SHIA PERSONAL STATUS LAW: GAZETTED AS AMENDED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002365 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: SHIA PERSONAL STATUS LAW: GAZETTED AS AMENDED REF: A. KABUL 1860 ¶B. KABUL 2106 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Shia Personal Status Law (SPSL) was published in the official gazette on July 27, after having been signed into force by presidential decree on July 19 by President Karzai along with the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW). The published version of the SPSL includes the amendments the Embassy had translated and analyzed in early July, and does not appear to include any additional changes. The reaction from civil society has not changed since July 13 (ref. A). The majority of Afghan civil society representatives maintain that the published version of the SPSL is the best possible version of the law at this time. According to Hazara leaders in Bamyan, Shias are showing their approval of the law by supporting Karzai in the presidential elections. We continue to monitor progress of the EVAW law, which most of our Afghan interlocutors support. END SUMMARY. -------------- SPSL: Signed, Sealed, Gazetted -------------- ¶2. (SBU) President Karzai signed the SPSL and EVAW on July 19 in the presence of the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Women's Affairs, Member of Parliament Shinkai Karokhel, and Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission Chair Sima Samar and Commissioner Soraya Sobrangh. Karokhel told President Karzai that the SPSL was still problematic and needed further revisions. President Karzai suggested he could hold off signing the law for a few days, and said he was considering asking the Ulema Council for their input on the law before signing. Samar then reportedly told President Karzai that consulting the Ulema Council was a bad idea, and pressed him to sign the law that afternoon. (Comment: Some interlocutors have expressed concern to us that further review of the SPSL could draw increased criticism from conservatives, and possibly lead to the reversal of some of the amendments. Samar pushed for Karzai's signature on July 19 for fear of otherwise losing ground on the progress civil society has made with the SPSL). ¶3. (SBU) On August 13, we obtained a copy of the July 27 official gazette with the published SPSL. The Afghan government, in particular the Ministry of Justice, appears to have purposefully kept a low profile on the publication of the law. UNAMA's human rights specialists and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission have compared the published version of the SPSL with the final version (which the Embassy translated and transmitted to State in early July) and found no differences. ¶4. (SBU) Neither the SPSL nor the EVAW law as signed by Karzai has been reviewed by Parliament. According to Article 79 of the Afghan Constitution, Parliament should review laws signed by Presidential decree within "30 days of convening its first session," although it remains unclear how Parliament calculates this 30-day period. Member of Parliament Sabrina Saqeb told us August 15 she does not think Parliament will review the revised SPSL, while Speaker of Parliament Qanooni told us in late July that he intended to allow the July 19 SPSL presidential decree to go through Parliament without changes (Ref B). -------------- SPSL: Good Enough for Now -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Key civil society representatives have reiterated to us that the SPSL was greatly improved from the original version, but still contains some problematic articles (Ref. A). AIHRC Chair Sima Samar told the Deputy Ambassador on August 15 that no further improvements could be accomplished at this time. MP Sabrina Saqib noted "there is still room for improvement" in the SPSL, but said the changes in the law are a "positive step for women's rights" in Afghanistan. She was also skeptical of authorities' ability to implement all articles of the law anyway. Global Rights Director Wazhma Frogh agreed that despite insufficiencies in the law, civil society had made good strides with the changes that President Karzai and the MOJ made to the law. -------------- Attracting the Shia Vote -------------- ¶6. (SBU) A female Bamyan Provincial Council member told us in a meeting with visiting Embassy officials that the Shia Hazaras would overwhelmingly support President Karzai in the August 20 elections because he "recognized the importance of the Shias" with the SPSL. The Bamyan Director of Women's KABUL 00002365 002 OF 002 Affairs concurred, but added that they supported the changes Karzai made to the most controversial elements of the law. Bamyan Ulema Shura leader Baba Musini told us Karzai had "raised the importance of the historically disenfranchised Shia Hazara" with the SPSL, noting that he told his followers to support Karzai due to this reason, and for his accomplishments in bringing peace to the Hazarajaat by ending ethnic violence there. (Note: the Shia Hazaras comprise about 80% of the population in Bamyan, and historically the Hazara vote is one of the strongest, most cohesive voting blocs; the total Hazara vote represents about 10-13% of the total vote in Afghanistan. End Note.) -------------- EVAW: What a Good Law Looks Like -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Civil society and the Afghan government contacts have expressed satisfaction with the EVAW law. Deputy Minister of Women's Affairs Mojgan Mostafavi said that the law was "good and protects women's rights". AIHRC Commissioner for Women's Issues Soraya Sobrangh agreed that the EVAW was "unequivocally" good. MP Saqib said she would like Parliament to review the law, as it would give women MPs a good opportunity to discuss and debate an important law. She and others said the law would likely remain intact. Some interlocutors tell us that as a criminal law, the EVAW law carries more weight than the SPSL, which is a civil law of limited scope, as it pertains to a small subset of the population. According to Afzal Nooristani, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Organization of Afghanistan, the EVAW law will serve to protect women's rights and allow for the criminal prosecution of people violating women's religious and legal rights. We continue to track progress of the EVAW law, which some Afghan civil society contacts expect will be sent to Parliament soon. -------------- SPSL in the Press -------------- ¶8. (SBU) As of August 15 the Afghan press had not reported on the publication of the SPSL. It is possible the Afghan media could pick up on the international media reaction in the coming days, but the Presidential elections may overshadow the issue. Based on civil society's tempered reaction to the revised SPSL here, it unlikely the Afghan media will have the same coverage of the law that the Human Rights Watch press release (which did not quote any Afghan sources) sparked in the United States and the United Kingdom. EIKENBERRY