The Center for Inquiry urges the Afghan government to release Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, a 23-year-old journalism student at Balkh University and reporter for the local daily Jahan-e-Naw (The New World), sentenced to death for insulting Islam.
Mr. Kambakhsh was arrested on October 27, 2007, in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, for allegedly downloading and distributing material from a Farsi website which suggested that the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad legitimize the oppression of women.
On January 22, 2008, Kambakhsh was brought before a Islamic court, without a lawyer or public oversight. Accused of un-Islamic speech and activity, socialism, rebelliousness, and improper instigation of religious debate, he was convicted of blasphemy by the court and sentenced to death.
Attn: President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, His Excellency Hamid Karzai; c/o Said T. Jawad, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Afghanistan
Your Excellency,
I am writing out of deep concern for Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, a 23-year old Afghani journalism student convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in January. I urge you to remove his sentence and release him immediately, in accordance with the Afghan constitution and Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mr. Kambakhsh, who reportedly downloaded and distributed materials linking Islam and the oppression of women, was tried without legal representation by a private Islamic court, and was accused of doing only what any promising student should do - independently seeking information, and stimulating discussion among classmates. If Afghanistan is to be a free, open society, it cannot allow religious orthodoxy to trump free inquiry among its citizens, and it certainly cannot impose deadly penalties on those who dare speak out.
Afghanistan's constitution claims that freedom of expression "shall be inviolable" and that "every Afghan shall have the right to express thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well as other means."
The trial and sentencing of Mr. Kambakhsh are also in direct violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Afghanistan is a signatory. I respectfully ask that your administration remain faithful to these protections and avoid the awful precedent of punishing such expression without proper legal procedure or consideration for the value of human life.
Such charges are an affront not only to the basic political and legal structure of Afghanistan, but to the freedom and dignity of its citizens as well. I urge you to condemn this injustice and to secure the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Kambakhsh.
Thank you for giving this matter your fullest attention.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
[Your name]
[Your address]
