Date Posted: Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the re-arrest of individuals involved in the gang-rape of a village woman.

ISLAMABAD, Jun 28 (MASNET & News Agencies) - Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the re-arrest of 13 men linked to the internationally condemned gang rape of a woman, including members of a village council that sanctioned the assault, pending the outcome of the rape victim's appeal in the high-profile case.

Victim Mukhtaran Mai, who has become an icon for her pursuit of justice and fight for women's rights in rural Pakistan, has complained that her safety would be under threat if the suspects were allowed to roam free, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The 33-year-old launched an appeal on Monday against the acquittal earlier this year of five of the men who are to be detained. The other eight set to be arrested include some members of a so-called tribal jury, her lawyer said.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said the court had suspended the earlier acquittals, which prompted a global outcry, and said it would hear appeals from both Mai and the suspects at a later date.

"Non-bailable warrants of arrest of the respondents...are issued," he told the court.

Mai sat quietly through the court proceedings, but reacted with excitement as her supporters explained the court's decision, reports Reuters news agency.

"I am very happy. I am feeling highly satisfied," said an emotional Mai, her head covered with a traditional blue, green and white scarf, as she embraced women's rights activists outside the court.

"I am happy and I hope those who humiliated me will be punished," Mai said. "I was expecting justice from the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has done justice."

"God willing, justice will be done in future as well," she told Reuters.

The court said it would hold another hearing later to decide on possible punishments - including the death sentence - for those accused, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Mai was raped in June 2002 on the orders of a village council in the remote village of Meerwala as punishment for her then 12-year-old brother's alleged affair with a woman from a powerful rival clan.

Mai and her family deny the affair took place, saying the brother was in fact assaulted by members of the other family, reports the AP.

Six men were sentenced to death and eight others cleared in August 2002 after she defied local customs to testify. But the Lahore High Court acquitted five of them on appeal on March 3, and commuted the sentence of the sixth to life imprisonment.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz then ordered all 13 suspects to be locked up under the Maintenance of Public Order Act when Mai voiced fears they would harm her and her family.

However, a three-judge review board of the Lahore High Court this month released them once more.

Mai's lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, confirmed the other eight men to be arrested included members of the village council who ordered the rape.

"This is not a case of simple rape, it was an act of terrorism," he said outside the court. "It was meant to create terror and fear in the community."

"This is a good decision," Ahsan said, adding that he was not expecting a new trial for the men. He told the AP the Supreme Court would make a decision "on reappraisal" of the evidence.

The Supreme Court ordered the inspector general of police in Pakistan's central province of Punjab, where Meerwala is located, to arrest the men and hand them over to judicial custody while the appeal is heard.

"They should be treated as under-trial prisoners," Chaudhry added.

Human rights workers had wanted Mai to go abroad to speak on the plight of women but the government, saying it was acting in the interest of her security, recently banned her from overseas travel and seized her passport, reports Reuters.

Washington strongly criticized Islamabad earlier this month after military ruler President Pervez Musharraf barred Mai from traveling to the United States to speak about her ordeal.

Musharraf, who has been trying to project Pakistan as a moderate and progressive Muslim nation, was reported as saying he ordered the travel ban Mai because he thought her U.S. visit would give Pakistan bad publicity.

He has taken a personal interest in Mai's case, saying it was tarnishing the country's image overseas, reports Reuters.

Islamabad dropped the travel ban a few days later after the United States said it was "dismayed" and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured a personal pledge from Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

On Monday, Mai said the government had finally returned her confiscated passport, although she said had no immediate plans to travel abroad.

In the years since the assault, Mai has become a prominent activist for women's rights and has helped set up a school in her impoverished farming village, mainly with donations from her supporters, reports the AP.

Naeem Mirza, director of women rights group the Aurat Foundation, said the decision to re-arrest the suspects and suspend the acquittals was "landmark".

"Hopefully, the defects in the laws relating to crimes against women will be rectified when the Supreme Court examines this case," he told AFP.