President Karzai
Last month I posted an article about a young Afghan woman - Gulnaz - who was sentenced to 12 years in a Kabul prison with her baby - after being attacked and raped by family relative.
To add insult to injury the young woman was told she could be released early from jail - if she agreed to marry her attacker - the father of the child.
But suddenly last week Gulnaz was officially pardoned by the President Karzai and released from jail - so maybe all hope is not lost after all.
In certain parts of Afghanistan and certainly amongst religious fundamentalists - Afghan women are treated like cattle - beasts of burden to be bought and sold.
For anyone interested in finding out more I would suggest reading two books - The Bookseller of Kabul a non-fition work by Åsne Seierstad - and A Thousand Splendid Suns a novel by Khaled Hosseini.
I wonder if President Karzai has read them - and if he recognises the need to do much more to promote and protect the rights of women in Afghanistan?
Because while it's great news that Gulnaz has now been released - it's a disgrace and an insult to human dignity that she was ever sent to jail in the first place.
Afghanistan (November 26th 2011)
I read a depressing article last week which made me stop and think - whether Afghanistan has been worth all the sacrifices people have made - since the days of the Taleban.
Because the story involved a young 19 year-old woman - Gulnaz - who was raped and made pregnant by her attacker - who was duly reported to the police.
But instead of receiving any help from the authorities - Gulnaz was charged with adultery and sentenced to 12 years in jail with her infant daughter - in Kabul the Afghan capital.
The judge who sent Gulnaz to prison said that she would be released early from her 12 year sentence - if she agreed to marry the man who attacked and raped her - her attacker was also jailed.
After spending 18 months in jail with her infant daughter - Gulnaz finally relented and gave in to this despicable blackmail: "I had no choice", she said. "I did it for my daughter".
Supporters of Gulnaz commissioned a film to highlight this terrible abuse in Afghanistan - where women have the status of cattle - yet the documentary will not be shown because of fear of reprisals.
Now that may be the reality on the ground.
But it does beg the question:
How can all the fighting and huge resources poured into Afghanisatan be justified - if a young woman can be treated in this way in Kabul - right under the nose of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai?
