A proposal to restore stoning as a means for punishing
adultery has been put before the Afghan government. Human Rights Watch is
calling for the proposal to be rejected out of hand. The group is shocked that
the group, led by the Justice Ministry, working on drafting a new penal code
would even consider bringing back stoning as a punishment.
The provisions in the draft are archaic and a violation of
basic human rights. According to Human Rights Watch, “if a couple is found by a
court to have engaged in sexual intercourse outside legal marriage, both the
man and woman shall be sentenced to ‘stoning to death if the adulterer or
adulteress is married.’ The provisions state that the ‘implementation of
stoning shall take place in public in a predetermined location.’ If the ‘adulterer
or adulteress is unmarried,’ the sentence shall be ‘whipping 100 lashes.’”
The new government in Afghanistan signed on to international
human rights conventions and pledged to protect human rights. The proposed
penal code would be a strong violation of the agreements the government signed
on to.
“It is absolutely shocking that 12 years after the fall of
the Taliban government, the Karzai administration might bring back stoning as a
punishment,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President
Karzai needs to demonstrate at least a basic commitment to human rights and
reject this proposal out of hand.”
No comments:
Post a Comment