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Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Karzai fails on press freedom

(New York, June 24, 2003) - President Hamid Karzai is failing an important test on freedom of expression in Afghanistan by allowing the continued detention of two editors of a Kabul newspaper on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 17, chief editor Sayeed Mir Hussein Mahdavi and deputy editor Ali Reza Payam Sistany of Aftab (The Sun) were arrested on the orders of Afghanistan's chief justice with the approval of President Karzai. The editors' arrests come as Afghanistan undertakes the vital public process of debating its future constitution.
"The government's message to journalists is clear: 'You are not protected,'" said John Sifton, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. "In Afghanistan today, dominant government officials or powerful clerics can order journalists arrested, and President Karzai won't stop them. The situation has grave implications for Afghanistan's future constitutional debates."

According to government officials familiar with the case, Afghanistan's chief justice, Fazl Hadi Shinwari, a cleric allied with the ultra-conservative mujahidin leader Abdul-Rabb al-Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful political leader in Kabul, ordered the arrests and the closure of the paper with the approval of President Karzai. Aftab had recently published two articles raising questions about Islam's place in politics and methods of interpreting religious texts, and criticizing Afghan religious leaders.

The Supreme Court charged Mahdavi and Sistany with the crime of "insulting Islam," or blasphemy. The existing penal code of Afghanistan does not define blasphemy, but provides that certain crimes relating to Islam are punishable under shari'a (Islamic law). Crimes under shari'a are not codified or defined under Afghan law, but under most interpretations of shari'a, blasphemy is a serious offense sometimes punishable by death.

The deputy chief justice, Fazel Ahmad Manawi, said in an interview with Radio Liberty on June 19 that Mahdavi and Sistany would be tried on the "allegation of insulting Islam," and that international pressure could do nothing to stop the government from pursuing the case. The two are currently being held in a Kabul jail.

Kabul police searched and then closed Aftab's offices last week, and Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the Amniat-e Melli, confiscated remaining copies of the newspaper from local booksellers and stores. Amniat-e Melli agents broke up a meeting held by Aftab last Thursday and harassed and threatened participants. Kabul police allowed Aftab's offices to reopen this week, but told Aftab staff that they are prohibited from printing future issues.

Human Rights Watch spoke with Mahdavi and Sistany from jail twice in the last week, and with other journalists and government officials familiar with the case. Several officials familiar with the case said that President Karzai himself had approved the arrest, and turned down requests by Afghan government officials, United Nations representatives and international diplomats for their release. According to one official, Karzai indicated that the arrests were lawful because the editors "had insulted Islam." Several Afghan ministers have called on President Karzai to release the two editors.

Human Rights Watch considers the blasphemy charges against Mahdavi and Sistany to be in violation of their fundamental right to freedom of expression.

"The right to freedom of expression means that individuals and journalists have the right to express their non-violent views openly without fear of legal sanction," said Sifton. "It does not matter how unpopular those views might be."

Human Rights Watch said the arrests and closing of Aftab were the latest in a long line of press attacks under the post-Taliban government dating back to 2002. Human Rights Watch previously raised concerns about increasing press attacks in a press release in May 2003.

"These arrests couldn't come at a worse time," said Sifton, noting that Afghanistan is currently in the process of drafting a new constitution and preparing for elections in 2004. "How can Afghans voice their opinions about the current constitutional drafting process, and discuss issues of religion and government, when writers are being arrested for blasphemy, newspapers are being closed, and meetings broken up?"

Human Rights Watch called on President Karzai to order the immediate release of Mahdavi and Sistany and dismissal of charges against them. Human Rights Watch also called on Karzai to lift the ban on Aftab's publication, and reaffirm publicly the right of journalists and writers to publish freely.

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