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Karzai rapped for law that lets men starve wives
KABUL: President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has approved a law allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex.
Critics have accused Mr Karzai of selling out Afghan women for the sake of conservative Shi'ite support ahead of Thursday's presidential election.
He approved the law earlier this year but was forced to review it after Western leaders and Afghan women's rights groups protested over provisions that they said were reminiscent of Taleban rule.
Mr Karzai said Western concerns about the law were inappropriate and may have been based on 'misinterpretations', but vowed in April to make changes if it were found to violate the constitution.
The international community learnt only last week that the law had been brought into effect on July 27.
'There was a review process - Karzai came under huge pressure from all over the world to amend this law, but many of the most oppressive laws remain,' Ms Rachel Reid, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative in Kabul, told the BBC news.
Dr Frozan Fana, one of two women candidates in the presidential election, accused Mr Karzai of pushing through the law to win the support of conservative clerics in the election. 'This law is not according to the Afghan constitution,' she told The Times of London. 'I'm going to request the donor countries to take action over this.'
Ms Fatemeh Hosseini, an Afghan women's rights activist, said Mr Karzai had been stuck between the two sides of the debate, but in the end had given in to conservative clerics.
KABUL: President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has approved a law allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex.
Critics have accused Mr Karzai of selling out Afghan women for the sake of conservative Shi'ite support ahead of Thursday's presidential election.
He approved the law earlier this year but was forced to review it after Western leaders and Afghan women's rights groups protested over provisions that they said were reminiscent of Taleban rule.
Mr Karzai said Western concerns about the law were inappropriate and may have been based on 'misinterpretations', but vowed in April to make changes if it were found to violate the constitution.
The international community learnt only last week that the law had been brought into effect on July 27.
'There was a review process - Karzai came under huge pressure from all over the world to amend this law, but many of the most oppressive laws remain,' Ms Rachel Reid, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative in Kabul, told the BBC news.
Dr Frozan Fana, one of two women candidates in the presidential election, accused Mr Karzai of pushing through the law to win the support of conservative clerics in the election. 'This law is not according to the Afghan constitution,' she told The Times of London. 'I'm going to request the donor countries to take action over this.'
Ms Fatemeh Hosseini, an Afghan women's rights activist, said Mr Karzai had been stuck between the two sides of the debate, but in the end had given in to conservative clerics.
