The Case of an Afghan Apostate - The Right to a Fair Trial Between Islamic Law and Human Rights in the Afghan Constitution

Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law

Volumn 10, Issue , 2006, Pages 591-605

  Afshar, Mandana Knust Rassekh ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 84882135648     PISSN: 13894633     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book Series    
DOI: 10.1163/187574106x00137     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Countries with a majority Muslim population giving Islamic law a preferred position are inter alia Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, article 3 of the Afghan Constitution; Arab Republic of Egypt, article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution; Islamic Republic of Iran, arts 2-4 of the Iranian Constitution; Republic of Iraq, article 2 of the Iraqi Constitution; Islamic Republic of Pakistan, article 227 of the Pakistani Constitution; State of Qatar, article 1 of the Qatari Constitution; Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia, inter alia arts 1, 23 and 48 of the Saudi-Arabian Constitution; Republic of Yemen, article 3 of the Yemeni Constitution.
2. Decree 103 published in the Official Gazette No. 818; for English translation see under .
3. Article 7 of the Constitution.
4. Cf. under .
5. Decree 910 published in the Official Gazette No. 347; for English translation see under .
6. M. Lippman/S. McConville/M. Yerushalmi, Islamic Criminal Law and Procedure, 1988, 38.
7. In Islamic jurisprudence, the principle of separation of powers is not followed. The Head of State as well as his appointed judges have the authority to administer justice. They have the power to set forth new crimes and sanctions at their own discretion; A. Baradie, Gottes-Recht und Menschen-Recht, 1983, 156.
8. Cf. G. Benmelha, “Ta'zir Crimes”, in: M.C. Bassiouni (ed.), The Islamic Criminal Justice System, 1982, 211 et seq. (212 et seq.); M. Baderin, International Human Rights and Islamic Law, 2003, 69 et seq.; S. Tellenbach, “Fair Trial Guarantees Under Islamic, Afghan Constitutional and International Law”, ZaöRV 64 (2004), 929 et seq. (931); Baradie, see note 7, 146 et seq.
9. Cf. article 1 of the Afghan Penal Code.
10. A. Abd al-Aziz al-Alfi, “Punishment in Islamic Criminal Law”, in: Bassiouni, see note 8, 227 et seq. (227).
11. Cf. I. Abdal-Haqq, “Islamic Law, an Overview of its Origin and Elements”, Journal of Islamic Law 1 (1996), 1 et seq. (5).
12. Abdal-Haqq, ibid., 10.
13. Baradie, see note 7, 23 et seq.; C.B. Lombardi/N.J. Brown, “Do Constitutions Requiring Adherence to Shari'a Threaten Human Rights? How Egypt's Constitutional Court reconciles Islamic Law with the Liberal Rule of Law”, Am. U. Int'l L. Rev. 21 (2006), 379 et seq. (395).
14. B. Johansen, “The Relationship between the Constitution, the Shari'a and the Fiqh: The Jurisprudence of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court”, ZaöRV 64 (2004), 881 et seq.;
15. S. Mahmoudi, “The Shari'a in the New Afghan Constitution: Contradiction or Compliment”, ZaöRV 64 (2004), 867 et seq.;
16. for a short introduction to Islamic jurisprudence see D. Jordan, “The Dark Ages of Islam: Ijtihad, Apostates, and Human Rights in Contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence”, Washington & Lee Race& Ethnic Ancestry Law Journal 9 (2003); 55 et seq. (57);
17. Lombardi/Brown, see note 13, 395-402; for a detailed overview on Islamic Law see J. Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law, 1964; Baradie, see note 7.
18. Cf. M.C. Bassiouni, “Quesas Crimes”, in: id., see note 8, 203 et seq.;
19. Lippman/McConville/Yerushalmi, see note 6, 49-52.
20. Qur'an, Sura 2:178.
21. Tellenbach, see note 8, 931; Lippman/McConville/Yerushalmi, see note 6, 38 and 41.
22. Qur'an, Sura 3:159 as translated by Abdullah Yusufali; Cf. Bassiouni, see note 15, 203 et seq. (205).
23. Benmelha, see note 8, 212.
24. Lippman/McConville/Yerushalmi, see note 6, 38;
25. Benmelha, see note 8, 212.
26. A. Aly Mansour, “Hudud Crimes”, in: Bassiouni, see note 8, 195 et seq. (196).
27. Baradie, see note 7, 99; Tellenbach, see note 8, 933.
28. Baradie, see note 7, 99.
29. Qur'an, Sura 2:208.
30. Qur'an, Sura 24:2.
31. Qur'an, Sura 5:38.
32. Qur'an, Sura 5:33.
33. Baderin, see note 8, 79; Abd al-Aziz al-Alfi, see note 10.
34. Jordan, see note 14, 61.
35. Qur'an, Sura 2:217 as translated by Abdullah Yusufali.
36. Qur'an, Sura 2:256 as translated by Abdullah Yusufali.
37. Cf. Baderin, see note 8, 120.
38. Qur'an, Sura 2:208.
39. Lippman/McConville/Yerushalmi, see note 6, 24
40. Qur'an, Sura 33:36.
41. T. Kamali, “The Principle of Legality and its Application in Islamic Criminal Justice,” in: Bassiouni see note 8, 165 et seq.;
42. Aly Mansour, see note 21, 197; Baradie, see note 7, 125.
43. “Whoever changes his religion, kill him”; see Kamali, see note 36, 166.
44. Baradie, see note 7, 26.
45. Kamali, see note 36, 153.
46. For an overview on the arguments see Baderin, see note 8, 124-125.
47. A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist (mujtahed) on a specific issue. See Glossary at the end of the article.
48. BBC PERSIAN.com, 2 February 2005 see under .
49. Baradie, see note 7, 123 et seq.
50. Unofficial translation of the author in compliance with the Dari version of the text.
51. See under .
52. Kamali, see note 36, 149; Tellenbach, see note 8, 930; cf. Baderin, see note 8, 112.
53. Article 27 of the Constitution reads: “No act is considered a crime, unless determined by a law adopted prior to the date the offence was committed. No person can be pursued, arrested or detained but in accordance with provisions of law. No person can be punished but in accordance with the decisions of an authorised court and in conformity with the laws adopted before the date of the offence.”
54. See arts 94-96 of the Constitution on the lawmaking process.
55. Tellenbach, see note 8, 932.
56. Kamali, see note 36, 151.
57. Article 3 of the Constitution.
58. A/RES/2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 entered into force 23 March 1976.
59. See also article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, A/RES/217A (III) of 10 December 1948: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”.
60. Mahmoudi, see note 14, 870.
61. Article 2 (b) Iraqi Constitution states that “no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam”, cf. .
62. On the constitutional history of Afghanistan see e.g. S. Arjomand, “Constitutional Developments in Afghanistan: A comparative and historical perspective”, Drake Law Review 53 (2004/2005), 943 et seq.
63. Article 6 of the Afghan Constitution reads: “The state is obliged to create a prosperous and progressive society based on social justice, protection of human dignity, protection of human rights, realization of democracy, and to ensure national unity and equality among all ethnic groups and tribes and to provide for balanced development in all areas of the country.”
64. Mahmoudi, see note 14, 873.
65. Mahmoudi, see note 14; H.J. Vergau, “Manifest der Hoffnung. Über die neue Verfassung Afghanistans”, VRÜ 37 (2004), 465 et seq. (488) who states that, radical-conservative interpretations of the Constitution would violate its spirit.
66. Cf. Jordan, see note 14.
67. On the struggles and compromises regarding the preference of Islamic Law on the one side and human right obligations under international law on the other see Vergau, see note 59, 471 et seq.