ap/2006/12/11/ap3243277.html
Thousands Rally Over Pakistan Rape Law By ZARAR KHAN 12.11.06, 2:53 AM ET More than 20,000 supporters of an Islamic alliance rallied Sunday, demanding the government withdraw changes to a controversial rape statute that they say go against Islam. The protesters condemned President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, many chanting "Death to Musharraf." One carried a sign reading, "No to conspiracy for indecency and obscenity." Musharraf last week signed into law some amendments to the Hudood Ordinance, a 1979 law against rape that human rights activists said punished rape victims while providing legal safeguards for their attackers. The ordinance required a rape victim to produce four witnesses in court to prove her assault claim. Under the new amendment, judges can choose whether a rape case should be tried in a criminal court - where the four-witness rule does not apply - or under the Islamic ordinance. The new law also drops the death penalty for sex outside of marriage. The offense now would be punishable with five years in prison or a fine of $165. Human rights groups have hailed the amendments but Muslim groups claim the changes go against Islam. Opposition Islamic groups have held a series of protests against the new law since it was passed by Parliament last month. "We will not only force Musharraf to withdraw the bill through a people's movement, but we will end all the illegal acts of Musharraf's government," said Maualana Fazlur Rahman, a senior figure in the religious alliance and leader of the opposition in the lower house of Parliament. More than 300 riot police were deployed to keep the peace in Karachi on Sunday, said police officer Mohammed Khurram. No violence was reported. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
