The bill regarding Acid Violence that has been submitted to the National Assembly by Marvi Memon and her supporting group has been tabled yersterday, 26th January 2009.

Acid Survivors Foundation is proud of the Pakistani parliamentarians who have hereby recognised the need to address and act upon acid violence in Pakistan. However, the most difficult now lays ahead : some elements of the proposed bill do clearly need to be reviewed in order to ensure that a maximum parliamentarians will support this bill or rather these amendments, including the most orthodox ones, and this, within the spirit of promoting/protecting human rights : some parliamentarians or senators may very well demand that Qisas, “an eye for an eye” law should be applied as a punishment for the perpetrator as they are shocked by the cruelty of acid attack and as they are determined to stop it…

As much as we understand these senators and parliamentarians’ reactions, as much as we are thankful to them for their commitment to protect acid survivors and eradicate acid violence in Pakistan, as human rights activists, we cannot support such a punishment and will therefore come up with a different strategy that will still satisfy our common goal : eradicate one of the wost forms of torture, domestic violence and human rights breach and ensure that acid survivors in Pakistan become proactive and autonomous citizens ready to develop a democratic society in a peaceful manner…

Wish us luck for the coming consultations!