Pakistan: Information on the treatment upon return to Pakistan of an unmarried Ahmadi woman with a child born out of wedlock, including the attitude of Pakistani society in general, and Ahmadi society in particular, towards her, and on access to protection from the state

The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam-Canada in Cumberland indicated in a 23 October 1995 letter sent to the DIRB that it does not have a record of any women from the Ahmadi community having children out of wedlock. The organization noted that "should in case an incident of that type ever happened, the family would conceal it from the notice of the public."

While unable to comment on the specific case of Ahmadi women, a representative of the South Asian Women's Community Center in Montréal stated in a 19 October 1995 telephone interview that unmarried women who have children out of wedlock are not common in Pakistan (ibid.). Unmarried women who do become pregnant would usually have an abortion or would put the child up for adoption (ibid.). This representative noted that in Pakistan, having children outside of marriage is considered immoral and those women who do face a lot of ostracism from their communities as well as from their families (ibid.).

A professor with expertise in Pakistan at the School of Urban and Regional Planning of Queen's University in Kingston stated during an 11 October 1995 telephone interview that having a child without being married is considered to be a shameful act. Any woman, whether or not she is a member of the Ahmadi community, who has a child out of wedlock would likely be rejected by her family and lose her community's support (ibid.). This corroborates the information provided by a professor in the Department of Economics at Simon Fraser University, also an expert on Pakistan, during an 25 October 1995 telephone interview. The professor at the Simon Fraser University added that an Ahmadi woman who has a child out of wedlock will be ostracized by her community and may be excommunicated from the Ahmadi movement (ibid.).

All three oral sources cited above agreed that having a child without being married is proof of fornication, which, under Islamic law, is a punishable offence (25 Oct. 1995; 19 Oct. 1995; 11 Oct. 1995). According to the professor at Simon Fraser University, Ahmadis are probabbly not subject to the Hudood Ordinances, the Islamic Penal laws in Pakistan, since they are not considered to be Muslims (25 Oct. 1995). However, in an April 1987 report entitled Pakistan: Human Rights After Martial Law, a mission of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) indicated that the Hudood ordinances are "for the most part" also applicable to non-Muslims (ICJ Apr. 1987, 9; see also Asia Watch and Women's Rights Project 1992, 49, 50). The DIRB is unable to find information further to the above.

                Please note that the Hudood ordinances were introduced by General Zia Ul-Haq in 1979 as part of his "Islamization" campaign (Asia Watch 1992, 48; ICJ 1987, 9; Jilani 1992, 70). Under the Zina (Hudood) Ordinance, wilful sexual intercourse outside marriage (zina) constitutes an offence (Mumtaz and Shaheed 1987, 173). Section 1(2) of this ordinance states that "it extends to the whole of Pakistan" and section 5 (2) states that the penalties for zina are stoning to death for married people and 100 lashes for those who are unmarried (ibid.). For more information on the Hudood ordinances, please refer to pages 11-14 of the DIRB June 1994 Human Rights Briefs entitled Women in Pakistan, and page 1256 of Country Reports 1994, available at your Regional Documentation Centre, as well as to the attachments.

Please see also the attached 4 September 1995 Reuters report which quoted Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at the opening session of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing as follows: "Pakistan could not agree with the wording of the Platform Action to include single mothers" since "in Islam a single mother could only be a widowed or divorced woman."

                This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam-Canada, Cumberland. 23 October 1995. Letter sent to the DIRB.

Asia Watch and the Women's Rights Project. 1992. Double Jeopardy: Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan. New York: Asia Watch and the Women's Rights Project.

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Geneva. April 1987. Pakistan: Human Rights After Martial Law. Geneva: ICJ (Reprinted by the Ahmaddiya Movement in Islam in Maple, Ontario).

Mumtaz, Khawar and Farida Shaheed. 1987. Women of Pakistan: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?. London: Zed Books.

Professor in the Department of Economics at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC. 25 October 1995. Telephone interview.

Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. 11 October 1995. Telephone interview.

South Asian Women's Community Center, Montréal. 19 October 1995. Telephone interview with a representative.

Attachments

Ahmadiya Movement in Islam-Canada, Cumberland. 23 October 1995. Letter from the Eastern Region Missionary to the DIRB.

Asia Watch and the Women's Rights Project. 1992. Double Jeopardy: Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan. New York: Asia Watch and the Women's Rights Project, pp. 47-68.

Goodwin, Jane. 1994. Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World. Boston: Little Brown and Company, pp. 48-74.

Human Rights Commission in Pakistan (HRCP). 1993. State of Human Rights Commission in Pakistan 1993. Lahore: HRCP, pp. 57-62.

Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1994. 1994. Edited by Peter Baehr et al. Oslo: Nordic Human Rights Institute, pp. 330-31.

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Geneva. April 1987. Pakistan: Human Rights After Martial Law. Geneva: ICJ (Reprinted by the Ahmaddiya Movement in Islam in Maple, Ontario).

Jilani, Hina. 1992. "Whos Laws?: Human Rights and Violence Against Women in Pakistan," Freedom from Violence: Women's Strategies from Around the World. Edited by Margaret Schuler. New York: UNIFEM, pp. 63-74.

Journal of Islamic Studies [Oxford]. 1991. Charles H. Kennedy. "Islamic Legal Reform and the Status of Women in Pakistan," pp. 45-55.

Mumtaz, Khawar and Farida Shaheed. 1987. Women of Pakistan: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?. London: Zed Books, pp. 99-105, 173-78.

Press Association Newsfile. 24 November 1993. Mike Taylor. "New Hope for Deportation Threat Mother." (NEXIS)

Reuters. 4 September 1995. BC Cycle. Andrew Browne. "Pakistan's Bhutto Defends Islam for Women." (NEXIS)

Women's International Network News (WIN) [Lexington, Mass.]. Winter 1995. Vol. 21, No. 1. "Legal Reform Proposed in Pakistan," p. 61.