Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The freedom we brought to Afghanistan

BADAKHSHAN, 3 May (IRIN) - It's less than a week since the tiny Afghan village community witnessed the execution of 25-year-old Bibi Amena for adultery, but by Tuesday life appeared to have returned to normal. Bibi was sentenced to death by local religious leaders in the Spingul valley in the isolated northeastern province of Badakhshan.

Her crime was to be found in the company of a man she was not married to.

"After two days of investigation and community gatherings the Shura [community council] passed the verdict. The boy [she was found with] was given 40 lashes and the woman killed," Mohammad Azim, one of Amena's paternal uncles, told IRIN.

[...]

Constitutionally and under Afghan law, cases such as Amena's should have been heard in local courts with a qualified and experienced magistrate bu Kabul is still struggling to extend rule to the provinces like Badakhshan. Here, Hamid Karzai's government and due legal process are viewed with deep suspicion by the local populace.

  Reuters article

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