Pakistan: Video of flogging stirs controversy

[Fade]

Pakistan: Video of flogging stirs controversy
Apr 3 08:37 AM US/Eastern
By ASIF SHAHZAD
Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani authorities ordered an investigation Friday into a video showing a man flogging a screaming woman in the country's northwest where the government recently agreed to introduce Islamic law to end a rebellion by Taliban militants.

The government agreed to allow Islamic law in the Swat Valley under a peace deal struck with a hard-line cleric, sparking criticism from activists who are worried extremists will violate basic human rights, especially those of women.

The video that emerged Friday sparked further criticism, although it appeared to have been made before the peace deal was struck in February.

Sherry Rehman, a former information minister and senior ruling party member, called for the men who participated in the public flogging to be punished, saying they had "crossed a red line" and violated the country's constitution.

"Non-state actors have taken law and justice into their hands in a whole area with a force of their guns," she told the Aaj television network. "They want to enforce a Taliban-style system in the area, and we will not let it happen in Pakistan."Article continued at http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97B11V83&show_article=1&catnum=2

[Rancid]

Islam at work, bunch of brave b*stards whipping a young girl.

[Adux]

Mobile phone movie shows that militant influence is spreading deeper into Pakistan

* Declan Walsh, Islamabad
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 April 2009 17.17 BST
* Article history

WARNING: The video in the source link contains disturbing content

A video showing a teenage girl being flogged by Taliban fighters has emerged from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, offering a shocking glimpse of militant brutality in the once-peaceful district, and a sign of Taliban influence spreading deeper into the country.

The two-minute video, shot using a mobile phone, shows a burka-clad woman face down on the ground. Two men hold her arms and feet while a third, a black-turbaned fighter with a flowing beard, whips her repeatedly.

"Please stop it," she begs, alternately whimpering or screaming in pain with each blow to the backside. "Either kill me or stop it now."

A crowd of men stands by, watching silently. Off camera a voice issues instructions. "Hold her legs tightly," he says as she squirms and yelps.

After 34 lashes the punishment stops and the wailing woman is led into a stone building, trailed by a Kalashnikov-carrying militant.

Reached by phone, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the flogging. "She came out of her house with another guy who was not her husband, so we must punish her. There are boundaries you cannot cross," he said. He defended the Taliban's right to thrash women shoppers who were inappropriately dressed, saying it was permitted under Islamic law.

The Guardian received the video through Samar Minallah, a Pashtun documentary maker and anthropologist who lived in Swat for two years in the late 1990s. It has been passed between Swat residents by mobile phones.

Ms Minallah said the punishment had been inflicted within the last 10 days, following the signing of a controversial peace deal under which the provincial government ceded control of the valley's judicial system to the militants.

"This video is being widely circulated because the Taliban want people to see it. They want to give the message that this is taking place after the peace deal because this is something they ideologically believe in," she said.

Local sources including journalists and human rights workers, some of whom declined to be identified, confirmed the video was recent, although estimates of its timing varied between one and three weeks ago. The Taliban spokesman said it predated the peace deal.

Sher Muhammad Khan, an official in Swat with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said: "They have committed so many atrocities since the peace deal. They have taken entire control of the district. There is nobody to control them; they decide disputes according to their whims."

Since the 15 February deal, a hybrid of traditional and Islamic law has been operational in Mingora, the largest city in Swat district. The qazi courts, as they are known, are not operated by the Taliban but by a related political movement. They have a murky legal status because the changes have yet to be signed into law.

Floggings and other physical punishments have not been imposed in Mingora, where some residents have praised the system's efficiency. However, in outlying districts, where government writ has been entirely crushed, a crude form of gun justice prevails.

The woman in the video, named as Chaand and believed to be aged 17, was punished in Matta, a district further up the Swat Valley.

Minallah and other sources said the girl was punished on suspicion of having had an illicit relationship with a married man. She did not receive a trial. "The whole case is based on the suspicions of one neighbour," said Minallah.

The woman's brother is among the men pinning her down, she added. "It's symbolic that he does it with his own hands. It gives him honour in local society, that he has done it for the sake of religion."

The Swat Valley is controlled by Maulana Fazlullah, a charismatic preacher who initially gained popularity through radio broadcasts, then seized control through gun battles, suicide attacks and intimidation of the local population.

Since the peace deal, women have been beaten for shopping unaccompanied in Mingora's main market and dozens of girls' schools remain closed, many of them bombed.

Fazlullah has sworn loyalty to Baitullah Mehsud, the overall Taliban leader from South Waziristan who claimed responsibility for last Monday's eight-hour assault on a police centre in Lahore and has vowed to mount attacks in Washington.

On Wednesday a presumed American drone fired rockets at a compound controlled by his network, killing at least 14 people.

The effective surrender of government authority in Swat has caused great alarm across Pakistan and among western allies.Minallah said she feared Talibanisation would spread across Pakistan. "I have distributed this video because I feel people are in denial. They don't want to believe what is happening."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...women-flogging (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/taliban-pakistan-justice-women-flogging)

Religion of peace at work, extremely disturbing video and audio!

[timetraveller]

So it wasn't filmed by a news crew it was filmed on someones Mobile ...

All based on supposed rumours the by neighbours .. and her brother holds her down to be whipped



Pathetic ... Individual

[Carib]

Beat that ass

[Gunge]

disgusting so called men
not an ounce of manhood or honor among those scum
Pakistan is in trouble

[Parx400]

As James T. Kirk once said " Spock, the're animals, let them die"

[Hilbert]

Absolutely disgusting.

[Mastermind]

I laugh at the people who defend and apologize for this savage cult...I pity the poor girl...I cry for the people subjected to this barbaric religion...I curse any government that would surrender it's people to this group of savage human animals...and I stand even more resolute to expose this cult of savages for what it truly is...one thing it is not...It is not a religion of peace!!! MM

[Adux]

This has nothing to do with religion. It is all about tribal culture yada yada, since this doesnt happen in Saudi Arabia,Sudan, Somalia etc....../ extreme disgusted sarcasm.

[dredger14]

LOL wait till you see genital mutilation. Extreme Gross

[Bia]

I watched the video yesterday... wasnt as brutal as one might imagine... but humiliating to the Nth degree.

I'm so headstrong I cant even begin to imagine living the life of a fem there.

:/

[Lt. James Anderson]

LOL wait till you see genital mutilation. Extreme Gross

You mean circumcision? Oh it happens every day in so-called civilized world.

[dredger14]

You mean circumcision? Oh it happens every day in so-called civilized world.

Female genital circumcision.

[Adux]

LOL wait till you see genital mutilation. Extreme Gross

I had a somalian girlfriend once, who had gone through that! She escaped somalia to England, is now a citizen and a christian!

[Adux]

I watched the video yesterday... wasnt as brutal as one might imagine... but humiliating to the Nth degree.

I'm so headstrong I cant even begin to imagine living the life of a fem there.

:/


Little of bit research and this what I came up with,and NO, self-empowered women can never live in such a prehistoric place!


http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/wife-beating.htm



Before we discuss wife beating, we must review Islam’s viewpoint of women and comprehend the position, or standing, it places her in with respect to her husband. This is fundamental in understanding the command to beat the disobedient wife. Islam views the woman as inferior to the man and as such, places her in a subservient and subordinate position in the marriage relationship. The man is allowed to discipline his wife because he is her superior and responsible for her. He has the authority to beat his wife if he feels she is being disobedient. Wife beating is merely the bad fruit of a bad theological root.

[Red_Rage]

Wow, they label an act of ****** sadism that borders perversion as "enforcing morals".

Fvcking savages.

[black mamba]

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=21319

Saturday, April 04, 2009
Orders production of victim in court on Monday; constitutes eight-member larger bench; president, PM condemn, order inquiry into incident

By Sohail Khan & Asim Yasin

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on Friday took suo moto notice of a girl's flogging in Swat and issued notices to the federal interior secretary and the chief secretary as well as the inspector general police, NWFP, to personally appear before the court on Monday.

He also directed the federal interior secretary to procure and produce the victim (girl) before the court on the date fixed. According to ******* grainy video footage, which emerged on Friday, apparently shot with a mobile phone camera shows militants making the burqa-clad girl lie on the ground on her stomach. One man holds her feet and another her head while a third man with a black beard and turban flogs her with a leather strap. Men can be seen looking on.

"For God's sake, stop it ... hang on, hang on," the girl cries as the man beats her across the buttocks. A militant commander off-camera can be heard giving orders as the girl squirms and whimpers under the blows: "Hold her feet tightly, hold her hands tightly." Human rights activist Samar Minallah said the girl was from a poor family and was flogged after a neighbour told the Taliban she had had an affair.

"They did this brutality just on suspicion. There was no trial. No evidence, no witness was produced," she said. The chief justice ordered fixation of the matter under the Article 184(3) of the Constitution before an eight-member larger bench of the Supreme Court to be headed by him (CJP) on Monday. The larger bench consists of Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmed.

In this respect, notices have also been issued to the attorney general (AG), NWFP advocate general and Peshawar High Court Bar Association president to appear on the fixed date to assist the court.

The CJP took a serious notice on a video clipping screened on private television channels. In his suo-moto notice, the CJP said the matter was a serious violation of fundamental rights, guaranteed under the Constitution.

The CJP observed that the exact place/venue of the incident and the circumstances under which the punishment by whipping was administered was not known, it certainly constituted a serious violation of law and fundamental rights of the citizens of the country.

Geo TV, which showed the video of the incident, has also been directed to produce the CD of the incident. Three private TV channels have also been asked that they may jointly compile the video material of the incident and arrange to display the same before the court on Monday.

According to a press statement, issued by the Supreme Court registrar office, Geo News Television Channel released a video film on Friday of a 17-year-old girl being whipped in public. The punishment was administered by some unknown persons.

In the film, one person had held the girl from hands, the other from feet and the third one was beating her with a whip. The victim girl was continuously crying/screaming. The charge was that she went out of her home with a "Namahram". The exact place of incident was not reported; however, it appears to be some place in Mingora or some village in Swat. Probably, the said news was also released by the foreign media, the statement said. It said that it is a very cruel act, violation of the fundamental rights and gives a very bad name to the country. The treatment is also in violation of Islamic norms/principles.

It further said the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees fundamental rights of its citizens. No person can be deprived of life, liberty without due process of law. The dignity of person is inviolable. No person can be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment/punishment. Whipping is prohibited by law. The incident, therefore, constitutes a serious violation of the Constitution/law.

"It may be pointed out that according to Article 247 of the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation extends to the Tribal Areas, including the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata). The federal/ provincial laws do not automatically apply to the Tribal Areas; however, such laws can be extended to it with the approval of president/governor," the statement said.

It said the relevant portion of the Article 247 says: "Subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation shall extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the executive authority of a province shall extend to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas therein."

Neither the Supreme Court nor a high court shall exercise any jurisdiction under the Constitution in relation to a tribal area, unless Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) by law otherwise provides: "Provided that nothing in this clause shall affect the jurisdiction which the Supreme Court or a high court exercised in relation to a Tribal Area immediately before the commencing day."

It is pointed out that in the 1970s, the Supreme Court and high court jurisdiction was extended to Pata. So, in view of the above, the CJP may consider taking action in this matter under the Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly denounced the flogging in public of a young woman and called for a report from the government and apprehending those involved in the heinous crime.

Spokesman for the president Farhatullah Babar said the president was shocked over this act of barbarism and had asked for a report from the government and the local administration.The spokesman said the inhuman and barbaric punishment meted out to the woman had made the heads of the people hang in shame. "For its sheer atrocity, the incident will continue to haunt the people and the country even in a distant age and clime," he said.

He said the perpetrators of the crime had done a great disservice to humanity, religion and morality. "Such barbarism is unpardonable and cannot be tolerated; it will not be," he said. The prime minister also ordered the authorities to inquire into the incident and submit a report.

He said, "The incident was also contrary to the Islamic principles, as our religion teaches us to treat the women politely and gently." The prime minister said, "The government believes in the rights of women and will continue to take every measure to protect their rights."

[Adux]

eye wash, they cant even enter swat....keep playing the world pakistan

[Blue_0]

Kill Them All! (the taliban that is)

-- Bluelight

[Johnny_H02]

I just watched this video and it reminded me of something I heard on the weekend. I was in a small diner with my old man getting breakfast and there was a hippie retard behind me talking to some equally braindead brawd about how "people are driven to terrorism" because "their governments are pawns of Imperial aims" and "Don't have a public voice".

I just finished up, paid my bill and left I couldn't be arsed to tell the guy hes a ****ing moron in front of his woman. Anyways I wish I could have shown them this video, or the one about the Taliban in Afghanistan throwing acid in the faces of girls going to school. Sure ... its because these ****in savages don't have a "public voice" they cannot go raise a plebiscite to their local mayor in order to what? Legally throw acid in womens faces, beat them with riding crops or behead foreign nationals/aid workers?

People (hippies) need to wake the **** up and realize that not everyone will play nice even if you treat them so. The Taliban seem like that kind of hopeless crowd and though it may sound calous after seeing videos like this the West cannot kill enough of these assholes in my humble opinion.

[timetraveller]

Anyone seen on the News how the Footage that become public has forced the Goverment to hold a Enquiry .

[Adux]

Enquiry in SWAT, Good luck with that!

How long will be you all fooled with Pakistani deception for their intention, ideology and their own capabilities,

[ggk]

yeah like this kind of stuff never happen in India.

[eskachig]

Actually not as brutal as I expected, more extremely humiliating. The most shocking thing for me was just how practiced and calm the guy doing the beating was - this might be the first time we're seeing a video like this, but for that guy this was totally routine.

[Dilla2k]

Savages!!!

[dredger14]

yeah like this kind of stuff never happen in India.

Attacks on women by religious fanatics-yeah,

Religious fanatics running parallel governments with prehistoric codes of law, with their own courts-hell no!

[ggk]

Attacks on women by religious fanatics-yeah,

Religious fanatics running parallel governments with prehistoric codes of law, with their own courts-hell no!

funny, it happen yet its nver happen......

[dredger14]

funny, it happen yet its nver happen......

ggk doesn't your country have its nutcases??:)

[ggk]

oh yeah we have extremist...we arrest them all without trial...ISA for the win...

[Mastermind]

I just watched this video and it reminded me of something I heard on the weekend. I was in a small diner with my old man getting breakfast and there was a hippie retard behind me talking to some equally braindead brawd about how "people are driven to terrorism" because "their governments are pawns of Imperial aims" and "Don't have a public voice".

I just finished up, paid my bill and left I couldn't be arsed to tell the guy hes a ****ing moron in front of his woman. Anyways I wish I could have shown them this video, or the one about the Taliban in Afghanistan throwing acid in the faces of girls going to school. Sure ... its because these ****in savages don't have a "public voice" they cannot go raise a plebiscite to their local mayor in order to what? Legally throw acid in womens faces, beat them with riding crops or behead foreign nationals/aid workers?

People (hippies) need to wake the **** up and realize that not everyone will play nice even if you treat them so. The Taliban seem like that kind of hopeless crowd and though it may sound calous after seeing videos like this the West cannot kill enough of these assholes in my humble opinion.
^^Ha! Well Said....Quoted for truth!:)

[Johnny_H02]

I am usually a little cooler-headed than that quoted post but that video really got me angry. There is no excusing that kind of barbarism and there is no sense in calling it anything other than it is which is 'savagry' or 'barbarism' the fact that people think that terrorists/taliban/wahabist nazis can be talked to or reasoned with shows a terrible willingness to be ignorant to reality.

I wish we did live in a world were merit and kindness had an effect on everyone, sadly we don't and if we pretend we do the only people we are kidding are ourselves.Its a shame that people who have all the available information to see whats in plain view don't or choose not to heed.

[eskachig]

I am usually a little cooler-headed than that quoted post but that video really got me angry. There is no excusing that kind of barbarism and there is no sense in calling it anything other than it is which is 'savagry' or 'barbarism' the fact that people think that terrorists/taliban/wahabist nazis can be talked to or reasoned with shows a terrible willingness to be ignorant to reality.

I wish we did live in a world were merit and kindness had an effect on everyone, sadly we don't and if we pretend we do the only people we are kidding are ourselves.Its a shame that people who have all the available information to see whats in plain view don't or choose not to heed.I hope you feel the same way about Singapore caning people for vandalism - in a much more brutal and institutional manner.

[Johnny_H02]

Is vandalism caning done purely on suspicion alone or is there a court proceeding in which someone is tried and sentenced? This was done as a "message" to the people of the Swat area since the Pakistanis just proclaimed "hands off" in exchange for cooperation. Vandalism is an act of disrespect and very provable (most of the time). Beating a woman just because she walked out of a house that wasn't hers without a man.... is hardly vandalism.

[AL-Khalid]

Religion of peace at work, extremely disturbing video and audio!

Not surprisingly comes from the mouth of an indian. Hindus have the same habbit but more dangerous one which involves burning widiow woman alive with her husbad. "SAATI" comes to my mind.

[Adux]

Not surprisingly comes from the mouth of an indian. Hindus have the same habbit but more dangerous one which involves burning widiow woman alive with her husbad. "SAATI" comes to my mind.

which is why it is illegal and punishable by death in india unlike sharia in pakistan! Ps: while you are at it learn what saati is, and how it is even more evil than that floggin video, and also india is not a hindu country!

[ggk]

^^^^ you seem tense.

[Ulytau]

I wonder where are the people who was blaming to Parvaz Musharraf..