International appeal to support the immediate release of a young Afghan Journalist
26 January 2008, 12:49
The decision of the Judge against Mr. Kambakhsh is an embarrassment to Afghanistan. We hope that the administration will address this grossly harsh sentence, not only because it is harsh and unfair but because it is contrary to fundamental human rights to which the Afghanistan government has claimed to support for many decades. The government should not annul the ruling or simply obtain Mr Kambakhsh’s release: It must act against a judge that takes such action, for this judge clearly does not agree to the principles of human rights that the government of Afghanistan is pledged to uphold. In the case of the man who was condemned to death for being a Christian the government allowed the grounds for the condemnation to stand; they merely whisked the new Christian out of the country. They should not take a similar approach in this case, for if they do not renounce and punish the judge for his verdict they will seem to accede to his point of view. The issue is fundamental and should be handled in the interest of protecting the rights of the Afghanistan people as a whole, not merely Mr Kambakhsh.
Robert L Canfield
The decision of the Judge against Mr. Kambakhsh is an embarrassment to Afghanistan. We hope that the administration will address this grossly harsh sentence, not only because it is harsh and unfair but because it is contrary to fundamental human rights to which the Afghanistan government has claimed to support for many decades. The government should not annul the ruling or simply obtain Mr Kambakhsh’s release: It must act against a judge that takes such action, for this judge clearly does not agree to the principles of human rights that the government of Afghanistan is pledged to uphold. In the case of the man who was condemned to death for being a Christian the government allowed the grounds for the condemnation to stand; they merely whisked the new Christian out of the country. They should not take a similar approach in this case, for if they do not renounce and punish the judge for his verdict they will seem to accede to his point of view. The issue is fundamental and should be handled in the interest of protecting the rights of the Afghanistan people as a whole, not merely Mr Kambakhsh.
Robert L Canfield