...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

"Human rights" in Pakistan: As this report in the Globe and Mail recounts, it includes the “right” to settle an inter-tribal squabble by treating your daughters as chattel:

ISLAMABAD -- It started with a badly behaved dog but by the time the bitter quarrel was over, 20 people had been killed and 15 girls, the youngest only three years old, were to be given in "marriage" to a rival tribe to settle the dispute.

The handing over of girls is an ancient custom in some parts of Pakistan, but the fate of the 15 girls, in this case, has prompted a furious outrage.

"The murderer gets away. It is his daughter, his sister, his niece, that pays the price," said Samar Minallah, a human-rights activist based in Islamabad. "The girl has to pay the price for the rest of her life."

Although the tradition governing the handoff of the girls -- involving a ceremony in which the other tribe formally claims the girls by laying a scarf or dupatta on their heads -- provides for them to live at home until they are 18, many observers believe the girls will not be permitted that luxury.

"Once the dupatta is laid on the girls, they become the personal property of the [other tribe] and they can take them away when they want," said Indadullah Khoso, the local co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

According to human-rights activists, girls in such cases are poorly treated by their new families because they are thought to be tainted by shame. They can be subject to rape while they are still minors.

Vani or swara, as the custom is called, usually involves the daughters of illiterate and poor people, who do not have money or other assets that can be used as compensation. Ms. Minallah said although vani is illegal, the settlements are often ordered by rich local landowners who adjudicate disputes and who are educated people; some are members of parliament. Police and local administration officials rarely intervene…

Coming soon to the rights-addled Trudeaupia weak and unfree?

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:35 | link | comments

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