Rape law passed with Canadian help

Afghanistan's infamous "rape law," which received some polishing from lawyers which Ottawa sent to Afghanistan, has finally been passed it seems. The result is, well, another rape law:

Karzai sells out Afghan women over law-rights group
By Jonathon Burch

KABUL, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A leading rights group accused President Hamid Karzai on Friday of selling out Afghan women by ratifying a Shi'ite law, which has drawn wide condemnation over its harsh provisions on women, before next week's election...

An amended version of the Shi'ite Personal Status Law was submitted last month and published in the official gazette on July 27, bringing it into effect weeks ahead of the Aug. 20 presidential poll, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

"Karzai has made an unthinkable deal to sell Afghan women out in return for the support of fundamentalists in the August 20 election," said Brad Adams, Asia director for HRW.

"So much for any credentials he claimed as a moderate on women's issues," he said in a statement.

The legislation is meant to govern family law for minority Muslim Shi'ites, who make up about 15 percent of Afghanistan's roughly 30 million people...

HRW said the amended law did show "some improvements" but still contained some of its "most repressive" articles that directly contravene the Afghan constitution, which bans any kind of discrimination and distinction between citizens.

The amended law gives a husband the right to withdraw basic maintenance from his wife, including food, if she refuses to obey his sexual demands and requires women to get permission from their husbands to work, according to HRW.

The law also grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers and effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying "blood money" to a girl who was injured when he raped her, HRW said... (link)