Afghanistan

Conference commends the courage of the many Afghan women who, on the 15th April 2009, protested against the new Shia Family Law legislation which was passed by the Afghanistan Parliament and signed by President Karzai on the 31st March 2009. These women were spat at and stoned by counter protesters, the majority of whom were men. The new law will deny Afghan Shia women the right to leave their homes without their husbands permission, forbids women from working or accessing education without their husbands express permission; explicitly permits marital rape; diminishes the right of mothers to be their childrenʼs guardians in the event of a divorce; and makes it impossible for women to inherit houses and land from their husbands - even though husbands may inherit immovable property from their wives. Conference believes that for a new law in 2009 to target women in this way is extraordinary, reprehensible and reminiscent of the decrees made by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s. The Karzai Government has said that the Shia Family Law is being reviewed by the Justice Department and will not be implemented in its current form. However, Conference joins with the many governments and human rights groups around the world who are deeply concerned that the Afghanistan Government has drawn up legislation which fundamentally violates human and womenʼs rights. Conference therefore calls upon the Executive Council to urgently write to the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to urge him to: 1. Continue to express grave concern at the highest level over this issue and; 2. Use all available diplomatic means to press the Karzai Government to act in a way that is consistent with the UN Charter on Human Rights and the Afghan Constitution.