Introduction: Will Afghanistan follow secular or Islamic law?
Two Afghan journalists are facing a death sentence for publishing articles considered blasphemous by a unit of this nation's Supreme Court. The recommendation, from the court's fatwa department, came in response to protests by religious students against the weekly newspaper Aftab.
The fatwa department -- which follows Islamic, or Sharia, law when considering important religious issues brought before the court -- made its recommendation against the paper's editor, Mer- hossin Mahdawi, and a reporter, Ali Raza Payam. The 10-page recommendation cites specific excerpts from the Quran in supporting its decisions regarding two articles in the paper that scrutinize Islamic practices.
The decision also cited a cartoon that appeared in the paper, depicting a monkey evolving into a man slumped over a computer, with the caption, "Government plus religion equals cruelty." The court held that showing humans as evolving from apes is against the Quran.
The fatwa department's ruling found that "the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan is obliged to give the death penalty to the people who have abused or made fun of Islam, and also to the ones who cause public disruption."
The court's ruling puts the transitional government of President Hamid Karzai in a difficult position. Afghanistan currently follows a largely secular constitution, first approved in 1964, which is considered among the most advanced in any Muslim nation. But Afghanistan is debating the establishment of a new constitution. The main debate is whether Afghanistan will follow secular or Islamic law.
Belquis Ahmadi, coordinator for the International Human Rights Law Group, fears that powerful conservative forces are behind the latest legal moves. Ahmadi argues that a truly independent judicial system is vital for the future of Afghanistan.
While Karzai has the power to appoint and remove the members of fatwa department, he is unlikely to alter the composition of the court, given the fragile nature of his political position.
It is unknown whether the two journalists, who were released after their arrest pending their trial, are still in the country. There are reports the two may have fled to Pakistan.
(Rahimullah Samander is a reporter
with the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.)