Amidst news this week that the US and Karzai are becoming even more estranged after revelations surfaced that Karzai is seeking a peace agreement with the Taliban outside of the US-Afghani-Taliban talks, has come the stunning move to pass legislation that would greatly victimize women.
Karzai is now in full regression. If the US thought that it had an ally in the American educated and formerly exiled President Karzai, he has instead now moved fully into autonomous mode and the new legislation he is about to sign seems to have been tailor made to appease the Taliban faction of rebels in his country.
But let's look carefully at this new body of legislation:
1 - the law would allow men to attack their wives, children and sisters without fear of prosecution.
This particular aspect of the law gives carte blanche to any men to do as they please with women in general, especially in the family nucleus, and effectively silences any possibility of the women to seek punishment for the abuse they might suffer.
In addition, this would also mean that honor killings, forced marriages and domestic abuse would now be perfectly legal.
2 - the law disallows testimony from relatives of the accused, and from anyone in the family from testifying against them.
Since almost all violence against women comes from within the family nucleus, this will silence the victims and the witnesses.
The scope of the legislation is immense. It basically gives men total power over women, by any mean.
A recent case of a child bride that was kept chained in a basement for years would now never come to justice. Many child brides suffer untold violence, some are chained, some are starved, most are beaten, burned, whipped and sexually assaulted.
Another famous case, in which a husband cut off the lips and nose of his wife, would also never see prosecution, let alone a courtroom.
What is more sickening is the fact that both houses of the Parliament eagerly passed the law. And when Karzai receives it for signing, he will in all probability sign off on it, since the entire Parliament has already agreed upon it.
Karzai is not new to this type of legislation. He blocked a law that curbed domestic violence against women and reduced the quota number of women in provincial councils.
The Director of Women for Afghan Women, Manizha Naderi says it "is a travesty this is happening....It will make it impossible to prosecute cases of violence against women."
The law was passed as an amendment in a section of the criminal code called "Prohibition of Questioning an Individual as a Witness."
Heather Barr, an Afghani researcher with Human Rights Watch also said that " Opponents of women's rights have been emboldened in the last year. They can see an opportunity right now to begin reversing women's rights - no need to wait until 2015 (when the US withdrawal will be complete)."
What is even more horrible is that the changes to the law that would silence victims of violence was probably spurred by the fact that complaints against domestic abuse had increased 26% in the past year. That alone must have prompted the crackdown.
Although Karzai has not signed the law yet, the political pressure he is subject to almost ensures that he will.
Source : The Hindu/Guardian/ 1.5.14
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