VZCZCXRO0453
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0942/01 1051339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151339Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8403
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000942 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KWMN AF
SUBJECT: SHIA FAMILY LAW: DUELING DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
REF: KABUL 914 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY.  Hundreds of protesters for and against the 
Shia Family Law engaged in a standoff on April 15 in front of 
a mosque and university run by Ayatollah Mohammad Asef 
Mohseni, a prominent supporter of the law (reftel). 
Supporters of the law outnumbered opponents.  After roughly 
two hours and rising tensions between the two sides, riot 
police directed the anti-law faction to move their 
demonstration further down the street.  Opponents of the law 
criticized the pro-law crowd for trying to incite violence, 
though there were no reported casualties.  Charge will see 
Mohseni April 16 to find an Afghan solution to resolve U.S. 
objections to the Shia Law. Embassy will report septel on 
Charge's April 15 discussions with Justice Minister Danesh 
and Chief Justice Azimi on the Shia Family Law.  End Summary. 
 
Anti-Law Protesters Brave Security Threats 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Lower House MP Sabrina Saqeb (Kabul, Tajik) and 
civil society groups organized the April 15 demonstration 
against the Shia Family Law.  Saqeb and her sister, both 
outspoken women's rights activists (and Sunni), called for 
"normal women" to join the protest, both in an effort to 
demonstrate that opposition to the law ran deeper than only 
among Kabul elite and to lower the profile of the law's most 
prominent critics, who are receiving threats from 
conservative Shias.  Tamadun, a Mohseni-financed television 
station, broadcast warnings to Kabul families not to let 
their women attend the rally. 
 
¶3. (SBU) At about 10 am on April 15, some 100-200 women 
marched about 500 meters from Parliament toward Mohseni's 
mosque and university compound, chanting "respect to women 
now!"  MP Fawzia Koofi (Badakhshan, Tajik) also attended the 
rally and told PolOff, "this was something we had to do, we 
couldn't keep silent any longer."  Although the organizers of 
the protest were predominately Sunni Afghan women, Koofi said 
she was happy to see many Shia women participate. 
 
Pro-Law Supporters Well Prepared For Counter-Demonstration 
---------- 
 
¶4. (U) Scores of Afghan police lined the street in front of 
Mohseni's compound to separate the protesters from a 
much-larger counter-demonstration in favor of the law. 
Estimates of the size of the counter-demonstration ranged 
from 300-1,000 participants.  Eyewitnesses described several 
hundred women assembled at the front of the mosque chanting 
slogans in favor of the law and in opposition to foreign 
government pressure against the law.  Inside the compound, a 
larger group of men and women massed to support Mohseni and 
demand the Shia Family Law be brought into force. 
 
¶5. (U) After some 90 minutes, the pro-Shia Family Law 
demonstrators moved closer to the road, nearing the anti-law 
crowd.  Riot police stepped in and directed the anti-law 
protesters to move several hundred meters down the road. 
After another 30 minutes, both crowds dispersed.  Later that 
day, a separate rally in favor of the law took place in a 
different western Kabul neighborhood.  Embassy received 
reports that some 100 demonstrators chanted pro-law slogans 
and threw rocks at a nearby high school. 
 
Both Sides Digging In 
---------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Organizers of the anti-law protest released a 
two-page statement listing their specific objections to 
provisions in the law that restrict women's rights.  The 
group also called for the international community "to focus 
on providing justice in Afghanistan ( in the same way that 
the international community is fighting against terrorism and 
narcotics."  Proponents of the law took the opposite view on 
international involvement in the issue.  Lower House MP Sayed 
Alemi Balkhi (Kabul, Hazara), a Mohseni ally, said the law's 
supporters could mobilize "2 million" demonstrators to 
protest Western involvement in Afghanistan's religious 
affairs if the international community did not tone down its 
"obstruction of the Shia 
community's right to its own jurisprudence." 
 
Charge-Mohseni meeting 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Charge has a previously-scheduled meeting with 
Ayatollah Mohseni on April 16.  The protests will not affect 
our plans.  The Charge plans to make clear to Mohseni the 
United States' strong concerns about provisions of the law 
that are inconsistent with the Constitution and Afghanistan's 
international obligations and begin a discussion on finding 
 
KABUL 00000942  002 OF 002 
 
 
an Afghan solution to resolve our mutual concerns.  Embassy 
will report septel on Charge's separate meetings with Justice 
Minister Danesh and Chief Justice Azimi's meetings today on 
the Shia Law and other topics. 
RICCIARDONE