新的阿富汗法律可能讓女性家庭暴力受害者沉默

Law would ban relatives of the accused from testifying against them

法律將禁止被告家屬作不利人證。

A new law in Afghanistan could allow men to abuse their wives, children and sisters and not face criminal proseCution by banning the relatives of an accused person from testifying against them.

阿富汗新出臺的一項法律將允許男人虐待他們的妻子、子女和姐妹，而免受面臨刑事指控，因爲此法將禁止被告的家屬指證他們。

If passed, the bill would make it much more difficult for victims to bring cases of abuse to court which often happen as they most often occur within the confines of the family home, The Guardian has reported.

《衛報》報道稱，若該法案通過，將使受虐案件的訴訟難度大增，因爲它們多發生在全家居住的房屋內。

The small change to a section of the criminal code Prohibition of Questioning an Individual as a Witness would also prevent doctors, children and defence lawyers from testifying in a case.

這個微小的變更涉及到刑法中“禁止審問作爲證人的個人”的部分，還將使醫生、兒童和辯護律師無法在案件中作證。

The bill has been passed by both houses of Parliament but is awaiting the signature of the conservative President Hamid Karzai, who by choosing to sign it will bring it into force. Campaigners are now calling on Karzai to refuse to sign the bill they assert will weaken "already inadequate" legal protections for women.

該法案已通過議會兩院批准，正在等候保守派總統哈米德·卡爾扎伊簽字，一旦簽署即宣告生效。活動家們正在呼籲卡爾扎伊拒絕簽署法案，因其削弱了女性“已經堪憂的”法律保障。

“President Karzai should reject a law that will effectively let batterers of women and girls off the hook,” Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

人權觀察組織（HRW）亞洲區主任布拉德·亞當斯在一份聲明中說：“卡爾扎伊總統應該駁回這項允許虐妻和虐待女孩的人合法脫身的法律。”

HRW warned by signing the new criminal procedure, women would be denied protection from domestic Violence and forced or child marriage by silencing victims and their family members who have witnessed their abuse.

人權觀察組織警告稱，一旦簽署新刑事訴訟法，將迫使受害者和作爲目擊證人的家人沉默，婦女會失去在家庭暴力、強迫婚姻或童婚中的法律保護。

The proposed change comes after the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission reported a 26 per cent increase in the number of women saying they had been assaulted in 2013. Sima Samir, chair of the AIHRC said in January the brutality of attacks on women had greatly intensified during this time.

此次提議變更出現在阿富汗獨立人權委員會發布一份報告後，報告顯示2013年自稱遭性侵害的女性增加26%。阿富汗獨立人權委員會主席西瑪·薩瑪爾在1月份說近期對婦女的暴虐行徑大大加劇。

"The brutality of the cases is really bad. Cutting the nose, lips and ears. Committing public rape," she said. "Mass rape... It's against dignity, against humanity."

“涉案暴行非常惡劣。（她們被）割掉鼻子、嘴脣和耳朵。有的甚至遭到公衆姦淫。”她說道，“大規模的姦淫……這違反了人格尊嚴，罔顧人性。”

Opportunities for women seemingly improved after the Taliban was toppled from power in 2001, and the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) made crimes of child marriage, forced marriage and rape for the first time under Afghan law, with tough penalties for domestic violence.

塔利班2011年倒臺後，婦女的待遇似乎有所改善，而2009年通過的《消除對婦女暴力侵害法律（EVAW）》首次將童婚、強迫婚姻和強姦等罪置於阿富汗法律之下，嚴懲家庭暴力。

However, HRW argue this new bill threatens protections for women and girls provided within the EVAW law.

然而，人權觀察組織表示，這項新法案會威脅到受EVAW法律保護的婦女和女孩。

“President Karzai should take a stand for Afghan women by sending the new law back to parliament with a message that he will not sign it until it is revised in line with the goals of the EVAW law and Afghanistan’s obligations under international law,” Mr Adams said.

亞當斯先生說：“卡爾扎伊總統應該維護對阿富汗婦女的主張，駁回議會的這項新法，以傳達他絕不簽署的決心，除非該法案修正至符合EVAW法律並遵守阿富汗在國際法律中所規定的義務。”