quote:

---

Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

By Kim Sengupta
The Independent, 31 January 2008

A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country's rulers.
This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after "liberation" and under the democratic rule of the West's ally Hamid Karzai.
The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.
Mr Kambaksh, 23, distributed the tract to fellow students and teachers at Balkh University with the aim, he said, of provoking a debate on the matter. But a complaint was made against him and he was arrested, tried by religious judges without – say his friends and family – being allowed legal representation and sentenced to death.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by marzo:
...I didn't know about the expulsion of Irish and British diplomats. This is another reason for Canadian involvement in Afghanistan to end. The Canadian government should cut off Karzai and if the Taliban send their suicide bombers after him that's his problem.

---

Indeed, the expulsion of our NATO partner's diplomats should be a huge indication that what Canada is doing is not correct.

The upper house of parliament in Afghanistan has withdrawn its support for a death sentence issued against a journalist convicted of blasphemy.

Pervez Kambakhsh, 23, was found guilty last week of downloading and distributing an article insulting Islam. He denies the charge.

quote:

---

An Afghan reporter sentenced to death after downloading an article from the internet on women's rights has said his trial lasted just four minutes.

---

quote:

---

An Afghan student journalist who was sentenced to death for blasphemy has told an appeals court that he confessed after being tortured.

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh was convicted in January of insulting Islam.

But at the appeals court in Kabul the 24-year-old insisted he was innocent of all the charges.

He said he was tortured into confessing that he had disrupted university classes by asking questions about women's rights under Islam.

He was also convicted of distributing an article on the same subject, and adding three additional paragraphs.

He told the crowded, hour-long appeal hearing: "As a Muslim ... I never allow myself to do such a thing. These are totally lies."

---

quote:

---

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for insulting Islam denied the charges before an appeals court Sunday, saying he only confessed to questioning the religion's treatment of women because he was tortured.

---

ETA addressed to M. Spector's comment.

[ 18 May 2008: Message edited by: mahmud ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mahmud:
I heard this islamophobic line of thinking as I heard its anti-semitic equivalent which calls for getting rid of Judaism so the ME and the world would enjoy peace.

ETA addressed to M. Spector's comment.

---

When the older brother refused to back off, the accused was arrested on trumped up charges to exert pressure on the radio station to back off.

quote:

---

Originally posted by jester:
Nothing to do with Americans -

---

Whether its is Mugabe coercing voters, Homeland Security coercing businessmen, Putin coercing businessmen or Afghan power mongers coercing errant journalists, its all a scam to maintain control.

Afghans,Burmese,Somalians,Zimbabweans,Americans, Canadians,all wielders of power will use that power to maintain their entitlements.

You should be ever grateful to George Bush and his neo-con cohort because he has accomplished in 8 years what the feeble ideological left couldn't accomplish in eons, namely the demise of the American Empire.

quote:

---

Originally posted by jester:
Rubbish. Those "shits" you refer to are also brown men.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by M. Spector:
In fact, those shits were the brown men I was referring to. Duh.

The rest of your post completely contradicts your previous assertion that the fascist acts of the Afghan government are "nothing to do with Americans". Thanks for that.

---

Your welcome. It must be boring dredging up old threads in the desperate hope of attracting a disparaging comment or so to wax ideological over.

You are so busy looking for enemies, you are forced to manufacture them. What exactly does their skin colour have to do with the subject at hand outside of your Patti Hurst syndrome masochism? You conflate a local Afghan dispute with the legitimate geopolitical concerns regarding Pax Americana.

Yes, the present American adventurists are culpable for war crimes. Yes, Bush,Rummy,the odious Cheney and their henchmen - Perle, Wolfowitz et al - deserve a fair trial before being convicted.

Yes,the Americans are the driving force of fascism today, but, within your blooming phosphorescence of anti-American outrage that is well beyond the abilities of even the campiest high dudgeon, spare a moment of outrage for the rest of the "shits" of the world who do not need the ministrations of US geopolitical malfeasance to manifest their shortcomings.

quote:

---

Originally posted by jester:
As for the subject of this thread,he is an innocent pawn like so many others. He is used to extort compliance. Dragging the US into this matter smacks of either desperation or ideological blindness.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by M. Spector:
Sign the petition

---

What is the point of signing the petition? Would it not be better to sign a petition and urge your MP to vote to remove our troops from Afghanistan?

quote:

---

Originally posted by M. Spector:
So you would only sign a petition to save the life of a prisoner in a country where we don't have troops propping up the government?

Nice.

---

Ghislaine, you're a little bit wrong. Human rights organizations have amply proven that letters and petitions do have an impact, even on some of the worst regimes. It can't hurt.

M. Spector, your particular petition is a bit weird. It's connected with an article entitled, "Save Parwiz Kambaksh: Protect Blasphemy in Afghanistan".

While I agree that blasphemy should not be subject to penalties anywhere, surely we can express our revulsion against the execution of Kambaksh without calling on Karzai to "protect blasphemy". It kind of dilutes to the point of homeopathic nonexistence what the point of the campaign should be, no? What about all the scores of other countries that ban "blasphemy" in one form or another?

The best way to wage that particular battle is: 1. Ensure Canada is free of any laws restraining criticism or mockery of religion (and it's not clear that we are!!). 2. Wage the battle in international fora, like the U.N. Human Rights Council which is under pressure to condemn "defamation of religion".

In short: I prefer the one-line type of petition posted by martin in the OP.

[ 21 July 2008: Message edited by: unionist ]

The petition you prefer is addressed to the UK Foreign Office.

[ 21 July 2008: Message edited by: M. Spector ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by M. Spector:
The petition does not call on Karzai to "protect blasphemy". It says what it says.

---

Either the campaign is against the death penalty, or it's for unrestricted right to self-expression. Those are two separate unrelated issues. The petition says this:

quote:

---

If Afghanistan is to be a free, open society, it cannot allow religious orthodoxy to trump free inquiry among its citizens ...

---

That statement - which I support 150% as applied to the entire world - clearly limits the impact such a petition could have not only on the Afghan puppet regime, but on scores of other regimes.

Again, if the aim is to make Afghanistan a "free and open society", then I suppose this petition makes sense, although its odds of success are nil.

quote:

---

The petition you prefer is addressed to the UK Foreign Office.

---

I grasp that point. My point was rather the content.

quote:

---

Originally posted by unionist:
Where to start?

Ghislaine, you're a little bit wrong. Human rights organizations have amply proven that letters and petitions do have an impact, even on some of the worst regimes. It can't hurt.

[ 21 July 2008: Message edited by: unionist ]

---

Yes, I know it can't hurt - but I guess my point is that what will it do? I have been signing so many petitions over the years and it does seem to be a waste of time. I am to the point of only signing things when directly affect events and actions in our own country. In this case, that would be signing a petition to get Canada out of Afghanistan and ensure that such horribly unjust things are not happening with our support - monatarily, military and otherwise.

MSpector - it is not that I do not care about this person. I wish they lived in a culture and society with religious (and non-religious) freedom and human rights as principles and ideals. They do not and Canada cannot give them this at the point of a gun. So, who are we to intervene in another country's affairs? Better we leave and let Afghanis run their own country - which could include death to blasphemers, apostates etc. - but that will then be an internal matter without Canada's name attached.

If this individual was trying to become a refugee in Canada, I would wholeheartedly support this.

quote:

---

Originally posted by unionist:
Fidel, I give up - which thread was that post meant for??

---

This is what the western-backed Gladios and rural-Afghan warlords and druglords fought for in getting rid of the reformist PDPA government in 1989, unionist. Why are you opposed to religious fundamentalism now? Bit late, isn't it?

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
http://tinyurl.com/6dzam5

Hafizullah Gardesh in Kabul (ARR No. 281, 28-Jan-08)

quote:

---

“When [Kambakhsh] was arrested, IWPR’s offices in Mazar were searched by the NDS, and [Ibrahimi’s] notebooks were taken, which contained contact numbers for the sources in his stories,” he said. “This clearly indicates that the government’s problem was with Yaqub Ibrahimi, not with Parwez Kambakhsh. But they could not arrest Yaqub. This was a good way of pressuring Yaqub and his family.”

If additional proof were needed, added Samander, one need only consider the position taken by religious scholars around the country. The Ulema or clerical councils of Balkh and Kunduz provinces have issued condemnations of Kambakhsh. Others have remained silent.

“Why have only the Ulema in Balkh and Kunduz been provoked?” he asked. “It is all due to jihadi [faction] connections. The judges and the prosecutors of Balkh all belong to a specific party, and the administration up there is a dictatorship that abuses its religious and governmental power.”

Fazel Rahman Oria, editor of the Erada daily newspaper and a Kabul-based political analyst, also sees political manoeuvring behind the scenes.

“The central government is weak, and governors have their own administrations,” he said. “[Local political figures] want to get revenge on Parwez Kambakhsh and his family by exercising their power. It also serves as a lesson to other journalists.”

---

Institute for War and Peace Reporting - http://tinyurl.com/5o7qft

Jean MacKenzie in Kabul (ARR No. 293, 16-Jun-08)

quote:

---

The lack of a strong international presence could be bad news for Kambakhsh. Several sources close to the case have said international attention is the only thing sustaining his appeal.
“If the eyes of the world were not on him, this judge would just hang Kambakhsh,” said one insider, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Presiding judge Abdul Salam Qazizada has weathered several Afghan administrations. He is a holdover from the Taleban regime, and his antagonism to the defendant was visible.

Snip

The court was also presented with a long list of Kambakhsh’s alleged failings, such as that he was a socialist, impolite, and asked too many questions in class. He was also accused of having swapped off-colour jokes with friends via text messaging on his mobile phone.
When the judge read out one text-message anecdote in a tone of high indignation, several people in the audience had to repress a smile.

---

And they'll prolly celebrate by raping and killing women in the streets - arranging forced marriages between old men and pre-pube girls... again! But that's their culture, and who are we to tell them any different? Besides, it's an old and established religious culture in Afghanistan, a dynasty that lasted from 1995 to 2001 or so.

It won't nearly be the perfect revolution for Afghans, and some won't like it too much, iow's many of the women, or that other gender who make up about half of any healthy population. Some percentage of the total Afghan women won't protest Taliban rule at all and will actually support them. But at least we have the freedom to protest oppressive Catholic school funding in our own backyards. And that's what really matters as far as we're concerned.

And I'm sorry to say that I'm pulling for the Taliban, the lesser of two something or others. At least Taliban aren't half as crazy as Crazy George and company. What a mess

[ 22 July 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]

quote:

---

In Kabul's grim and crowded central prison, a 23-year-old student from northern Afghanistan spends each day wondering if and when he will be put to death.

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh was sentenced in January, in five minutes, at a local court in Mazar-e-Sharif, with no legal representation to defend charges of blasphemy after reports he had downloaded from the internet un-Islamic material on women's rights.

"I don't know what will happen to me," he said from the prison office where we were allowed half an hour to interview him. ...

"Kambaksh has deviated from religion, and Islam orders that he must be executed," said Enayatullah Baleegh, a member of the Islamic ulema council and a popular and well-respected Muslim scholar.

"The courts of Afghanistan, as per the constitution, have sentenced him to death and we certify this 100%," he said.

This is not the voice of an extremist minority, Enayatullah Baleegh delivers his religious guidance at one of Kabul's main mosques and on state-run television every week.

---

quote:

---

KABUL - Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament, has prepared a draft law which, when approved, will ban obscene movies, female dances and high-volume music at parties.

Those indulging in such acts will be awarded deterrent punishments under the draft bill titled Law against Immoral Acts. The draft has been prepared in three chapters and 20 articles by a parliamentary commission tasked with countering drugs and immoral acts.

Prepared over the last five months, the proposed bill also seeks a ban on training of women artistes including dancers. If passed, the measure will outlaw several practices which have become a routine affair in the Afghan society.

The draft law, copy of which has been obtained by Pajhwok Afghan News, says contents the bill -- once signed into law -- will be implemented by the Department of Vice and Virtue, echoing a Taliban-style campaign against indecency.

Article 7 of the 2nd Chapter says those who drink alcohol will face Sharia law. Those watching naked and half-naked movies, importing or producing them, or providing them to the market for business, will face legal charges based on Article 25 of the punishments law.

According to the proposed law, those behind professional dancing events and those coordinating such programmes will face up to a year in jail. Hotels paving the way for males and females from different families to get together will also be taken to task.

By the same token, organisers of sports events involving men and women participants too will be punished. The new bill disallows wearing shorts and skintight outfits and proposes different penalties for the practices that lead to a delay in marriage, forced weddings, and giving away girls to settle disputes.

---

quote:

---

RAWA: The above photo shows mujahedin interim governing council spokesman Ayatullah Asif Mohseini, at press conference in Kabul on May 7, 1992 announcing newly imposed Islamic rules.
Many of the anti-women rules that the brutal Taliban imposed were the revised version of the rules formulated and practiced by Rabbani-Massoud government after they came to power in 1992 following the fall of the Russian puppet regime. Today the same people are once again in hold of power in Afghanistan and trying to revive their medieval rules.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by unionist:
RAWA is condemning puritanical Islamic legislation, while the Taliban are demanding that Canadian troops get out of Afghanistan.

Someone should explain to me, again, why RAWA doesn't politely ask the foreign troops to leave.

---

RAWA comdemns U.S. stooge Karzai and his kleptocrats, but they also condemn the Taliban. Is that allowed in a country in which a civil war began over the issue of women's rights?

Afghan man spared death sentence

quote:

---

A journalism student from northern Afghanistan has had his controversial death sentence for blasphemy commuted to 20 years in jail.

---