Human Rights Groups Pressure Karzai Into Changing Domestic Abuse Law

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013. Sharif said Saturday that the recent release of a senior... Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013. Sharif said Saturday that the recent release of a senior Taliban leader shows he is committed to helping bring peace to Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) MORE LESS
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered changes to a draft of new criminal legislation in response to an international outcry warning it would severely limit justice for victims of domestic abuse, his spokesman said Monday.

Afghanistan’s parliament had passed a new criminal procedure code that would ban relatives from testifying against alleged abusers. While the legislation awaited signature from Karzai, human rights organizations and several of Afghanistan’s Western allies — including the U.S. and European Union — voiced strong concerns it would effectively curb prosecutions involving violence against women, where relatives are often the only witnesses.

Karzai’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said the president was “well aware” of the critiques and reports and decided at a Cabinet meeting Monday that the legislation must be changed.

“We are not going to allow any such law to come into force unless the necessary amendments are made,” Faizi said, suggesting that there may have been issues with how the area in question — Article 26 — was translated into English.

While the Ministry of Justice will decide on how to amend the text, Faizi stressed the resulting legislation will be clear.

“This law will not bar any relative or any family member to testify against each other or another member of family,” he told the Associated Press. “It will be up to them. They will have the freedom.”

The U.S. embassy commended Karzai’s decision, calling it a “welcome response” to concerns raised by many.

“We look forward to the final passage of a criminal procedure code that protects the access to justice of all Afghans,” it said in a statement.

Women in Afghanistan have won back many of the rights they lost during Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, when the Islamic movement was ousted by an American invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.

Under the Taliban, girls were barred from attending school, women were forced to stay indoors and cover their heads and faces with burqas.

There are fears that many of those freedoms may shrink as foreign forces depart by the end of this year and much of the international aid and assistance they brought to Afghanistan goes with them.

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Follow Cassandra Vinograd at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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