Rice to Confront Authoritarian Afghan about Man Sentenced to Death for Printing Women’s Rights Docs

Imprisoned and sentenced to death for reading and downloading women's rights documents, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh life hangs on international pressure brought to bear on this hell hole of a country where life and liberty are held cheaply.

The Independent has made a cause of the 23-year-old Sayed's wrongful jailing and death sentance, gathering over 61,000 signatures on a petition, causing the British government to register official protests, and pushing Condi Rice into promising to talk to the Afghan strongman, Hamid Karzai.

From the Independent:

Ms Rice, who was in London for talks with Gordon Brown and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, on the West's Afghanistan strategy said: "I do think that the Afghans understand that there are some international norms that need to be respected. Of course, one has national laws and they're national laws that are in accordance with traditions and religious practice. But there are international norms, and I'll certainly talk to President Karzai about this case." ...

He shares a cell meant for four people with 30 others at the prison in Balkh province where he has been held for more than three months. In that time he has been attacked by Taliban prisoners who have been told by officials that Mr Kambaksh is guilty of blasphemy. His food has been contaminated by guards, he has lost weight, and is traumatised. ...

###

Save Pervez! Global protests to save Afghan student from death sentence

Update: Lifeline for Pervez: Afghan Senate withdraws demand for death sentence
In a dramatic volte-face, the Afghan Senate has withdrawn its confirmation of a death sentence on Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, right, the student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet.

- Sign the Independent's Petition (41,000 and rising)

Save Pervez! Global protests to save Afghan student from death sentence; Worldwide outrage over Afghan sentenced to death for reading article on women's rights.

Afghan protest: 'He just shared an article with friends. What's the problem?'

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh (pictured above) read and printed an article about women's rights, earning him the death sentence from an Afghan religious court. This is the type of democracy Bush has brought to Afghanistan.

Contact your reps:

- U.S. Senate Members
- U.S. House Members

- Sign the Independent's Petition

By Kim Sengupta, Jerome Starkey in Kabul, Anne Penketh and Ben Russell

Friday, 1 February 2008

Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has been inundated with appeals to save the life of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student journalist sentenced to death after being accused of downloading an internet report on women's rights.

While international protests mounted over the affair, with the British Government saying it had already raised its concerns, hundreds of people marched through the capital, Kabul, demanding Mr Kambaksh's release.

A petition launched yesterday by The Independent to secure justice for Mr Kambaksh had attracted more than 13,500 signatories by last night, and a number of support groups have been set up on the social networking site Facebook with more than 400 joining one group alone.

###