Afghan woman jailed for being raped aims to change law
KABUL:
An Afghan woman, jailed two years ago for adultery after she was raped by her cousin’s husband, is seeking a presidential pardon that her lawyer hopes could set a legal precedent for other women in a similar position.
Gulnaz, now 21, became pregnant following the attack in 2009 and her baby daughter was born behind bars. When her pregnancy brought the crime to light, she was, like her attacker, convicted and jailed for the crime of adultery by force.
She was initially sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, but on appeal, this was increased to 12 years. A further appeal last week saw that cut back again to three years.
Gulnaz’s attacker received a 12-year prison term, later reduced on appeal to seven years.
Her case has drawn attention to the challenges still faced by Afghan women, 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime that banned women from almost all work and education.
With foreign combat troops set to return home by the end of 2014, some activists inside and outside Afghanistan fear that women’s rights may be sacrificed in the scramble to ensure the
West leaves behind a relatively stable state. Human rights campaigners have condemned her conviction, and the court’s decision that she could go free if she married her attacker, which she later agreed to. He is still married to her cousin, but under Afghan law can take a second wife.
This requirement for her release has now been lifted, said her lawyer Kimberley Motley, of law firm Motley Legal, although she could not comment on whether Gulnaz would reconsider her decision to marry him.
“The fact that the court eliminated the portion of the sentence that says she has to marry this man is definitely something that supports the Elimination of Violence against Women law which was signed by the government,” Motley said.
“Once President Karzai chooses to grant her clemency, which I am very confident of, that will… set precedent and will show his support for the Elimination of Violence against Women act and his support for Afghan women.”
