Pakistan votes to roll back Islamic law on rape

ISLAMABAD, Nov 15 (Reuters) Pakistan's lower house of parliament voted today to put the crime of rape under the civil penal code, curtailing the scope of Islamic laws that rights groups have long criticised as unfair to women.

The Women's Protection Bill was seen as a barometer of President Pervez Musharraf's commitment to his vision of ''enlightened moderation'' and a major battle in a struggle between progressive forces and religious conservatives over the Muslim nation's course.

''It is a historic bill because it will give rights to women and help end excesses against them,'' Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the assembly after the vote.

The Islamic laws, known as the Hudood Ordinances, were introduced by a military ruler, President Zia-ul-Haq, in 1979. They made a rape victim liable to prosecution for adultery if she could not produce four male witnesses to the assault.

The main amendment approved today takes rape out of the sphere of the religious law and puts it under the penal code.

That does away with the requirement for four male witnesses and will allow convictions to be made on the basis of forensic and circumstantial evidence.

The amendment bill must be approved by the upper house of parliament before it becomes law.

Human rights campaigners have long pressed for total repeal of the Islamic laws, but have nevertheless welcomed moves to amend them.

The amendments were fiercely opposed by an alliance of Islamist parties, which make up the main opposition bloc in parliament.

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