Associated Press Worldstream

September 9, 2003 Tuesday 12:40 PM Eastern Time

Group Wants Women's Rights Protected In New Afghan Constitution
Aleksandar Vasovic; Associated Press Writer
Kabul, Afghanistan


A women's rights group on Tuesday demanded more participation for women in the drafting of Afghanistan's new constitution, due to be finalized in December.

Thirty activists joined a four-day meeting in the southern city of Kandahar on how to promote a "constitutional commitment to women's rights," said a statement from the Women for Afghan Women group, the meeting's sponsor.

The New York-based group, which comprises Afghan and foreign volunteers, also urged the international community - which is largely funding reconstruction in the war-shattered country - to make good on "grand promises" to help Afghan women.

The activists demanded participation of women in a council, or loya jirga, which is due to review and approve a new constitution in December. The loya jirga will comprise 500 delegates - the vast majority expected to be men - mostly elected by district representatives.

Under the former ruling Taliban, women were banned from most jobs and girls were prohibited from attending school. While matters have improved since the Islamic hardliners' ouster in late 2001 and the current government says it supports women's rights, conservative traditions in Afghanistan mean that women are still marginalized in the country's political and public life.

There have been public quarrels between conservative elements - including within President Hamid Karzai's government - who want the constitution to enshrine Islamic Sharia law, and secularists who want it to embrace liberal traditions.

The statement warned that "even if the (draft) constitution secures women's rights, there will be huge challenges for implementation."

"We challenge the human rights community to ... bring world attention to the struggle of women ... that desperately need support and attention," it said.

On Sunday, Karzai postponed for two months the process of approving the constitution, which was previously scheduled for October.

A 35-member constitutional commission drafting the document had demanded more time to gather more public views that are supposed to be incorporated into a final draft to be debated and finally approved at the grand council in December.

Karzai's administration currently relies on an amended version of a 1964 constitution drafted under former King Mohammad Zaher Shah.