Afghanistan is drafting a law that would punish adulterers by stoning them to death. Activist Manizha Naderi says the government is trying to appease the Taliban and must not be allowed to pass this law in a “hush-hush way”.
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Afghanistan is drafting a law that would punish convicted adulterers by stoning them to death, a troubling sign that human rights advances made since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 - especially for women and girls - may be crumbling.
Women for Afghan Women (WAW), one of the country’s largest women’s rights organisations , said stoning as a punishment for adultery was “archaic and inhumane”, and called on President Hamid Karzai to reject the proposal immediately.
“It was a favourite Taliban tactic, a way of controlling the population by terrifying them into submission. As such, it presages a return to the Taliban years,” WAW wrote in a statement.
“This proposed revision is one example among several recent attempts to eradicate the hard-won rights of women and girls in Afghanistan in the 12 years since the fall of the Taliban. Such a reversal of progress is unacceptable. We will not stand for it.”
As foreign troops prepare for next year’s withdrawal, rights campaigners are wary of trouble ahead for women and girls.
The draft law would include stoning as the penalty for adultery if there were four witnesses.
Activist Manizha Naderi says women and the poor have the most to fear from this law. Women are often convicted on little or no evidence, while poor men lack the funds to bribe their way out of accusations, said Naderi, the executive director of WAW. A woman and man can be accused, charged and convicted for merely being seen in public together.
Naderi responded on Wednesday to questions from Thomson Reuters Foundation by email.
Did you think it possible that stoning adulterers to death would become law again?
It's certainly possible with this conservative government. I really believe that the government is trying to appease the Taliban by introducing conservative anti-women laws. They are trying to be on the good side of the Taliban. Of course, we will fight this tooth and nail. We will not let this law pass.
What was your reaction when you learned about this?
I was horrified, scared and angry.
Were you or any other women's rights campaigners consulted about this?
No. These things - like the shelter regulations that came out a few years ago (when the government tried unsuccessfully to take over NGO shelters for women and restrict women’s movements to and from shelters) - are done in secrecy and then suddenly introduced to the public.
We fought and fought and we finally won. Now the shelter regulation is only a guideline on how to run a shelter.
We found out about this plan (on stonings for adultery) before it was put into law. This has given us an opportunity to advocate and make sure that it doesn't happen.
What can you do to try to stop this becoming law?
We have to mobilise all civil society in Afghanistan so that together we can put pressure on the government to make sure it doesn't happen.
We must make sure this news is widely covered in both national and international media. This way the Afghan government can't pass this law in a hush-hush way. Everyone will know about it and this will prevent the government from passing it. It seems like they are already back-pedalling. They are now denying that this was ever the plan. They saw the response from everyone and are scared about the consequences.
We also have to meet President Karzai and urge him to put a stop to this immediately.
Is this law particularly bad for women, and if so, why?
This law shows that the government is slowly going back to Taliban-era justice. After 12 years of progress, we will NOT let this happen.
This law is especially bad for women. Right now, every day, women are convicted without enough evidence of adultery. Most of the time, the men go free because they bribe their way out. In our shelters, we have many women who were convicted and imprisoned for adultery.
Are there cases of women wrongly accused - and punished - for adultery? What about men?
We have had cases of women who were convicted of adultery and later found innocent.
One particular case, a woman about 27 years old, spent two years in prison for adultery. After two years, she was released to us because her family didn't want her. After about one year, she got married to someone we had introduced her to. The morning after the wedding, her husband came to our office and told us that his wife was a virgin.
This woman had spent two years in prison for no reason.
We also have cases of women who were raped and convicted of adultery, but the rapist is not punished because he is either influential or rich and can pay his way out.
Most cases of adultery against women are false. There isn't enough evidence. A man and a woman can be accused of adultery and put in prison just because they are seen in a public space together.
Men are also in prison for adultery. These are men who are poor and can't pay a bribe. So either way it is the less fortunate who are convicted of this crime.
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