WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2003
Proposed Afghan constitution doesn't protect women: Amnesty
AP
KABUL : Afghanistan 's draft constitution fails to adequately protect the rights of women in this traditional Muslim country, and changes are needed to prohibit discrimination, including forced marriages, Amnesty International says.
"Last week, US House of Representatives overwhelmingly applauded the role of the US forces in restoring the right to work and education to the women of Afghanistan," T Kumar, Amnesty's Asia director, said on Tuesday.
"However, such gains are fleeting at best unless the rights of women and children are enshrined in the constitution of Afghanistan ."
Amnesty said the new document must allow Afghan women to choose their own spouses freely, forbid child marriages, and give women the same guaranteed rights and responsibilities as men have regarding marriage, divorce and separation.
Afghanistan 's draft constitution - unveiled on November 3 - will be debated and ratified by a loya jirga, or grand council, scheduled to meet on December 10 in Kabul , the Afghan capital.
Amnesty said changes are needed in the document before it is adopted.
"More than 20 years of war have left millions of children orphaned, and many as breadwinners for their family. The Afghan draft constitution does not presently grant the right to food, shelter, and other protection to children," as required by the Convention on Rights of the Child, which Afghanistan has signed, Amnesty said in a statement.
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