Karzai appears to be changing Afghan ‘rape’ law

Maybe, says NDP MP Dawn Black “Show me”

By Stephen Pate,  NJN Network,  Charlottetown,  PEI,  Canada,  April 6, 2009 with stories from The Guardian UK CBC and Fox News.

Bowing to international pressure to remove a new law that removed human rights for women, Afghanistan’s President Karzai appears to be withdrawing the law or his support for it. They’re sending it back to the drawing board. In Canada women’s rights are part of the same Charter sentence that protects minorities including the disabled. Ironically, Canadian soldiers may be dying in Afghanistan to protect women’s right but the disabled are abused everyday by Canadian institutions.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN6gxLYoBSc
CBC TV

The new political twist is that the law only applied to Shia women, as though they have no rights. Of course, all women have human rights. A law that applies theoretically to a small group can easily be expanded to everyone by religious zealots. Out in the streets of Afghanistan, it’s lawless enough without this law. As the NDP critic Dawn Black said “I’m from Missouri. Show me the changed law.”

In the United States, each state has a nickname. Missouri’s is “The Show Me State”. During roll-call at political conventions, each delegation will sing out their state nickname “I’m from Missouri the Show Me state” means I’m skeptical and you’ll have to prove it to me.

When we first covered this story last week on April 2, 2009, there was virtually no US media coverage. “In the US the story is not carried on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS or Fox.” Afghan rape law outrages Canada, unreported in US

The US along with Canada and NATO prop up Afghanistan’s government. Two days later, President Obama was giving tightly worded statements protesting the rape law.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceP3VAgR4qo
Fox News coverage of UK TV interview

If the law is really turned around it will be a stunning victory for human rights, not just women’s rights, in the face of international pragmatism. In the past, the world powers have supported some pretty ugly governments for political reasons and left Human Rights to protesters.

In the United States, human rights protection has come along way from the race riots of the 50’s to the election of the first black president. Canada protected the rights of minorities – sexual origin and bias, race, religion, and the disabled – within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Each enumerated group has received some of the benefits. For instance, same sex couples can get married in Canada but not in every US state.

Canada does very little to protect the disabled unlike the US which has the Americans with Disabilities Act, the recent ADA Amended and the US EEOC to promote and protect the disabled. In Canada a public institution like UPEI faces only mild public awareness if it removes a basic right and need like disabled parking. It’s easier to stand up for the rights of women far from home I guess.