IC REVIEWS INTERIM APPROACH TO KAMBAKHSH CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 002833 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR MCGRAW CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM AF SUBJECT: IC REVIEWS INTERIM APPROACH TO KAMBAKHSH CASE REF: A. KABUL 310 ¶B. KABUL 2173 Classified By: S. Nichols, Reason 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Afghan and international media widely reported that the Kabul appellate court on October 21 sentenced Sayad Parwez Kambakhsh to 20 years of imprisonment, vice an earlier sentence of death, for distributing literature found by a local court to be offensive to Islam (REF A.) On the margins of an October 22 meeting with Ambassadors on other topics, UN SRSG Kai Eide expressed his intention to again privately engage President Karzai and the Chief Justice on the Kambakhsh case. The SRSG acknowledged that while the defects of the process, the merits of the case, and international public opinion all create pressure for a public response to media inquires, the case will again go to appeal, and that public international pressure is likely to work against rather than in favor of a suitable resolution. The Canadian Ambassador noted that Karzai's advisors say they do not expect the 20-year sentence to stand. (Canadian and Norwegian representatives in Kabul both have expressed a willingness to offer Kambakhsh asylum.) The SRSG's approach gained a broad consensus at the meeting. ¶2. (C) Separately, the Embassy's ROL Coordinator met with representatives from the EC, Canada, the Netherlands, and Italy. These diplomats report that the human rights committee of the EU is likely to issue a vocal and political public statement, but that Kabul-based Embassy representatives are providing their capitals with guidance similar to the consensus formed at the SRSG meeting. ¶3. (C) Nader Naderi of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on October 22 confirmed that Kambakhsh's lawyer had already filed for the next and final round of appeal. As in REF B, the AIHRC is tracking details of the legal proceedings. AIHRC remains very concerned that the initial process contained flaws such as inadequate defense advocate access to prosecution witnesses, irrelevant testimony, and the appearance of judicial bias. Naderi said that although AIHRC welcomed the lifting of the death sentence, 20 years appears to be a very long term of imprisonment. ¶4. (C) Embassy continues to pursue and recommend a private approach, making the case to President Karzai that a 20-year prison term is not an adequate compromise. This government has some political constituencies who would relish an opportunity to stand up to international pressure in defense of Islam. For Karzai, it is to his advantage to find a way to preempt two equally unattractive outcomes: disappointing his international backers, or finding a request for pardon for Kambakhsh in his inbox. WOOD