VZCZCXRO5076
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1012 1111213
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211213Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8564
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 001012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: PRESSING AYATOLLAH MOHSENI ON HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL 
AFGHANS 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The Charge called on Mohammad Asef Ali 
Ayatollah Mohseni, Afghanistan's highest ranking Shia cleric, 
on April 16 to register U.S. concerns that the Shia Family 
Law that emerges from ongoing internal Afghan reconsideration 
-- if it emerges at all -- be consistent with the protections 
of human rights for all under International Law and the 
Afghan consititution. Mohseni said the Shia Family Law was an 
internal Afghan matter, and one of religious importance.  He 
believed that the law was constitutional, and asserted the 
West was interfering without understanding the law. 
Mohseni's Tamadon TV station broadcast and reported on the 
meeting, but the report provided an incomplete overview, 
reporting on the CDA's comments of respect for the Shia 
community but omitting his statements of concern over the 
law. The CDA's Radio Azadi interview of 4/20 once again 
addressed our objections to the draft law's evident gender 
discrimination. 
 
¶2. The Charge paid his introductory call on Ayatollah Mohseni 
at Mohseni's Khatamul Nabayeen Education Center.  Mohseni was 
accompanied by three senior religious advisors.  A camera 
crew from Mohseni's Tamadon television station filmed the 
entire 75-minute meeting.  The Charge and Mohseni conducted 
the discussion in a mix of Arabic and English-Dari 
translation. 
 
Mohseni: West Doesn't Understand Shia Family Law 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3.  After extensive opening courtesies, Mohseni objected to 
western involvement in the family law issue, contending this 
was a Shia community and Afghan domestic issue, and should 
not have become an international one.  He regretted that the 
law had become a political topic, as he viewed it as a legal 
matter. Mohseni maintained the law allowed greater freedom 
for women than western laws did, and that the law did not 
violate the Afghan constitution.  Finally, although he 
believed it inappropriate for western politicians to comment 
on the law, he offered that he would be ready to meet with 
western legal and religious scholars to hear their concerns. 
 
CDA: Protect the Rights of All Afghans 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The CDA took a respectful tone throughout the 
conversation.  He assured Mohseni of our deep respect for all 
Afghans, including the Shia community.  He affirmed the 
United States' commitment to freedom of religion.  Citing 
Mohseni as one of the father's of Afghanistan's constitution, 
Charge affirmed our support for the constitution: the Shia 
community had the right to apply Shia jurisprudence on 
personal matters involving its community, but such 
jurisprudence should also be consistent with the equal 
protection provisions of the Constitution, as well as those 
Afghanistan has agreed to under international agreement. 
 
¶5.  The Charge told Mohseni that while Americans respect 
Afghanistan and its sovereignty, the U.S. and the world 
community share serious concerns many Afghans have expressed 
regarding the law's apparent encroachment on women's 
equality. The CDA declared that the United States was 
committed to Afghanistan's prosperity, stability and 
development.  Achieving success in these areas would require 
the contribution of 100 percent, not just 50 percent, of the 
Afghan people to help build Afghanistan. 
 
¶6.  The Charge welcomed Mohseni's pledge to consult with the 
international community on its concerns over the law, and 
expressed his confidence that Afghans could find an Afghan 
solution, consistent with the Afghan constitution and 
International law 
 
Setting the Public Record Straight 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7. Tamadon TV's later broadcast and report of the CDA-Mohseni 
meeting featured the CDA's comments of respect for the Shia 
community but edited out the CDA's comments stressing U.S. 
concerns regarding equal protection of the law for all 
Afghans.  The CDA's interview with Radio Azadi on 4/20 cited 
the conversation with Mohseni and once again stressed U.S. 
concern that the Shia Family Law should protect the equal 
rights of all Afghans without discrimination on the basis of 
gender, under the constitution and International Law. 
RICCIARDONE