STRASBOURG, France — Canada joined allies Friday in putting new pressure on Afghanistan's president to explain a proposed law which, according to media reports, would legally allow men to rape their wives.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the "presumed" law — he said officials have been unable to confirm the proposed law's actual status — is "extremely alarming" for Canada and its allies.
"I'm calling for President (Hamid) Karzai, in the first opportunity, to be able to come forward and give the explanations regarding this presumed piece of legislation," Cannon told reporters after arriving at the leaders' summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Other senior government officials in the NATO alliance also expressed outrage at the law, which would reportedly subjugate Afghan women to their husbands sexually and financially.
"We are there to defend universal values and when I see, at the moment, a law threatening to come into effect which fundamentally violates women's rights and human rights, that worries me," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told BBC.
"I have a problem to explain and President Karzai knows this, because I discussed it with him. I have a problem to explain to a critical public audience in Europe, be it the U.K. or elsewhere, why I'm sending the guys to the Hindu Kush."
French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade said the law "recalls the darkest hours of Afghanistan's history."
Cannon told journalists Friday he spoke to two other allies earlier this week who are also deeply worried about the law. Canada and other western allies have cited the defence of women's rights, as well as the fight against terrorism, as the twin public relations pillars to justify the rising death toll and huge costs of the Afghanistan war.
Women were prohibited from working and girls were denied schooling during the Taliban era before the U.S. helped overthrow the oppressive regime following the 9/11 terrorism attacks in New York and Washington.
Cannon said he called the legislation "presumed" because he spoke to two Afghan cabinet ministers who said they knew nothing about it. Canadian diplomats have also been unable to determine the actual status of the bill.
"There doesn't seem to be a confirmation as to whether or not this is actually a piece of legislation which was adopted in the legitimate way and manner in the (legislature) in Kabul."
Afghanistan's envoy to Canada urged patience Friday, saying his government remains committed to the democratic principles, including the rights of women.
Ambassador Omar Samad noted that some female Afghan MPs have reportedly said the law is not as bad as has been assumed and told Canwest News Service that "it's a question of which draft has been seen."
It appears the United Nations women's agency in Kabul showed a version of the law to journalists there, but it is not clear if that is the bill that might become the new law, he said.
Meanwhile, a Canadian government official confirmed Friday that local Afghan authorities are launching a controversial "outreach" program in Kandahar province, where Canada's 2,800 troops are headquartered.
"We are supportive of programs that aim to further improve sub-national governance across the province," said Afghanistan Task Force deputy director Laurent Morel-a-l'Huissier.
A group of international aid agencies issued a report earlier Friday criticizing Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom for supporting a program that jeopardizes the lives of Afghan civilians.
The Afghan Social Outreach Program, approved by Afghan government authorities last September, is intended to create district councils in several provinces, including Kandahar, in order to improve communication with ordinary Afghans and provide information on insurgent activities.
Council appointees draw government salaries and are appointed by senior Afghan government officials, leading to likely accusations of patronage and potential inter-tribal tensions if there are ethnic imbalances on councils, the critics argued in Friday's report.
The councils could also be infiltrated by the rebels, the authors noted, adding that an average of three Afghans suspected of co-operating with government or allied authorities are summarily executed by insurgents every four days.
"In this environment these programs put Afghans at even greater risk," CARE Afghanistan spokesman Lex Kassenberg said in a news release.
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