January 23, 2008

Religious Court Sentences Afghan Student to Death for Offending Islam

A journalism student at Afghanistan’s Balkh University was sentenced to death on Tuesday for distributing material that he had printed from the Internet but that a religious court deemed offensive to Islam, the Associated Press reported.

A three-judge panel in the northern province of Balkh ruled that the student, Sayad Parwez Kambaksh, had violated the tenets of Islam by circulating an article that “commented on verses in the Koran that were about women,” according to Radio Free Afghanistan.

Several students complained to the government about the document’s content, the Associated Press reported, and Mr. Kambaksh, who also works for a local newspaper, was jailed. He has been detained since October and will remain in custody while his case is appealed.

The head of Afghanistan’s National Journalists’ Union condemned the ruling and called on Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, who has the authority to pardon Mr. Kambaksh, to intervene in the case.

The president of the Parliament of the 27-nation European Union has also urged Mr. Karzai to intervene. In a letter to the Afghan president, Hans-Gert Pöttering called on him to spare the student’s life. “The alleged ‘crime’ of this person would appear to be that he has distributed publications aimed at improving the situation of Afghan women,” Mr. Pöttering wrote. “Any efforts in this direction should be supported by you and your government, and it is essential that persons working for civil rights and freedom of expression be afforded sufficient legal protection.” —Aisha Labi

Comments

1. Islam and democracy are incompatible. Either Islam willl have to reform or it will remain relentless at war with those who advocate basic human rights.

   — Marty    Jan 23, 02:25 PM    #

2. Abuse of political minorities is not incompatible with democracy; there is nothing more democratic than a lynch mob. It IS inconsistent with modern constitutional liberalism. The young man can only hope that Hamid Karzai is at least as liberal as Frederick the Great was.

   — Wally    Jan 23, 03:23 PM    #

3. Doesn’t it make everybody feel wonderful that the U.S. fought to bring democracy to Afghanistan?

   — Donald E. Winters, Ph.D.    Jan 23, 03:24 PM    #

4. Mr. Kambaksh’s death will be a paean to God’s greatness.

   — Lawrence S. Lerner    Jan 23, 03:47 PM    #

5. I agree with Dr. Winters #3. What did we have Americans lose their lives for? Freedom? Certainly this is not freedom.
   What a travesty if this man loses his life.

   — Not a Socialist, but a pragmatist    Jan 23, 03:50 PM    #

6. Our freedoms kill people too. The flip side (dark side) of constitutional liberalism includes permitting others to broadcast via the Internet techniques to kill one’s self in a variety of ways. The TV show, Frontline, covered this last night. Another example, is discussed here:
   http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/04/suicide.internet/index.html

   — Onenine    Jan 23, 03:51 PM    #

7. It is unfortunate that the U.S. is helping and spending billions of dollars in Afghanistan to cultivate democracy. What we are witnessing is not democracy. Islam does not recognize democracy. It is totalitarianism. President Karzai should intervene and pardon the student.

   — kvc    Jan 23, 03:54 PM    #

8. Islam and democracy are NOT incompatible. Like ANY religion, it’s the zealots and the self appointed interpreters of the holy texts that need to reform. We have a very similar problem with religion here in the US. Perhaps you should read the Qur’an, the Bible, the Torah, and then read “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood and “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis. Then tell me what is “incompatible with democracy.”

   — nicki    Jan 23, 03:57 PM    #

9. The very concept, and certainly the existence, of “religious courts.” The type of court that tried, convicted, and sentenced this man to death for distributing materials, of any sort, no matter what any religion might have to say about them. That, that, nicki, IS incompatible with democracy. Democracies do not have “religious courts” that can decide if you have offended God, as the religion sees things, and kill you if you have.

   — David    Jan 23, 04:36 PM    #

10. It’s not as if the same doesn’t happen here. Only here, the religious zealots didn’t even bother with a trial, they just assassinate doctors in cold blood for violating their religious beliefs. As long as there are moderates who fail to step forward and say “Dude, that’s effed up!” the zealots will have their way.

    — ottozdad    Jan 23, 04:55 PM    #

11. That he received a trial and is still alive to appeal represents progress, however appalled we are. Is there a better, faster way to fundamentally reconstruct a society without destabilizing it? Intolerance is resilient and revives quickly unless the instruments for soothing it are institutionalized.

    — Bob C    Jan 23, 04:56 PM    #

12. Religious zealots here just burn abortion clinics and anyone who might be inside. Our fake president is a religious zealot who kills thousands in Iraq in his holy crusade against terrorism. Now who is the real terrorist? Dubya, I maintain, is war criminal #1.

    — Donald E. Winters, Ph.D.    Jan 23, 05:07 PM    #

13. “Doesn’t it make everybody feel wonderful that the U.S. fought to bring democracy to Afghanistan?”
    Not at all. You can see what they’ve achieved … absolutely nothing.

    — SomeGuy    Jan 23, 06:05 PM    #

14. Once again, an example of the “peaceful” religion of Islam.

    — Nancy    Jan 23, 06:06 PM    #

15. Almost as distressing as this appalling decision, is the triumphant comment #4 that interprets this innocent man’s murder as praise for God – unless the author has offered his comment as tragic irony. I sincerely hope that universities, academics and students petition the Balkh University, the Afghani President and our respective governments to intervene.

    — Sue    Jan 23, 06:34 PM    #

16. It seems to be an unfortunate characteristic of organized religions to have a blood-stained history (produced all the while proclaiming tolerance and morality). Islam is about 600 years younger than Christianity, which as I recall was indulging in the Inquisition some 600 years ago. Maybe this is just a form of history repeating itself? Nonetheless, it must be quite painful for those sympathetic to Islam to constantly have to apologize for this kind of religious intolerance being voiced by its supposed leaders.

    — CW    Jan 23, 06:53 PM    #

17. It is not just the “Zealots” that nikki points to who are incompatible with democracy. Just this a.m. on NPR, Christiane Amanpour was interviewing Muslim women in Britain who a) said they would only get involved in politics if they could vote in Shariah (spelling?) law and b) said that the London subway bombings in 2005 were not acts of terrorism.

    — Rob    Jan 23, 06:55 PM    #

18. 18. Once again Islamism demonstrates it“s history is steeped in blood. Even the so called “moderates’ are afraid to step forward and protest against “modern barbarism”

    — campbell    Jan 23, 07:31 PM    #

19. We may find what this student did was trivial, but we have very short memories. Not only are we one of the few civilized countries in the world with the death penalty, we agonize how to make it more humane. How’s that for hypocrisy?

    — Firstsai    Jan 23, 07:47 PM    #

20. wonder if mr. bush will step up and ask his puppet, karzai, to let this little buckaroo off the hook? after all, this execution would not constitute “collateral damage”, and might look bad for his legacy as pResident.

    — cath    Jan 23, 07:54 PM    #

21. I know wonderful men and women risking their life and future because W wants to preserve a wonderful society that allows this. Absurd.
    We were responsible for the rise of the Taliban as well as the current government. We are doing just great. (I offer that with the same sincerity as author 4)

    — PB    Jan 23, 08:16 PM    #

22. Our so-called representative democracy kills the innocent unborn. Our government has given the right of one person to kill another because the other is not wanted. I pray that innocent man
    is not killed.

    — FRANCES    Jan 24, 12:02 AM    #

23. Fran, author 22, you are right on.

    — K    Jan 24, 01:33 AM    #

24. It is most known tactic of westerners to show some small unwanted sceenes from islam and veil theri big big crimes and barbarious and unjustifull acts

    — jakob    Jan 24, 02:30 AM    #

25. Is there anything we can do to try to help save this young man’s life…such as the public outcry that recently spared a Saudi Arabian rape victim punishment?

    — Justin    Jan 24, 10:14 AM    #

26. what is wrong with these people?

    — lynn    Jan 24, 10:42 AM    #

27. Islam isn’t the problem. The men in that country are perverting the teachings of Islam and using them to their own sick advantage! They are the ones that should be punished.

    — Mary    Jan 24, 11:06 AM    #

28. What is truly wicked is to remain silent when injustice is perpetrated and called by a name that is not true or accurate by any definition known to humanity.

    — An    Jan 24, 11:29 AM    #

29. SomeGuy: evidently missed my irony.

    — Donald E. Winters, Ph.D.    Jan 24, 11:55 AM    #

30. The more I hear about Islam, the more I find it to be against peace, freedom and individual rights and against Almighty God. I also believe that there are those in Islam who grossly pervert it even more so they can achieve thier own ends.

    — Bob    Jan 24, 03:02 PM    #

31. #12 You accuse President Bush of being terrorist #1, while you support abortion clinics which have murdered well over forty million unborn innocents in our country. I thought that doctors were suppose to try to save lives, not take lives. Who is the real “#1Terrorist” ?

    — Bob    Jan 24, 09:23 PM    #

32. oh stop with the unborn children who don’t even have social security numbers! Killing someone who is already born for not bowing to Islam is wrong. It’s wrong and we should be more assertive about making Islam set the captives free, if our nation would unite IN CHRIST like we did at WWW2 this thing would be over by now because God would help. PRAY FOR UNITY

    — Laura    Jan 24, 11:22 PM    #

33. Just shows how savage and uncivilized islam and afghanistan really are.

    — Gabriel    Jan 25, 09:13 AM    #

34. Where are all the outspoken women feminist? Why are they not as vocal on this subject. Come on Jane,Barbra,Gloria,Hillary etc, lets hear from you.

    — Sharie    Jan 25, 10:48 AM    #

35. Laura #32 Social security numbers? How ridiculous a statement. I got my SS number when I got my first job. THE REST of your post made sense.

    — Mike    Jan 26, 12:26 AM    #

36. Bob: Get your head out the sand. A fetus in not a baby. Do you actually feel that the present life of a suffering mother (victim of rape, incest) is of less value than the potential life of a fetus?

    — Donald E. Winters, Ph.D.    Jan 26, 06:32 PM    #

37. We should remember that the Taliban regime had conquered Afghanistan for more than a decade. These greedy men are hungry for power, who supposedly rule in the name of Islam. The current government officials running the country are extremist themselves. So how can a judge rule for mistrial on Sayad Parwez case, except if its pardoned by the President. Indeed, Afghanistan is a war torn country that needs political, economic, and social assistance from the West. There are parts of Afghanistan still ruled by warlords and Mullas. Up till today, the well educated elite citizens and reformists are in exile living in Europe, and US because of the existing regime.

    — Doris Martin    Jan 28, 07:46 AM    #

Previous: Coach's Comments Upset Archbishop
Next: Senate Aide Who Spurred Key Nonprofit Tax Reforms Resigns