Afghan president backs strict guidelines for women

Afghan President Hamid Karzai gestures during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 6, 2012. / AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus

(AP) KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's president on Tuesday endorsed a "code of conduct" issued by an influential council of clerics that activists say represents a giant step backward for women's rights in the country.

President Hamid Karzai's Tuesday remarks backing the Ulema Council's document, which allows husbands to beat wives under certain circumstances and encourages segregation of the sexes, is seen as part of his outreach to insurgents like the Taliban.

Both the U.S. and Karzai hope that the Taliban can be brought into negotiations to end the country's decade-long war. But activists say they're worried that gains made by women since 2001 may be lost in the process.

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When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan prior to the 2001 U.S. invasion, girls were banned from going to school and women had to wear burqas that covered them from head to toe. Women were not allowed to leave their homes without a male relative as an escort.

The "code of conduct" issued Friday by the Ulema Council as part of a longer statement on national political issues is cast as a set of guidelines that religious women should obey voluntarily, but activists are concerned it will herald a reversal of the trend in Afghanistan since 2001 to pass laws aimed at expanding women's rights.

Among the rules: Women should not travel without a male guardian and women should not mingle with strange men in places like schools, markets or offices. Beating one's wife is prohibited only if there is no "Shariah-compliant reason," it said, referring to the principles of Islamic law.

Asked about the code of conduct at a press conference in the capital, Karzai said it was in line with Islamic law and was written in consultation with Afghan women's groups. He did not name the groups that were consulted.

"The clerics' council of Afghanistan did not put any limitations on women," Karzai said, adding: "It is the Shariah law of all Muslims and all Afghans."

Karzai's public backing of the council's guidelines may be intended to make his own government more palatable to the Taliban, or he may simply be trying to keep on the good side of the Ulema Council, who could be valuable intermediaries in speaking to the insurgents.

But either way, women's activists say that Karzai's endorsement means that existing or planned laws aimed at protecting women's rights may be sacrificed for peace negotiations.

"It sends a really frightening message that women can expect to get sold out in this process," said Heather Barr, an Afghanistan researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Shukria Barikzai, a parliamentarian from the capital Kabul who has been active in women's issues, said she was worried that Karzai and the clerics' council appeared to be ignoring their country's own laws.

"When it comes to civil rights in Afghanistan, Karzai should respect the constitution," Barikzai said. The Afghan constitution provides equal rights for men and women.

The exception for certain types of beatings also appears to contradict Afghan law that prohibits spousal abuse. And the guidelines also promote rules on divorce that give women few rights, a real turnaround from pledges by Karzai to reform Afghan family law to make divorces more equitable, Barr said.

"This represents a significant change in his message on women's rights," she said.

Afghan women's rights activist Fatana Ishaq Gailani, founder of the Afghanistan Women's Council, said she feels like women's rights are being used as part of a political game.

"We want the correct Islam, not the Islam of politics," Gailani said. She said she supported negotiations with the Taliban, but that Afghanistan's women should not be sacrificed for that end.

Hadi Marifat of the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization, which surveyed 5,000 Afghan women for a recent report on the state of women's rights in Afghanistan, argued that the statements show Karzai is shifting more toward the strictest interpretations of Shariah law.

"In the post-Taliban Afghanistan, the guiding principle of President Karzai regarding women's rights has been attracting funding from the international community on one hand, balanced against the need to get the support of the Ulema Council and other traditionalists on the other," Marifat said.

"The concerning thing is that now this balance is shifting toward the conservative element, and that was obvious in his statement."

[sirmarion-2009]

SOunds more and more like Obama and Hillary have lost Afghan to the radical Islamist already. Back to sharia law,honor killings and female circumcisions.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

Until I see equality actually mean equality in America, I'm not going to criticize another country for their customs. So far, American women used the equality banner to gain a majority of rights. To me, that's just as useless as a pack of servants and sex slaves. At such time American women get it right and truly advocate an honest equality on all levels, then perhaps we have something to say of value to other countries. But not until then.

[AttyFAM]

If you really think that women in America have more rights than men, you are seeing through highly distorted lenses. Women still make on average about 80% of what men make for the same work. They still are kept out of the highest ranking jobs in the country, both in corporations and in government. They still have to constantly ward off attempts by Republicans to control their bodies. Meanwhile, divorce courts allow alimony for men and give men custody of children, contrary to the norm of 50 years ago. Then, too, while women are supposed to be treated as equals in the military, the "masters" of the military have been tolerant of rape and sexual harassment of women in the armed forces. And don't talk about religion, where most of the churches in America will not let women become priests.

I fail to see any meaningful area of human endeavour where women in America where women have gained equality let alone exceeded the rights of males.

[Merricart]

What equality? American women are still severely discriminated against. Take a look at the Republican's assault on reproductively rights. In no way are women treated equally as men. And there is no excuse not to criticize another country's "customs" if said customs dehumanize half of the population. Oppression is oppression. The Taliban are ruthless tyrants.

[LongMemory2001]

If this plays out, then it seems that every American death related to this, from 9/11 until today was for nothing. The main reason for the intervention in Afghanistan, (I believed) was for democracy building, not just for some empty payback.
If they want it back to Taliban-style, then please let's remove all of the infrastructure we've contributed, let's withdraw, and simply arm whomever would favor democracy.

[AttyFAM]

While this is a grim setback for human rights there, the main reason for invading Afghanistan had nothing whatsoever to do with democracy building. That was a hoped-for by-product. The main reason was that Osama bin Laden was using Afghanistan as a base from which to attack America and had done so with the 9/11 attacks. The USA asked the Taliban government to turn over bin Laden. They refused. We were not going to be deterred from getting him. So we attacked. Unfortunately, bin Laden slipped through our net in the eastern mountains and made his way to Pakistan.

The USA and its allies bargained with the regional war lords of Afghanistan for their support in the invasion. As a result, the weak central government that came about reflected the divided interests of these local war lords. No one in Afghanistan made a real commitment to equality of the sexes even though they put it into their constitution. The constitution was in their minds always subordinate to Islamic law and tradition. It was a make work to please the invaders. Now that the invaders are leaving, it is simply ignored.

[masmanz]

You have a very short memory. We went there to fight the boogeyman called AlQaida. We teamed up with the worst of the warlords. We may remove the infrastructure, but should we pay for each innocent man, women, and child we killed in the process?

[nonpolitico]

No need to worry about this man.
When US troops withdraw,he is a dead man (probably).
If Taliban return the football field will go back to its original Islamic usages!!
Probably with all the present govt incumbents first for the chop (literally).
Don`t you just love democracy Islamic style??
Y`know superstitious, barbaric and back in the 12th Century??
Following a god of "peace"??
Still they are politicians!

[masmanz]

In terms of number of innocents killed, 20th century was probably the worst century in human history. And 21st century doesn't appear to be any better. What is wrong with the 12th?

[tcaldie]

Why do we continue to back this guy? I say pull everyone and everything out and leave these people to kill themselves. I am tired of our people dieing for no good reason!!

[sirmarion-2009]

Because this is Obama's war he wants us to talk,talk,talk and make nice with Evil.

[mjlewis6]

We have a similar political bent in our Republican Party denying women control over privacy issues and family planning with their own doctor.

Shall we extend a 'freedom train' to Afghan women wanting to flee their beloved Afghanistan rather than submit to their government's paternalistic moral code of conduct?

Or shall we vote and educate Republican males about women's rights and equality in both the workplace and in the home?

Either way, if Republicans want peace on the homefront and in foreign relations, they had best recognize the independence of women and not the shackles of an enforced religion to keep them in their place either in the US or pretend it does not matter in foreign relations.

[gnimelf1968]

You just want to be able to kill your babies. If you don't want kids, get yourself fixed and do us all a favor. Don't make me pay for your murderous choices.