Law for Afghan Shi'ites stirs anger and concern (Update)

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

KABUL, April 2 (Reuters) - A new law for Shi'ite Muslims in Afghanistan has provoked anger among some lawmakers while the United Nations has said it is seriously concerned about the law's potential impact on women's rights in the former Taliban state.

The new law passed by parliament and signed by President Hamid Karzai, but not yet promulgated in the official gazette, is meant to legalise minority Shi'ite family law, which is different than that for the majority Sunni population.

The U.N.'s agency for women, UNIFEM, said in a statement it had yet to study the final draft of the Shi'ite Personal Status Law -- copies of which are not widely available -- but said it "remains seriously concerned about the potential impact of this law on the women of Afghanistan."

British media have reported that the law, which affects only Shi'ite Muslims who make up some 15 percent of Afghanistan's population, could legalise marital rape and prohibit women from leaving the home without the permission of their husbands.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSL2330877

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The article I posted the other day did not mention that the law only affected the Shi'ite population.