News & Politics - Human Rights Watch #1 ~ Global Topics Affecting Us All

**sunnykerr** · 04-01-2009, 06:26 PM

This will be a thread about Human Rights Issues. Don't forget to post the links to your stories.

**sunnykerr** · 04-01-2009, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Outrage Over Afghan Law Legalizing Rape in Marriage

A new Afghan law that dramatically inhibits the rights of women, including reportedly legalizing rape within marriage, has raised the ire of Canadian politicians from all parties, who are demanding that President Hamid Karzai clarify his position on the legislation.

The new law, which conflicting reports say has either passed or is still under consideration, would apply to the country's Shia minority. It would reportedly make it illegal for a woman to refuse to have sex with her husband and forbid her from leaving home without her husband's permission.

The law would also reportedly grant custody rights to fathers and grandfathers.

During a heated debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday, NDP Leader Jack Layton expressed his disappointment in the law and asked the Conservative government how it plans to respond.

"Can the government tell us today how it's going to express the disappointment of the Canadian people with regard to these laws that attack women?" Layton asked during question period.

International Trade Minister Stockwell Day reiterated comments he made Tuesday about the law, saying the government has asked for an explanation from Karzai.

"What is very clear, is that we are concerned with the provisions in this law as we see them," he said, "and we are calling unequivocally upon the government in Afghanistan to make sure they live up to their international treaty obligations for human rights, especially human rights for women."

NDP defence critic Dawn Black said news of the legislation would be disheartening to the thousands of Canadian soldiers who have served in Afghanistan.

"The government has said over and over again that the underpinning of this mission was to defend women's rights and to provide education for girls," Black said. "Mr. Speaker, after all the sacrifices, after all that Canadian families have put on the line, could this really end up being what we're fighting for in Afghanistan?"

Earlier Wednesday, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff sharply rebuked the Afghan government upon hearing of the legislation.

Ignatieff said that he is "outraged on behalf of Afghan women. Citizens of that country deserve better."

Karzai has yet to comment on the law. However, reports indicate the legislation has Karzai's support, according to Michael Wodzicki of Rights & Democracy.

"It seems more that it's a question of politicking in the sense that Afghanistan is having elections in August, President Karzai is up for election, and from what we can tell this law is a part of that process, in terms of Mr. Karzai trying to get votes from the Shia population," Wodzicki said Wednesday on CTV Newsnet.

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, who was attending a conference on Afghanistan in Europe, spoke to two Afghan cabinet ministers about the law. Cannon has yet to comment on what came of those discussions.

In 2001, NATO troops forced out Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime, which strictly followed sharia law. Under Taliban rule, women could not attend school, hold jobs, go out in public uncovered or see a male doctor without being accompanied by a male relative.

While Afghanistan's current constitution guarantees equal rights for women, it allows the Shia to have a separate family law that is based on religious traditions.

According to Wodzicki, human rights groups work with Afghan politicians and citizens to ensure that laws reflect the Afghan constitution as well as other, more progressive, laws that are passed in other countries.

However, it's work that could take generations.

"Culture is something that takes years, decades, even centuries to develop. And when we're talking about developing a culture of human rights and a culture that protects women's rights in Afghanistan, it's not going to take place in the eight years that has passed since the fall of the Taliban," Wodzicki said. "This is a long-term endeavour."

Jordan's Queen Noor, speaking to CTV Newsnet Wednesday, said that Islam "provides protections and equal rights to men and women."

While noting she hasn't read the entire law, Queen Noor added it likely contravenes both Islamic laws and human rights conventions.

CTV.ca | Outrage over Afghan law legalizing rape in marriage

This is appalling. Not only the fact that such laws are back on the books, but exactly why have we been dying and getting shot at over there? President Karzai is up for re-election and so it's okay that he's selling women's rights up the river?

**-wait for it-** · 04-03-2009, 07:07 AM

that's horrible and very appalling.
a law like that is regressing the human race back centuries.

**Callace** · 04-05-2009, 02:29 PM

OMG, that's ... shocking. treating people like property like that, and legalizing it

and that it would only apply to the Shia. that's weird enough. Why should they be more entitle to enslave women than the rest of the population?

**sunnykerr** · 04-05-2009, 07:10 PM

I have no idea as to why it would only apply to the Shia population... but, let's face it, the second it's legalized for anyone, it opens the door for everyone. It's the Taliban all over again. It's gross, it's appalling.

And it makes me wonder why, indeed, we're sticking it out in Afghanistan.

**sunnykerr** · 04-06-2009, 04:28 PM

An update:

Quote:

Afghanistan 'Rape' Law Puts Women's Rights Front and Center

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- "In Afghanistan, the sacrifice in the political game is women and children," female Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi said.

Koofi says that is exactly what happened when the Afghan parliament recently passed a bill intended to give the minority Shiite community their own identity. But critics say the latest draft strips Shiite women of rights as simple as leaving the house without permission from a male relative and as extreme as allowing a man to have sexual intercourse with his wife even when she says, "No."

These critics wonder how what amounts to rape in marriage could be passed by parliament and signed into law by President Hamid Karzai.

Amid blistering criticism from the West, Karzai addressed the law over the weekend, saying that key elements of the bill were misinterpreted by Western news organizations.

"We understand the concerns of our allies and the international community. Those concerns may be due to an inappropriate, not-so-good translation of the law, or misinterpretation," Karzai told reporters in Kabul.

He added that the Minister of Justice will study the "Shiite state law," line by line, to make sure it follows the nation's constitution, which requires equal rights to both sexes.

"If there is anything that is of concern to us, then we will definitely take action in consultation with our [religious clerics] and send it back to the parliament. You be assured of that. This is something that we're also serious about and should not allow," he said.

However, Karzai did not address the most controversial part of the bill, dealing with rape of a wife.

The Shiite state law was debated by 249 members of the lower house, including 68 women, some of whom voted for the bill. It was then sent to the upper house. Even some lawmakers are baffled at the manner in which it passed.

"Most members of the parliament did not know what they were going to vote for," Koofi said. "Even some of my friends, MPs sitting with me, voted in favor without knowing what happened."

U.S. President Obama called the law "abhorrent" and said his administration has made it clear to the Karzai government that it objects to the law. Human rights groups and the international community have condemned the law and say it could undermine efforts to support basic human rights in the war-torn nation.

"We very much hope that the draft piece of legislation is to be withdrawn," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a NATO summit on Afghanistan over the weekend. "It is unacceptable if such a law were to be passed in Afghanistan and become a part of Afghan legislation."

According to lawmakers who opposed the bill, conservative legislators are pushing back any progress made for women's rights in Afghanistan after the brutal oppression under the Taliban regime.

From 1996 to 2001, under the Sunni fundamentalist government of the Taliban, women were not allowed to leave their homes without being escorted by a male relative, and girls were not allowed to go to school.

When women did leave their homes, they were required to wear a blue burqa, which covered their bodies from head to toe. The only opening was a small net that provided an eyehole for the women to see through.

Women remember those days with despair.

One female teacher, who asked not to be named, said that during the Taliban regime, she was stopped at the market by the Taliban and beaten with a whip. Her crime: She wore a shawl covering her body instead of a burqa. She says she was too poor to purchase a real burqa.

After that beating, she was stuck in her home for months until someone was able to give her a used burqa. But even then, she didn't know how to function wearing the suffocating fabric.

"I remember stepping out of a taxi with my son, and my foot was caught inside the burqa, making me fall out of the taxi onto mud. And everyone started laughing. It was humiliating," she said.

Women in Afghanistan can still be seen wearing burqas. But Koofi says advances have been made for women's rights in recent years. In some cases, it's as simple as putting on makeup and walking down city streets.

But she fears that the rights of women and children could slowly be eroded, the "victims of political games," as she puts it. "I mean, they don't have a gun to fight [with], they cannot create a mess," Koofi said.

That's a sentiment echoed by rights groups. "The reported new law on women's rights could be about to seriously undermine women's rights for millions of Afghanistan women," Amnesty International said in a statement.

The new law was intended to give the minority Shiite community its own identity within the predominantly Sunni country. Shiites have been practicing their form of Islam for centuries in Afghanistan, but they agree that there needs to be a governing Islamic law for Shiites alone, one recognized by the central government.

Koofi welcomes international support in fighting the new law, telling CNN that international investments in Afghanistan should go beyond financial donations.

"I don't ask that the international community come and make laws for us, but they have to make the government of Afghanistan accountable for their commitment to women and children ... and basically the human rights situation in this country," she said.

Afghanistan 'rape' law puts women's rights front and center - CNN.com

He's blaming it on bad translation?

Does he think we're all morons? Does he think we're all taking someone else's word for it and no one's bothered to look at the text!!!!

**sunnykerr** · 04-07-2009, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Rwanda Marks Genocide With Vigil

Rwanda has held a candlelit vigil at the start of a week of national mourning to mark 15 years since the genocide which killed 800,000 people.

Ceremonies were held in the capital Kigali, and in Nyanza, where more than 5,000 people were slaughtered.

At a stadium in Kigali, thousands of candles spelt out the word "hope" in three languages.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that preventing future genocide was "a collective responsibility".

"Only by meeting this challenge can we match the resolve of the survivors and truly honour the memory of those who died in Rwanda 15 years ago," he said.

"The resounding voices of survivors touch us in ways that no other words could. Yet the silence of the more 800,000 innocent victims still haunts our collective conscience."

US President Barack Obama said the genocide was "so enormous, so daunting, that it runs the risk of becoming a statistic".

He said it was important to remember that each person who died had "their own story, their own family, and their own dreams" and that remembering such events deepened the commitment to prevent "future atrocities".

Mr Obama also praised the "courageous" survivors who he said had "demonstrated remarkable strength and generosity in forgiving those who committed these heinous acts".

"These individuals inspire us daily by working to restore trust and rebuild hope in Rwanda," he said.

'Cowardice'

The BBC's Karen Allen, in the Kigali stadium, said the ceremony was very emotional, with several people overcome by grief and having to be carried out.

Dignitaries and ordinary Rwandans, led by Mr Kagame, queued up to light candles.

"We must remember, but life must go on," Mr Kagame told the crowd.

"We must continue to build a better future."

But Mr Kagame has also used the occasion to accuse the international community of cowardice and of abandoning Rwandans to their deaths.

He laid a wreath and lit a torch at the scene of a massacre in Nyanza, seen by many as a symbol of the UN's failure 15 years ago.

The killings there took place after Belgian troops withdrew following a Rwandan militia attack that claimed the lives of 10 peacekeepers on 7 April that year.

Mr Kagame said the people of Rwanda had been "abandoned in their time of need" by the UN troops sent to protect them.

"They left them to be murdered. Aren't they guilty?", AFP quoted him as saying.

"They left even before any shot was fired."

He said the international community was "part of that history and the root causes of the genocide," but that Rwandans were "not like those who abandoned people they had come to protect".

Tribunals

The genocide in Rwanda began when President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.

Within 100 days of the president's death, ethnic Hutu militia had killed some 800,000 people across Rwanda.

The killings came to an end when Tutsi-led rebels under the current president took control.

Rwanda has taken many practical steps to build bridges between the Tutsi and Hutu communities, says our correspondent.

Some of the most senior perpetrators of the violence have faced a special tribunal in Tanzania although scores of key suspects remain at large.

Although the younger generation is spear-heading efforts at reconciliation, many older people are finding in harder to forgive, she says.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Rwanda marks genocide with vigil

Yeah, I don't think the lessons of history were learned at all here. Because it's happening right now in Darfur and no one's doing anything about it. Now we know better and we'll prevent future genocide? Please. It's happening right now.

And the world did abandon Rwanda. Lt.-Gen. Dallaire tried to help. He tried to prevent the massacre of innocent people, but he did leave when ordered to. I happen to believe that he did the best he could, but the truth is that no one, whether an organization or a government, back him up. So we abandoned Rwanda.

**Callace** · 04-08-2009, 03:52 PM

Wow, so the rape in marrage law was "misinterpreted"

Then I would really like to know what was the "right" interpretation of it

Quote:

He added that the Minister of Justice will study the "Shiite state law," line by line, to make sure it follows the nation's constitution, which requires equal rights to both sexes.

Lets certainly hope so,

**sunnykerr** · 04-08-2009, 06:47 PM

Well, who knows, maybe we misinterpret what "equality" between the sexes is...