Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, thank you once again for giving us the opportunity to explain to you what we do in Afghanistan.
I will start with a brief opening statement. I'll probably read a little fast because I think it's a little longer than it should be; nevertheless, it's quite important to understand what we've been doing there.
The Government of Canada was deeply concerned to learn in late March that the President of Afghanistan had signed a Shia personal status law that contravened Afghanistan's human rights obligations. Our response was immediate. Canada was a leading voice in the international community's condemnation of the law. On April 4, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the launch of a process of review, during which time the law would not be promulgated.
Today Stephen Wallace and I will provide you with an overview of the law, Canada's response to the law, the Afghan government's commitment to review the law, and Canada's broader approach to supporting Afghan efforts to promote and protect human rights, in particular women's rights, in Afghanistan.
The Shia are a minority group in Afghanistan who make up roughly 10% of the population. Article 131 of Afghanistan's 2004 constitution guarantees the Shia the right to resolve family disputes according to Shia jurisprudence. For many Shia, the Shia personal status law is an important affirmation of their place in Afghan society after centuries of oppression.
Members of the Afghan government and civil society began drafting the Shia personal status law in 2005. The law was submitted to the lower house of the Afghan National Assembly in November 2008. We were not aware of the substance of the law. The Afghan government does not appear to have followed standard procedure in considering and ultimately signing the law.
First, according to standard legislative procedure, both the lower and upper houses should have undertaken an article-by-article review of the legislation; however, members of Parliament simply voted to confirm the law in full, deferring the question of each article's legality to Afghanistan's Supreme Court.
Second, the Supreme Court never actually received the draft law. Instead, the law went straight to the Ministry of Justice for transmission to the President.
Third, President Karzai reportedly did not review the nearly 300-page law in its entirety before signing it, and his aides did not brief him fully about the content.
The law signed by the President includes provisions on marriage, divorce, inheritance, right of movement, and bankruptcy. The most troubling provisions relate to guardianship of children; marriage of minors; sexual relations in marriage; restrictions on women's rights to work, education, and health care; women's right to leave the home; and inheritance.
The law was not a focus of Afghan national political debate. We are unaware of any domestic media coverage in Afghanistan during this legislative process. Rights & Democracy referred to the law as part of a broader routine report submitted to CIDA headquarters in October 2008, without referring to specific provisions of the law.
The Canadian embassy in Kabul knew that a process to consider the law was under way, but the embassy had no specific knowledge of the provisions of the law or when it was scheduled for consideration by the National Assembly. The embassy found out from an international partner that this legislation had been signed by the President on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Canada found out about the law at the same time as the rest of the international community, much of Afghan civil society, and even some members of the Afghan legislature who had been involved in the approval process.
Canadian officials at the embassy acted immediately. They informed Ottawa on March 25, and as details of the law were scarce, they began actively seeking additional information on the law. Once Canadian officials were able to confirm that the law was indeed inconsistent with Afghanistan's international human rights commitments, Canada launched a robust advocacy campaign.
Minister Cannon immediately raised the issue with Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta and Afghan Interior Minister Athahar on March 31, 2009, at an international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague. He expressed Canada's grave concerns about the substance of the law.
The Prime Minister publicly underscored Canada's deep concern at the G20 meeting, underlining that "we cannot state strongly enough our concern for the rights of women in Afghanistan."
Canadian officials intervened with the President's office in Kabul and with Afghan Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, in Ottawa. We reiterated Canada's deep concern with the Afghan government's decision to pass the law. Indeed, Canada has been recognized as a leader among international partners on this issue.
On April 4, 2009, President Karzai committed to undertaking a review of the law to ensure its consistency with the Afghan constitution and international law. When Mr. Cannon again raised the law with his Afghan counterpart, Minister Spanta, by telephone on April 5, the Afghan foreign minister assured Canada that the law had been stopped.
In an April 6 statement the Afghan Ministry of Justice confirmed that the law would not be published in the official gazette until the review was complete. The Ministry of Justice has since established a body composed of legal experts, scholars, government representatives, and civil society organizations to propose revisions to the law. We understand this body will submit consolidated recommendations to the Ministry of Justice, which in turn will subsequently redraft the law for submission to the Afghan Parliament for approval.
The Afghan government expects that the review will take two or three months. We therefore do not anticipate a response from the Afghans until July at the earliest.
Both President Karzai and Ambassador Samad have publicly admitted that passage of the law was an error. Ambassador Samad noted that Afghanistan is a young and immature democracy in a very difficult cultural context. “We are going to fall down,” he said. “We are going to make mistakes, and we're going to move forward as a result.”
On April 27 President Karzai announced that the review was under way and amendments would be made.
Canada will continue to press the Afghan government at the highest levels to meet its international obligations, including respect for the equality of women before the law. In this context, Canada's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ron Hoffmann, most recently met with President Karzaï on April 16 and with the Speaker of Afghanistan's Lower House on April 19 to express Canada's concerns and urged the government to ensure its review process is comprehensive and consistent with Afghan and international law. Earlier on, Canadian officials also met with the Second vice-President, the Minister of Justice, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General and other government officials and prominent politicians.
Canada will continue to support the review process, as necessary and appropriate, in cooperation with Afghan officials and civil society and the international community. Moreover, Canada deployed a legal gender expert to the Afghan Ministry of Justice in early March; she is helping to build the capacity of its legislative drafting unit more broadly.
At this point I'd like to turn the floor over to my colleague to provide you with information on Canada's support to the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan and, in particular, Canada's efforts to support women's rights.
Merci.