[DAWN] CRIMINAL justice systems are primarily designed to protect victim's rights but in Pakistain's case, victims seem to have the least priority. The obsolete system in Pakistain is primarily elite-centric; its bureaucratic workings exacerbate the anguish of the victims.
In our context women, children, IDPs, refugees and minorities are the worst affected victims.
In advanced societies, police treat victims with courtesy, fairness, and due care. Victims' rights have even been incorporated into constitutions and statutes in many countries. 'Victim impact statements' are given due importance in the process of dispensation of justice.
Such statements, which articulate the physical, emotional and financial harm a person may have faced as a victim of crime, play an important role while convicting, releasing on bail or acquitting an accused.
Offenders are punished not only in accordance with the law but also in the light of victims' statements. In a few countries, prosecutors even take the victims into confidence while making decisions regarding the trial.
Victims have a right to protection from intimidation and threats by the accused. In Pakistain, however, it can take decades for cases to be decided. This compromises the victims' security. That, along with the low conviction rate -- the National Assembly was recently informed that 1.7 million cases were pending in the courts -- badly erodes the trust of the victims in the criminal justice system.
The criminal justice system must recognise the victims' right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay. If submission of the challan ... list of charges ... within 14 days is binding on the investigator, why can a time limit not be defined for the disposal of a case?
Victims' right to dignity and privacy is another immediate concern. To ensure this, Sherlocks, prosecutors, judges, lawyers and journalists need to be sensitised.
In Pakistain, the majority of victims are poor and cannot afford to either fight legal battles or survive with the consequences of crime. Due consideration should therefore be given to introduce legal assistance grants for them.
Following public consultation, specific legislation to address victims' rights must be enacted. Secondly, victims should be educated regarding their rights. We can replicate some best practices. In the UK for example, the victim is given the name of the investigator handling the case. Once a month during the investigation, the latter brings the victim up to date regarding progress on the case. In case of arrest of the accused, the victim is informed within five days.
The Pak media must also treat victims of crime with sensitivity rather than exploiting their distress. The echo chamber of multiple news channels and their sensationalist reporting further aggravates the victims' vulnerability.
As a regulatory body Pemra should tailor a victim-friendly code of ethics and take action against channels that violate it in their rapacious quest for ratings. Repeated footage of bodies draped with white sheets printed with the words 'Edhi' or 'Chhipa' multiplies anxiety: TV cameras should be denied access to mortuaries and even hospital wards.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] After the resolution, the recriminations. It may have been a stirring riposte to unreasonable demands, but the consensus parliamentary resolution last week was always going to draw criticism from the Arab states that had wanted Pakistain firmly on the side of the Saudi-led coalition attacking the Houthis inside Yemen.
Perhaps the only surprise is that the first broadside has come from the UAE, with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammad Gargash using decidedly undiplomatic language to vent his, and possibly his state's, apparent frustration with the Pak decision to not participate in hostilities inside Yemen.
There are at least two things that need to be considered here. First, Mr Gargash's comments have underscored precisely what was argued in parliament last week: the conflict in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is not about Yemen itself but seen by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and its allies as part of a much wider struggle to push back against perceived Iranian influence in the region.
That in and of itself is reason enough for Pakistain to abide by the parliamentary resolution -- Pakistain's ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries cannot and should not come at the expense of a third country with which Pakistain shares a significant border.
What Mr Gargash, and surely his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arab countries, may be perceived as seeking to do is to use the Yemen conflict to effectively declare war on Iran. But Pakistain has no reason whatsoever to engage Iran in a conflict, directly or via proxies.
In fact, it is in Pakistain's interests to broaden ties with Iran, especially in terms of energy cooperation, and to position itself to take advantage of the rollback of sanctions that the US-Iran nuclear deal may allow.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2015 00:00 ||
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See also RELATED WAFF > [Gulf] ARABS P ***** AT PAKISTAN AND TURKEY FOR NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN YEMEN.
versus
* GROONG > [Press TV] YEMEN WAR: BEGINNING OF OMINIOUS PLAN TO [weaken +] DIVIDE SAUDI ARABIA: IRAN DIPLOMAT.
Iran Deputy FM for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollah.
* WORLD NEWS > [Siasat Daily] SAUDI ARABIA SAYS EXPECTED BETTER FROM PAKISTAN AFTER [Pak] PARLIAMENT PASSES [anti-intervention] RESOLUTION ON YEMEN CRISIS.
* SAME > [Business Insider] MALAYSIAN MILITARY HAS AN [internal] ISIS PROBLEM.
Most of the time all one needs to know is contained in the title and small comments in JosephM's posts, but sometimes It seems worthwhile to track down the article itself.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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[DAWN] After the resolution, the recriminations. It may have been a stirring riposte to unreasonable demands, but the consensus parliamentary resolution last week was always going to draw criticism from the Arab states that had wanted Pakistain firmly on the side of the Saudi-led coalition attacking the Houthis inside Yemen.
