A/HRC/20/16 98. India passed the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act, and dowry death was also criminalized in the Indian Penal Code,174 where a provision was introduced proscribing dowry-related violence and establishing domestic violence (cruelty in the marital home) as an offence with a maximum punishment of three years.175 This amendment was also necessary to respond to the difficulties of proving the murder of women committed within the home. The normal evidentiary rules were amended to shift the burden of proof to the accused in the hope that it would enable the prosecution to secure convictions. Similarly, evidentiary rules relating to the offence of abetment (instigation, conspiracy or intentional aiding) to suicide were amended to more justly deal with cases of suicides committed by women due to dowry harassment. 176 Despite such reforms, the incidence of dowry-related killings continues.177 99. Although some States have enacted legislation providing for the punishment of witches, penalties for the persecution or killing of witches have not been explicitly established. In some countries, laws consider witchcraft as an aggravating circumstance which warrants a lesser punishment for the aggressor. 178 For example, in Papua New Guinea, attacks against persons accused of sorcery can be prosecuted as a crime under ordinary criminal legislation. Although the Sorcery Act of Papua New Guinea provides for the prosecution of those responsible for the deaths of accused witches, there is almost no enforcement of the law, as witnesses often fail to cooperate out of fear or complacency.179 According to reports, of 67 sorcery-related incidents in Simbu recorded by the police between 2000 and 2005 (including 92 persons dead or injured), only six affidavits were produced regarding killers of suspected witches and only two people were eventually sentenced.180 100. In 2008 Guatemala passed the Law against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence against Women. It includes a comprehensive framework and incorporates a wide definition that acknowledges that femicide is committed by a person who, in the context of unequal power relations between men and women, puts to death a woman because she is a woman. 101. At the federal level, Mexico passed the General Law on Women‘s Access to a Life Free of Violence in 2007. Although this law does not recognize femicide as a crime, it has included ―femicidal violence‖ (violencia feminicida) as a type of violence. To date, only the federal authorities of the capital and three county/state governments have issued executive regulations to implement this new legislation. 102. In 2010, El Salvador passed the Integral Law for a Life Free of Violence for Women, which defines and classifies two types of femicide: when the perpetrator of the death of a woman is motivated by hatred or contempt based on gender; and aggravated femicide, when the perpetrator is a civil servant, government official or member of the police or army, when two or more persons are involved, when the killing is committed in the presence of any of the victim‘s members of the family, when the victim is a minor or 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 See Section 304-B, Indian Penal Code. A minimum of seven years and a maximum of life imprisonment was the prescribed punishment. See S.498-A of the Indian Penal Code. See Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. The National Crime Record Bureau of India (NCRB) reports for 2008, there were 1,948 convictions as against 3,876 acquittals. In 2009, 8,383 dowry violence cases have been reported. See Crime in India, National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, cited in Flavia Agnes, supra, p. 7. Supra note 45 at p.51. Jill Schnoebelen, ―Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights: a review of the evidence‖, New Issues in Refugee Research, Research Paper No. 169, Policy Development and Evaluation Service, 2009. Oxfam, Sorcery Beliefs and Practices in Gumine: A Source of Conflict and Insecurity, 15 Oct 2010. 25