Kabul’s wife rape law misinterpreted?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says Kabul's new law may have been misunderstood by Western journalists

Kabul's wife rape law misinterpreted?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says Kabul's new law may have beenu00a0 misunderstood by Western journalists

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered an urgent review of a controversial new law that critics say might tolerate rape within marriage, BBC reported yesterday.

At the same time, Karzai rejected what he called the misinterpretation of the law by Western journalists.
His decision follows expressions of disquiet from NATO's secretary general.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he could not justify foreign troops dying in defence of universal values in Afghanistan, if those values were violated by its laws. Karzai said he had ordered the Justice Ministry to review the law, which is intended to regulate family life inside Afghanistan's minority Shia community.

If anything in the legislation contravened the country's constitution or Sharia law, he said, "measures will be taken".

"We understand the concerns of our allies in the international community," he said during a televised press conference in Kabul. "Those concerns may be out of inappropriate or not-so-good translation of the law or a misinterpretation of it."

Aides to President Karzai had earlier insisted the law provided more protection for women.

Among its provisions wives are obliged to have sexual relations with their husbands at least once every four days and women can't leave home without their husband's permission.

Critics say the law limits the rights of women from the Shia minority and authorises rape within marriage.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

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