VZCZCXRO8216
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0914/01 1030853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130853Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8356
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000914 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KWMN AF
SUBJECT: SHIA FAMILY LAW UPDATE: SHIA LEADERS, CIVIL SOCETY 
FORTIFY POSITIONS 
 
REF: A. KABUL 896 AND PREVIOUS 
     ¶B. 08 KABUL 3097 
     ¶C. KABUL 279 
     ¶D. 08 KABUL 2963 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY.  A prominent Shia cleric publicly lashed out 
this week against opponents of the Shia Family Law, charging 
that the government has no right to alter a law passed by 
Parliament and signed by President Karzai (ref A).  Officials 
say they remain committed to a thorough review of the law to 
eliminate unconstitutional limits on the rights of women. 
Representatives of the international community will meet with 
the Ministry of Justice this week to discuss specific 
objections.  Civil society organizations and moderate 
parliamentarians are coordinating their inputs for the MoJ's 
review process.  Several Shia leaders in Kabul, caught off 
guard by international outrage against the law, have reached 
out to the media and various embassies to defend their 
position or step back from their earlier support of the law. 
Shia women leaders continue to find themselves torn between 
their faith and their gender.  End Summary. 
 
Ayatollah Mohseni: Western Countries Should Butt Out 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U) Ayatollah Mohammad Asef Mohseni, arguably the 
country's most influential Shia leader, refuses to back away 
from the Shia Family Law's original text, including 
controversial provisions restricting women's ability to leave 
their homes, work, and refuse sexual intercourse with their 
husbands.  In his April 11 press conference, Mohseni 
criticized Western governments for forcing Karzai to withdraw 
the Palace's support for the law.  Mohseni contended foreign 
pressure to kill the law reverses those countries' promises 
to stay out of internal Afghan affairs and respect Afghan 
democracy.  Charge will call on Mohseni on April 16. 
 
Government: Mohseni Statement Won't Stop Our Review 
--------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Deputy Justice Minister Hashimzai confirmed with 
Embassy's Rule of Law coordinator on April 11 that Mohseni's 
strong words did not affect the government's commitment to 
reviewing the legislation with civil society groups, the 
international community, members of parliament, and religious 
experts.  MoJ has invited certain international community 
representatives, including the United States, to an April 15 
meeting to present their concerns on specific provisions in 
the law.  EU officials in Kabul delivered a demarche to FM 
Spanta on April 12 welcoming the government's decision not to 
publish the law in the legal gazette.  Civil society groups 
and other interested parties will also meet with MoJ in the 
coming weeks.  Moderate Shia groups want the drafting process 
restarted and demand Mohseni and other conservative Shia 
leaders include a more diverse representation of the Shia 
community in the new process.  Mohseni and other 
conservatives retain significant influence in the Shia 
community, though we are hearing from increasing numbers of 
younger Hazaras looking for more modern leaders (ref B). 
 
Some Shia Leaders Hold Firm, Others Moderate Their Position 
---------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Several Shia leaders have reached out to the media 
and foreign officials in Kabul to explain their position. 
Leading Shia MPs, such as Sayed Alemi Balkhi (Kabul, Hazara), 
remain committed to the bill and blame poor translations for 
the international community's "misunderstanding."  Balkhi 
believes amendments passed by the Lower House in February 
sufficiently protect women's rights.  We have seen several 
translations of the law's various articles, and concur with 
media reports that the law would severely roll back women's 
rights.  MP Ahmad Ali Jebraili (Herat, Hazara) argued the law 
was actually progressive, granting women exceptions to 
limitations on their freedom of movement for emergencies or 
health reasons.  He claimed some Shia husbands would not 
ordinarily accept such exceptions.  Jebraili also doubts any 
men would actually seek legal recourse if their wives 
disobeyed the provision on submitting to a husband's sexual 
demands.   "When I invite my wife for sex, she sometimes 
declines, but I never take her to court over it," he told 
PolOff.  Jebraili and other drafters claimed they added such 
provisions to respect traditional Shia jurisprudence and 
Sharia law. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Hazara leader MP Haji Mohammad Mohaqqeq is one of 
the few Shia men to moderate his support for the law. 
Mohaqqeq had been involved in the drafting and its passage 
through Parliament, but now says the law is out of step with 
Afghanistan's commitments to women's rights in its 
Constitution and international protocols.  About 20 Shia MPs 
 
KABUL 00000914  002 OF 002 
 
 
in the Lower House are loyal to Mohaqqeq and may also 
moderate their positions.  Several presidential candidates, 
including Karzai and presumptive United Front nominee 
Abdullah Abdullah, are courting Mohaqqeq for a vice 
presidential slot on their tickets.  With his revised 
position, Mohaqqeq may be looking to offset criticism that 
Karzai or another political leader is trading support for the 
law in exchange for Mohaqqeq's influence with Afghanistan's 
approximately 1 million Hazara voters. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Many Shia women continue to struggle with their 
posture toward a law which restricts women's rights but 
codifies a legal identity for the Shia minority.  A New 
York-based women's rights NGO contacted Upper House MP Rida 
Azimi (Parwan, Tajik), a Sunni, in late March asking for help 
identifying a Shia MP who could serve as a public face in 
opposing the bill.  Azimi surveyed colleagues, but found no 
takers.  "In the end, the Shia women were afraid to speak up 
or chose their religion over their gender," she said.  Lower 
House Shia MP Shekeba Hashimi (Kandahar) told PolOff 
foreigners should not interfere in Afghanistan's religious 
affairs and that most female Shia in the Lower House 
supported the law. 
 
Women, Civil Society Organize Their Opposition 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  However, several female MPs, both Shia and Sunni, 
have privately told us they oppose the law.  But their 
willingness to go on the record against the law varies. 
Lower House MP Fawzia Kofi (Badakhshan, Tajik) is meeting 
with civil society organizations to help coordinate their 
input into the MoJ's review.  Shia MP Shah Gul Rezai (Ghazni, 
Hazara) is taking a quieter approach, believing that behind 
the scenes advocacy will spare women legislators threats from 
their male colleagues. 
 
¶8. (U)  Both men and women in the reformist Third Line 
faction, who numbers about 15 MPs, have pledged to defeat the 
law.  Third Line MP Mir Ahmad Joyenda (Kabul, Hazara) helped 
coordinate a petition against the law.  Signers included two 
dozen MPs, FM Spanta, and hundreds of academics, religious 
experts, and civil society leaders.  Given the environment in 
which political moderates routinely receive serious threats 
for speaking out, Joyenda noted that the willingness of so 
many Afghans to go on the record against the law demonstrates 
the wide opposition to the law in Afghan society. 
 
Looking Ahead On Women's Rights 
--------- 
 
¶9. (U)  Civil society leaders and many women MPs have 
expressed their gratitude for international opposition to the 
Shia Family Law.  However, many see the law's hoped-for 
defeat as only a stop-gap measure against the larger issue of 
eroding women's rights.  Women's rights advocates point to a 
host of other challenges for Afghan women and hope the 
international community will be as vocal in support of those 
measures as it has been in opposition to this law.  Women 
MPs, who constitute about 27 percent of the Lower House, are 
concerned the government's inattention to threats against 
women political leaders will decrease women's participation 
in upcoming elections (ref C).  In the latest act of violence 
against a woman politician, insurgents gunned down Kandahar 
Provincial Council member Sitara Achakzai on April 12.  Women 
leaders also nervously eye reconciliation initiatives with 
the Taliban, fearful that the government will trade political 
stability for a rollback on women's rights (ref D). 
 
¶10. (U)  We agree that strong advocacy for Afghan women 
cannot end with opposition to this law.  We continue to 
support draft legislation now with the MoJ that would 
increase punishment for violence against women.  We also 
support the involvement of women in the reconciliation 
process.  Finally, we must pay special attention to the role 
of women in the upcoming presidential and provincial 
elections, ensuring that insurgents' efforts to intimidate 
female candidates and voters do not succeed. 
RICCIARDONE