High-calibre conference in Kabul

“The Role of the Judiciary in Safeguarding Women’s Rights”

Women’s rights in Afghanistan were the focus of a top-notch conference in Kabul initiated by medica mondiale with the financial support of UNHCR. The conference, entitled “The Role of the Judiciary in Safeguarding Women’s Rights” and held from 22-24 February 2005 at the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, was attended by 76 judges from across the country. Delegates included other Supreme Court employees from the Criminology, Education, Security and Planning departments. The conference was set up and organised by Sajia Behgam, a law student at Kabul University who is Assistant Programme Manager of medica mondiale Afghanistan’s Women’s Rights and Lobby programme.

Following on from earlier workshops on women’s rights conducted by medica mondiale in Herat and Mazar-i Sharif, the Kabul workshop continued the ongoing discussion with the judiciary about reconciling Afghan law and women’s rights. The workshop opened with speeches by Shakhul Adise Alhaj Qayzawat Abdul Hadi Shinwari, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Dr. Masuda Jalal, Minister for Women’s Affairs; Professor Mahboba Huquqmal, State Minister for Women’s Affairs; and members of the Supreme Court.

The workshop participants then broke into five groups, each led by a facilitator well versed in women’s rights. For the next day-and-a-half they exchanged ideas about how judicial authorities can fulfil their judicial responsibility to ensure justice for women and girls who are either charged with crimes or are the victims of crimes, and also identified common problems and proposed solutions. Since the Afghan Constitution and national laws must be in accord with Islam, the justices discussed women’s rights largely with reference to the Koran and Shariah law.

The discussion also ranged widely over non-judicial issues, such as the need for mother/child health clinics and nationwide military disarmament. The judges thus gained an insight into the enormous difficulty of securing rights for women whose lives are enmeshed in the country’s continuing struggles with insecurity, poverty, and the daunting tasks of reconstruction.

Nevertheless, the participants agreed that the judiciary must play a strong role in safeguarding women’s rights. In the end, they unanimously presented nine recommendations to further that work. These included a call for action against unlawful social customs that discriminate against women, such as child marriage and the “handing over” of women and girls to settle disputes out of court. Other proposals involved launching campaigns to raise public awareness of women’s rights, and to improve access for women to jobs, health care, and education.

These campaigns will be conducted by different bodies, such as cultural advisory centres, mosques and also the mass media, under the aegis of government bodies and various ministries.

At the end of the conference, a joint paper was produced based on the workshops and containing the nine recommendations. Issued as a manifesto, it constitutes a national action plan for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Supreme Court.

medica mondiale welcomes these recommendations and regards them as an important milestone in the ongoing battle to secure women’s rights in Afghanistan.