Amnesty International on Friday condemned the recently adopted “Criminal Procedure Regulation of the Courts” (De Mahakumu Jazaai Osulnama) in Afghanistan, citing concerns that the piece of legislation was regressive in nature and discriminated against the rights of women, girls and minority groups in the country.
Commenting on the severity of human rights violations infringed as a result of this regulation, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director Smriti Singh stated: “The regulation makes an already repressive legal system even more draconian. Women and girls are, of course, among the most affected, with provisions that normalize domestic violence and place even greater restrictions on their movement and autonomy.”
Amnesty has criticized aspects of the regulation, such as its criminalization of domestic violence only in cases where a woman has visible injuries or broken bones (Article 32), and its imposition of a three-month prison sentence for a woman who makes the decision to visit close relatives without permission from her husband and does not comply with a court order to return home (Article 34). The wording of Article 34 is formulated in a manner where women and girls will be less likely to seek refuge with their family. Amnesty has emphasized that by imposing rigid conditions, the provision essentially isolates survivors and strips away their primary support systems, leaving them with no viable alternative but to remain in dangerous environments. Additionally, the Taliban-endorsed regulation not only discriminates on the basis of gender, but also marginalizes those who follow different religious beliefs, and are from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background.
Social class in Afghanistan is divided into four different categories, which are the scholars, the elite, the middle class and the lower class. In the event that the same crime is committed by individuals from different social classes, the type and severity of the punishment vary, with scholars only given “advice”, whereas offenders from the lower class are subjected to corporal punishment.
Statistics indicate that about 15% of the population in Afghanistan are Shia Muslims, a group that routinely faces religious persecution from authorities. Fears surrounding their safety have only intensified in recent years and a closer analysis of Clause 8 of Article 2 and Article 26 of the regulation, which designates Shia Muslims as heretical, only serve to compound the climate of fear and sectarian tension. Although the preservation of human dignity and freedom from slavery is recognized as a cornerstone of international human rights principles, the regulation uses the term ‘slave’ in several sections, raising concerns that the regulation aimed to legitimize slavery.
This latest legal development comes after a series of internationally ostracized decrees by the Taliban government which has set women’s rights back by decades, effectively constituting gender apartheid.
