It's part of a knowledge-sharing project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

One of the areas of fandom it studied was The Archers, looking mainly at the Archers Addicts fan club, the Archers Appreciation Facebook group and (to the greatest extent) the BBC's own Archers message board, for which I am the host.

It had some interesting things to say about the conflict - which is certainly there on the BBC's board - between people who simply want to discuss the characters and storylines in a more or less straightforward way, and those who, in the words of the report, take an "ironic" or "anti-fan" approach.

I've posted on the message board in the past about my worries that a very energetic and vocal group who tend to take a negative line can set the tone for the board, discouraging milder users.  Indeed the report says that some users are put off by this, and choose to go elsewhere.

But the BBC board - funded by all licence fee payers - should really be a place where everyone can feel they are welcome to post their views.  It's a continuing challenge.

Having said that, I should count my blessings, as overall the discussions on the BBC board are of far higher quality than in many other (non-Archers) online forums.

Here's a brief summary of the findings, by Lyn Thomas, of London Metropolitan University.

You might also be interested in this report on specialist music fans (and indeed producers) by Andrew Dubber and Tim Wall of Birmingham City University.

1. AHRC finisher document (done)

2. Connecting Principle schedule

3. Collate show images and burn to disk

4. Super 8 footage of You Never See Me

5. order copper sheet and ink

6. Compile new opportunities list (done)

7. Chase up AXIS

8. Managing a PhD intensive day (Thurs) (done)

COLOMBO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - An attack targeting a top Sri Lankan human rights lawyer drew U.S. and European condemnation on Monday, underscoring increasing threats faced by those who pursue cases against police or politicians in the Indian Ocean nation.

The Saturday hand-grenade attack on the Colombo home of J.C. Weliamuna, head of the local arm of graft watchdog Transparency International, injured no one but sent a chilling message to lawyers handling civil rights, graft and police abuse cases.

"I'm still pretty shaken," Weliamuna told Reuters. "There is a heavy burden on the state to show that the rule of law exists. If this happened, they must resolve it. If they don't, then no professional will be able to handle a sensitive issue."

Weliamuna said he could not be sure which of the hundreds of graft and police abuse cases he is handling prompted the attack.

The Supreme Court last week ordered an investigation into police torture in a case he is pursuing, and in which other lawyers have already been threatened.

The attack, combined with increasing threats against other lawyers, now puts Sri Lankan rights attorneys squarely in the company of journalists and civil society figures who routinely face threats, harassment and murder for speaking out.

The United States and European Union on Monday called on the Sri Lankan government to provide protection to Weliamuna and prosecute those responsible.

"We look to the authorities to launch an immediate investigation into this act of violence and bring the perpetrators of this crime swiftly to justice," the U.S. embassy in Colombo said in a statement.

The E.U. said it noted "with concern the trend in attacks and threats on journalists, civil society organizations and now a lawyer."

Sri Lanka's government accepts that it has problems with rights violations, and that it prosecutes those against whom it can establish evidence.

Journalists have long been threatened, harassed or killed in Sri Lanka for writing critical stories against powerful figures in government or the Tamil Tiger rebel group that has waged a separatist war since 1983.

But while most threats to media stem from a war where both sides are accused of rights abuses, lawyers are running afoul of the politically connected or police acting with impunity outside of the fighting, Asian Human Rights Commission Director Basil Fernando said.

"If it is like this in Colombo and other peaceful areas of the country, than can you imagine what it is like in the north and east where the war is?" Fernando, a lawyer from Sri Lanka, told Reuters by telephone from Hong Kong.

He said other lawyers told him they were unwilling to take cases involving politicians or police, because of a system that encourages corrupt politicians to keep policemen who are willing to do their bidding in exchange for political protection.

"Only a few people like Weliamuna were willing, and now we can see the result," Fernando said.

Weliamuna said he had no reason to suspect the government would not pursue his case and those of his clients, but said it would take "high-level commitment" to produce results.

"I am keeping my fingers crossed that investigations are going ahead," he said. (Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

(Hong Kong, September 28, 2008)

Last night at 11:40 pm in Colombo, Sri Lanka a grenade was thrown inside the house of the leading lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, who is the Executive Director of Transparency International in Sri Lanka, and a well- known human rights lawyer. Severe damage was caused to a part of the upper floor of the house, and the sound of the explosion was heard several miles away. After calling the police and examining the premises another unexploded grenade was found.

Mr. Weliamuna said that he has all his life had no personal enemies and therefore this attack has to be connected to his work.

Mr. Weliamuna has appeared in many sensitive cases relating to corruption and abuses of human rights. Several cases are pending in which some powerful politicians are the defendants. Last week Transparency International published a report, in which Sri Lanka was listed as 92 on the corruption list.

Mr. Weliamuna has constantly appeared in many well known human rights cases on behalf of victims of torture, extra-judicial killings and disappearances. Last Friday the Supreme Court issued special orders for investigation of a case that Mr. Weliamuna appeared in which a young man from Kandana complained of attempted assassination by some police officers.

Yesterday morning Mr. Weliamuna moved a motion at the Bar Association of Sri Lanka regarding a lawyer who has received death threats due to appearance in an extra-judicial killing case where the victim had been the complainant in two cases regarding police officers, for bribery and torture. The Bar Association unanimously resolved to pursue the complaint of the lawyer and condemned the interference into the work of lawyers and resolved to pursue the matter with the Inspector General of Police and other authorities.

"This attack is chilling but not surprising. Threats and attacks are targeted at everyone who tries to highlight the abuses of politicians and state officers," said Basil Fernando, the director of the Asian Human Rights Commission. "Now senior lawyers themselves are being targeted for nothing other than being engaged in their professional duties to their clients."

Fernando further said, "even at the worst times in the late 1980s no senior lawyer was targeted. What is taking place is a most comprehensive form of repression with the view to silence everyone who is making any attempt to seek protection of law. This is one of the most terrible times in the country."

The Asian Human Rights Commission calls on the Sri Lankan government to thoroughly investigate this matter with a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). There is all the likelihood of the investigation being mishandled unless special attempt is made for inquiries to be conducted by a competent and independent SIU.

It is also the duty of all the lawyers and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka to come strongly in support of one of its members who has taken a very keen interest in the rights of others.

The Supreme Court and the judiciary also need to take up the issue of the protection of the lawyers.

AHRC also calls upon the lawyers outside Sri Lanka to intervene with the Sri Lankan government to condemn this attack and also to ensure an independent inquiry by a competent body.

The UN agencies and the international anti-corruption and human rights organisations should intervene for the defence of one of the best known human rights defenders in Sri Lanka.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Anchor person Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain declared, on air, the murder of Ahmadi sect members to be the religious duty of devout Muslims. He made the statement on Alim Online, a religious affairs program on Geo TV, which is a prominent Dubai-based Pakistani television channel. Hussain urged his two co-presenters to agree, and in a show on 9 September, he repeated the suggestion. In the 48 hours after the first broadcast, two Ahmadi community leaders were lynched and murdered, bringing the total number of targeted Ahmadi killings this year to four. Please see Urgent Appeal http://www.ahrchk. net/ua/mainfile. php/2008/ 2999/ 

Hussain, a self-titled doctor, was, ironically, the minister for religious affairs in the Musharraf government. He regularly expresses an open hatred of :country-regionPaki stan 's minority groups, and his influence stretches far by way of daily on-air sermons and articles he writes for the Daily Jang newspaper, published by the same media house. 

The AHRC considers freedom of speech to be an important right, but it also insists on the right of the individual to personal safety and freedom from persecution. That Pakistan allows the use of broadcasting tools to spread direct messages of intense harm and hatred as a religious duty, is utterly disturbing. 

Religious intolerance flourishes in Pakistan , and there is very little done to temper the hatred felt by some Muslims for Ahmadi followers, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities. In some cases the government clearly tries to court fundamentalists with its leniency regarding these crimes. The two most recent Ahmadi deaths were carried out in broad daylight, in public, but no arrests have been made. Dr Hussain has not been held accountable in any way, either by his employer or the government. 

The AHRC demands that a case be initiated and Dr Hussain be produced before the law. Geo TV must, at the very least, offer a full apology for its involvement in two murderous lynching cases, and must present a new list of broadcasting standards that it pledges to uphold. That religious
hatred can bloom so publicly and remain unpunished is an embarrassment
to a country that hopes to be taken seriously outside of its borders. 

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia :place. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. 

Asian Human Rights Commission 
19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building , 
998 Canton Road , Kowloon , Hongkong S.A.R. 
Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339 Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367

In some judgments the Supreme Court went on to hold that a confession made to police officers or other such officers be held inadmissible due to the awe and fear with which state officers are regarded in Sri Lanka.
Thousands of cases of blatant cruelty exercised by police officers throughout the country in recent years demonstrate that the circumstances under which the absolute prohibition against confession was introduced to Sri Lanka has not changed.
The justification for this rule is as valid as ever.
There is no reason to believe that the circumstances under which suspects in offenses under the PTA and Emergency Regulations are held are any less frightening, more comfortable and cozy than the circumstances under which suspects of other crimes are held.
In fact, the overwhelming evidence, beginning with the treatment of suspects of the 1971 insurrection up to now under the PTA and Emergency Regulations demonstrate the very opposite.
Anyone who wishes to know of the gruesome details of such detentions need only look into the evidence given by thousands of persons before the commissions for forced disappearances during the period of the late 80s.
Besides the reports of the commissions there are volumes of recorded statements by the commissions which run into thousands of pages that indicate what the conditions of detention under these circumstances can be.
The recent rules of prolonged detention at police stations and other detention centres should be a greater reason to reinforce the absolute prohibition on the admissibility of confessions in trials.
Whether any confession was made in the Tissanayagam case or whether it was made voluntarily or not is not the issue that needs attention.
It is the abandonment of the absolute principle against the admission of confessions that needs substantive consideration.
The changes in the rules of fair trial in favour of the prosecution is like changing the rules of the boxing ring to allow stabbing to one of the combatants against his opponent.
It is like the last fight of Hamlet where, by the king's conspiracy, a poisoned sword was given to Laertes while a normal sword was given to Hamlet, the AHRC statement said.
A fair prosecution should never be fought with a poisoned sword.
The change in rules of fair trial is one of the most fundamental issues of any nation. It is not just the question of the right of one person.

In fact, it exposes the nature of justice in the country as a whole.
Therefore we urge that all the concerned persons within the government, the legal community, civil society and the international community intervene in order to negate these provisions under the PTA which allows the abandonment on the absolute principle against the admissibility of confessions, it added.
 
AHRC, founded in 1984 and based in Hong Kong, is a regional non-governmental organization monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia.

There are two basic choices - do the masters part time over the course of two years (working three or four days a week in a job, fitting the studies round that) or defer for a year and work full-time until September 2009.

Both options have pros and cons:

Part time starting 2008 - PROs

• My skills don't get rusty - languages have a habit of doing that really quickly
• I have the certainty of a career path
• I can get started now without having to postpone my 'real life' for another year and f!ck about in a McTemping job
• My motivation doesn't have the chance to wane

Part time starting 2008 - CONs

• It's going to be bl**dy hard finding a decent part-time job that I can stick with for two years
• Part-time jobs around here are generally less well-paid than full-time jobs
• I might end up stretching myself too thinly
• I've been ill over the summer, so if I crash and burn, it's not just studies, but work and thus money that go down the pan

Defer for a year - PROs

• I have the chance to find a well paid full-time job for a year and save, save, save!
• It gives me a chance to look at other career options (see below)
• I can re-apply for funding
• I can look at applying for a PhD as opposed to a masters and gain back my 'lost' year

Defer for a year - CONs

• It leaves me in the same uncertain state that I'm currently in, and which is currently pecking my head
• I still have to do extensive work and reading to make sure I don't get rusty and fall behind in the field
• I'm gutted at getting so close to starting the course and then having to take a step back

I'm so torn - I need to earn enough money to fund myself for the next two years, no matter what happens, and it's proving hard and tempting me to look at other career options. As it is, my masters would lead me down a purely academic route - masters, PhD, post-doc... Fulfilling as this would be (and believe me, I think it would), it would leave me flat broke for the forseeable future. I specialise in German and the rate at which undergraduates are applying for German courses is plummeting. 610 people in the UK this year are starting German undergraduate degrees. 610!!

Having said that, once you're through the masters, there's usually a good level of funding available to PhD students, simply because there aren't so many of them. So I'd be almost (the words of my appointed supervisor) guaranteed funding for that. Hmm, famous last words?

The other option would be taking law and working towards being a barrister. This is a fairly new idea, but one that's been met with enthusiasm by people who know me. I'm not entirely unexcited by the idea either - it just frightens me to start again in an entirely new discipline. Although it would lead me down a professional route and not an academic one (this being a negative thing, for someone who has had her heart set on a career in academia), it would provide a good salary and allow me to do other things with my time. Holidays, photography, actually being able to give people gifts, eating out... All this vs. academic fulfillment. It's a hard toss.

I haven't told so many people about not getting the funding, actually. I'm completely ashamed, although I've been assured it's nonsensical, arbitrary marking. As I said, my application was rated the best of the thirty submitted by the language department at Manchester, and yet my application was rated '4' by the AHRC. There are six categories, '1' being the bestest ever application they've seen, like ever, '6' being an atrocious piece of waffle that they could barely read without vomiting. I got a 4.

I have to decide soon, what to do. Registration is next month, and with it, around five hundred pounds in tuition fees. My dad has offered to help me with the majority of the fees, if I want to do the course part-time over the next two years, but I don't know if i can live with that - he's flat broke too.

This whole thing is what I wake up thinking about at night. And I just gave you the simplified version!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: The people defeat Pakistan’s military dictator, General Musharraf

The Asian Human Rights Commission salutes and congratulates the people of Pakistan for their resilient and determined struggle to oust the dictator, General (Ret.) Pervez Musharraf from the post of president. This completely non-violent struggle of various sections of society which included lawyers, judges, the ordinary folk, the media as well as the legislators is a clear example of the development of democracies on the basis of consensus. In the recent years there was clear consensus that the people did not want a military regime but instead a democratic government. Even the support that the military dictator received from the super powers did not deter the people of Pakistan from pursuing their desire to see the end of militarism. It is a sad reflection on some democracies in developed countries that they failed to support the people in their struggle for democracy and instead supported a military general. That notwithstanding, the people have been able to push back the military agenda.

General Musharraf’s game was to play the terrorism issue in a way to suppress the rights of his people. This indeed is the game that is played by many others throughout the world including in some neighbouring countries. Entire institutional structures of democracies are being destroyed under the pretext of fighting terrorism. It is even argued that the destruction of democracy and the enhancement of militarism is a pre-condition in this fight. There are also those who argue that militarism is more conducive to economic development than democracy. The people of Pakistan have the bitter experience of the experimentation on these matters which has destroyed their security and every decent aspect of their lives. They have fought and they have won. Thus, they have not only made history but also contributed to the contemporary discourse on these matters.

What is most unique in this experience is that the military general who tried to oust the chief justice, Iftekhar Choudry, is the one who was to be the loser at the end. It cannot be denied in any manner that it was the struggle for the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law that was the central theme in the struggle against Musharraf. That struggle is also connected to large numbers of disappearances that have been caused in the name of anti terrorism. Musharraf’s downfall is a damning condemnation of the strategy of the destruction of all human rights under the pretext of fighting terrorism. This same strategy permits the causing of disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture and the abuse of all the rights of human beings, all in the name of defeating terrorism.

The people’s historical victory on this occasion is only a beginning of a new discourse. Democracy must prove capable of resurrecting the basic institutions of stability which are the police, the prosecutors, the judiciary and the bureaucracy involved in all aspects of the civil service. This of course is a gigantic task. However, the nature of the people’s struggle in the recent years in Pakistan suggests that a large section of the population is well aware of the challenges ahead. For them these years of street movements were not just spent on protests but also on reflection. All those who have played a significant role in this struggle are aware that what are at stake are systemic issues. It is on these systemic issues that the intellectual and other energies of the people of Pakistan need now be directed towards.

For the neighbours in Asia, Pakistan should provide an example of how to deal with their own dictators. If anyone believes that dictators are invincible the people of Pakistan have proved convincingly that they are not. While saluting and congratulating the people of Pakistan we also urge the world’s solidarity in support of the people’s democratic movement in Pakistan and elsewhere.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia . The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

[The Australian] All this is frighteningly reminiscent of the situation in Canada, where official agencies of the state prosecute citizens for the thought-crime of political incorrectness. Canada's federal and provincial human rights commissions were established to fight discrimination in housing and employment. But these quasi-judicial bodies have metastasised into partisan star-chamber tribunals that selectively file charges against those who espouse conservative political or religious beliefs.

[Calgary Herald] The absolutist argument that everybody should be able to say anything they please about anyone at all falls flat. The absolutists counter talk of responsible use by grumbling about how other people's hurt feelings result in perpetrators being "hauled" before human rights commissions.

First, nobody is "hauled" anywhere. "Hauled" evokes the image of two burly guards frog-marching a hapless individual into a building. When a complaint is filed with a human rights commission, the accused person is asked to respond via a letter outlining his or her side of the situation; "hauling" does not take place.

Thanks for the English lesson. Now allow us to practice our absolute human right to say, "Go fuck yourself." We don't really mean you need to "fuck" while you "go," but you're always welcome to try.

[National Post] Brainy little kangaroos, our homegrown marsupials. The Bathurst Island kind have nothing on them. Our joeys leaped out of the way with Olympic alacrity, once they heard the thunder rolling down the track.

...

Here pussy, pussy, have some milk. See what a nice little kitten thought police types can be, once they’re de-clawed.

...

Whoa, just a sec! Hatred? Excuse me, but what is hatred? The Muslim complainants thought that what Levant and Steyn published or wrote was hatr … 

Oh, complainants, what do they know? Entre nous, they’re just a bunch of Jews, Muslims, homosexuals … We’re officials. We know. Anyone above the rank of obergruppenführer at the Federal or Provincial Human Rights Commissions knows. We’re trained to tell the good cholesterol “offensiveness” from the bad cholesterol “hate.” It’s a skill you acquire in human-rights school … You sit for an exam and get a framed diploma for the wall.

From the Daddy, I Took The Car Without Permission, Please Ground Me file:

[Globe and Mail] In the end, though, human-rights commissions should advise their respective legislatures to repeal these dangerously vague sections, so that those who exercise the freedom of speech and press are no longer harassed by such complaints.

[Calgary Herald] The decision by the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission not to proceed with the 900-day-old complaint against the now defunct Western Standard magazine was the proper decision. But that is about the only praise the commission, or the provincial government and its ill-advised and poorly written human rights legislation, should receive.

[CBC] The Alberta Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint against publisher Ezra Levant for reprinting the provocative Danish Muhammad cartoons in his magazine in 2006.

The complaint was filed by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities.

Levant, who has characterized the controversy as a free speech issue, said he was pleased with the outcome and pledged to continue fighting against censorship.

The sketchbook, which is today held in the Glasgow School of Art archive, was taken by Charles Rennie Mackintosh on his tour of Italy, France and Belgium in 1891 as the recipient of the Alexander Thomson Travelling Studentship.

It provides a unique insight into the architect’s formative years and shows Mackintosh as a young architect with a mind of his own.  Mackintosh ignored the strict stipulations of the grant body which made his trip possible, and instead pursued his desire to learn more about Renaissance architecture.

The Domestic Interiors Database is a major outcome from a broad-ranging analytical survey of the ways in which the interior has been represented since the Renaissance in Western Europe and North America. It was compiled by staff at the AHRC Centre for the Study of the Domestic Interior between September 2001 and August 2006. With over 3,000 entries, the database cannot claim to provide a comprehensive or exhaustive compendium of representations of the interior across six centuries. Rather, it brings together a carefully selected group of representations that are, nonetheless, far more extensive, numerous and accessible than anything of the kind previously available.

JO APNAI MULK MEIN LA BETHAI HO

GHAIRON KI GHULAMI KARTAI HO

AUR HAKIM BAN BETHAI HO

APNON KAI KHOON SAI KHAILTAI HO

AUR FATAIH BAN BETHAI HO

SHAITAAN HO YA HAIWAAN HO TUM

AUR INSAAN BAN BETHAI HO

AURTAIN BACHAI TUM NAI MARAI

APNAI LOGON KO TUM NAI BECHA

NA MULK KI AAN KA KHIAL KIA KUCH

QAUM KI BETION KI IZZAT BECHI

INSAAF KAI DIN KO YAAD RAKHO

WOH DIN JALD HI AAIGA

NA ZOR GOLI KA CHALAI GA PHIR

NA KOI BACHANAI AAIGA

KHUDA KO KIA BHOOL CHUKAI HO

YA KHUDA BHI KHUD BAN BETHAI HO

YEH JANG KAISI JANG HAI

JO APNAI MULK MEIN LA BETHAI HO

An appeal:

A Pakistani Dr. Afia Siddiqi who was kidnapped(with her little children) by Pakistani and USA agencies in 2003 is in Bagram Jail in Afghanistan.

According to media reports she has faced severe torture and due to constant rape by allied force members she has lost her mind.

Please support the appeal for Dr. Afia :

http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-167-2008

more on :http://united4justice.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/support-appeal-for-dr-afia-siddiqiprisoner-650-bagram-jail-ahrc/

According to media reports she has faced severe torture and due to constant rape by allied force members she has lost her mind.

Please support the appeal for Dr. Afia :

http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-167-2008

Where is Dr Afia Siddiqui? AHRC

[Calgary Herald] Today, we celebrate the many gifts this country has given us, and remember what an ultimate privilege it is to be called Canadian. But eternal vigilance is the price we pay for those gifts, and standing on guard must be more than a line in our national anthem. The danger signs are all around -- record levels of apathy among Alberta voters, and human rights commissions handing down rulings which, far from protecting rights, trample on the most basic ones such as free speech.

The rest.

[Calgary Herald] A former pastor is appealing an Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission decision ordering him to stop publishing disparaging comments about homosexuals.

Stephen Boissoin filed an appeal with the Court of Queen's Bench last week after the provincial commission ruled he violated human rights laws by writing a letter in a newspaper that attacked gays and gay activists.

The rest.

[Ottawa Citizen] The state continues to be on the rampage, not only in tyrannies where it's on the rampage by definition, but also in "free" countries like Canada or present-day Germany. When I stepped ashore in New Brunswick 52 years ago, I wouldn't have thought that one day I'd have to put the word "free" in quotation marks with reference to Canada.

The rest.

Let us join the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to collectively welcome the announcement by the present Pakistani government commuting of death sentences to life imprisonment on Birthday anniversary of Shahidani Benazir Bhutto.

Indeed, it is the first time in the history of Pakistan that a government has recognized that many in Pakistan and the world consider death sentences as cruel and unusual punishment. It should surprise no one that mullahs in Pakistan have opposed this action as anti-Islamic.

I hope the present government will continue keeps the tempo of positive steps including steps to alleviate poverty in rural Sindh and other parts of Pakistan.
……….

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-168- 2008
June 24, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: The AHRC welcomes commuting of death sentences to life imprisonment

The Asian Human Rights Commission appreciates and welcomes the announcement by the new government of Pakistan to commute death sentences to life imprisonment. The AHRC hopes that the government of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani will abolish the law which allows capital punishment by hanging.

On the occasion of birthday anniversary of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated former prime minister and chair person of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan, announced that his government would make recommendations to President Musharraf to commute the death sentences of thousands of prisoners to life imprisonment as a birthday tribute to Benazir Bhutto. The prime minister has also directed the Ministry of Interior to send a summary to the president for the conversion of capital punishment into life imprisonment. Around 7,379 persons will benefit by the commuting of their death sentences.

After the announcement by the Prime Minister Muslim clerics started opposing the commutation of the death sentence as repugnant to Islamic fundamentalism and the teachings of the Holy Quran. In this, a new environment is being created by vested interest to dehumanize society by favouring the death sentence, thereby condoning the violence perpetrated by the state power. During the 60 years of Pakistan’s independence the scope of the death penalty in the law of the country increased to cover 27 'crimes' including blasphemy, stripping a woman in the public, terrorist acts, sabotage of sensitive installations, sabotage of railway, attacks on law enforcement personal, spreading hate against the arm forces, sedition, and many more. These all are covered under Islamic laws and Islamic Ideology, a slogan under narrow nationalism and religious fanaticism.

During the rule of civilian or elected governments it was observed that death penalties were rarely awarded. However, during military regimes the numbers of executions by hanging rose by more than 100 in 2007. In 2005 52 people were hung, in 2006 the figure rose to 82 and in 2007 134 were were executed. The death penalty is still being carried out and according to the 2007 figures a total of 7,379 persons, including 44 women await execution.

The power to pardon or to commute the death sentence lies only before the president who, in many cases were military dictators who were happy to please the Muslim fundamentalists to legalise killing by the state.

The private courts like, Jirga and Islamic courts themselves decide to hang a criminal or to kill them by stoning. The president would normally have the authority to commute the death sentence, however, the Islamic Federal court, the federal Shariat court (FSC) have limited the power of the president by ruling that only the legal heirs of the victim have the power to pardon the convicted person. The "blood money" paid to relatives of victims is defined by the FSC as the only way to escape the death of penalty. Most appallingly, another method of commuting the death penalty is to hand over young girls as compensation for a crime of murder. The so-called Islamic courts release the person from the gallows only after receiving news of a compromise reached between parties on the exchange of these young girls.

In 1970, the government led by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto raised the minimum term of a life sentence from 14 to to 25 years with the idea that capital punishment would be abolished in the years to come. However, this did not materialize and General Zia, the military ruler from 1977 to 1988, kept both the death penalty and the increased life sentence intact through one ordinance which was later on was made the part of the constitution. President Musharraf has done nothing to alter either the death sentence nor the minimum term.

Children, under the age of 18 years, are also subjected to the death penalty. The Juvenile Justice System ordinance was promulgated to prohibit the death penalty to persons under 18 years of age and made provision for juvenile courts. However, once again the High Court of Punjab in 2004 stopped this process. Fortunately the Supreme Court after one year restored the ordinance. It was difficult for courts to accept that death penalty is no solution for crimes.

Under these circumstances there are chances that Muslim fundamentalists and conservative forces will start using pressure tactics to stop the abolition of the death sentences and launch a movement through the media and street power. In fact they have already started. The government should not bow down before the reactionary forces and must assert the right to life for every one.

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the intentions of the government to commute the death sentences into life imprisonment and is preparing a summery in this regard to forward the President of Pakistan to withdraw the death sentence. The announcement of the prime minister was only on the occasion of birth day celebrations of Ms. Benazir Bhutto. However, the AHRC urges the prime minister to immediately withdraw the amendment from the constitution in regard to the death sentence introduced by an army general at the behest of fundamentalists. A constitutional guarantee is required. Otherwise in the coming days executions will carried out via Federal Sharia and some private courts like the Jirga and tribal courts as they will pay no heed to the announcement of the prime minister.

As the government had signed the ICCPR and CAT and ratified the ICESCR, which is again a bold step of a new government, they should immediately go one step further to abolish death sentence from, the constitution of Pakistan.

# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.