A child bride won the right to divorce – now the Taliban say it doesn’t count

 

There is a young woman taking shelter under a tree between two busy streets clutching a stack of documents to her chest.

These pieces of paper are more important to Bibi Nazdana than anything in the world: they are the divorce granted to her after a two-year court battle to free herself from the life of a child bride.

They are the same documents that a Taliban court invalidated, a victim of the group’s harsh interpretation of Sharia (religious law), which has seen women effectively silenced in the Afghan legal system.

Nazdana’s divorce is one of tens of thousands of rulings overturned since the Taliban took control of the country three years ago this month.

It took just 10 days after their arrival in the capital, Kabul, for the man to whom she had been promised when she was seven to ask the courts to quash the divorce decree she had fought so hard for.

Hekmatullah initially appeared to have proposed to his wife when Nazdana was 15 years old. It had been eight years since her father had agreed to what is known as a “bad marriage,” which seeks to turn a family “enemy” into a “friend.”

She immediately approached the court – then operating under the US-backed Afghan government – ​​for a separation, repeatedly telling them she could not marry the farmer, now 20. It took two years, but finally a ruling was made in her favor: “The court congratulated me and said, ‘You are now separated and free to marry whoever you want.'”

But after Hekmatullah appealed the ruling in 2021, Nazdana was told she would not be allowed to plead her case in person.

“In the court, the Taliban told me that I should not return to court because it was against Sharia. They said my brother should represent me instead,” says Nazdana.

“They told us that if we didn’t obey,” says Shams, Nazdana’s 28-year-old brother, “they would hand over my sister (Hekmatullah) to them by force.”

Her ex-husband, and now newly enlisted member of the Taliban, won the case. Shams’ attempts to explain to the court in their home province of Uruzgan that his life would be in danger fell on deaf ears.

The brothers decided they had no choice but to flee.

When the Taliban returned to power three years ago, they promised to eliminate past corruption and ensure “justice” under Sharia, a version of Islamic law.

Since then, the Taliban say they have examined around 355,000 cases.

Most were criminal cases: about 40% are land disputes, and a further 30% are family matters, including divorce, like Nazdana’s.

Nazdana’s divorce ruling was quashed after the BBC gained exclusive access to the Supreme Court offices in the capital, Kabul.

Abdulwahid Haqani – press officer of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan – confirms the ruling in favor of Hekmatullah, saying that it was invalid because “he was not present”.

“The previous corrupt administration’s decision to annul Hekmatullah and Nazdana’s wedding was against Sharia and marriage rules,” he explains.

But promises to reform the justice system went beyond simply reopening resolved cases.

The Taliban also systematically removed all judges – both men and women – and replaced them with people who supported their uncompromising views.

Women were also declared unfit to participate in the justice system.

“Women are not qualified or able to judge because according to our Sharia principles, judicial work requires people with high intelligence,” says Abdulrahim Rashid, director of foreign relations and communications at the Taliban’s Supreme Court.

For women who worked in the system, the loss is keenly felt – and not just for themselves.

Former Supreme Court judge Fawzia Amini – who fled the country after the Taliban returned – says there is little hope of women’s protection under the law improving if there are no women in the courts

“We played an important role,” he says. “For example, the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women in 2009 was one of our achievements. We have also worked on the regulation of women’s shelters, the protection of orphans and the law against human trafficking, to name a few.”

He also criticizes the Taliban for overturning previous sentences, such as that of Nazdana.

“If a woman divorces her husband and court documents are available as evidence, then it is final. Legal verdicts cannot change because a regime changes,” says Ms. Amini.

“Our civil code is more than half a century old,” he adds. “It has been practiced since even before the founding of the Taliban.

“All civil and criminal codes, including those on divorce, have been adapted from the Koran.”

Taliban court decisions
A shelf for court cases resettled by the previous government at the Taliban Supreme Court

But the Taliban argue that Afghanistan’s former rulers were simply not Islamic enough.

They instead rely largely on Hanafi religious law Fiqh (jurisprudence), which dates back to the 8th century – although updated to “meet current needs,” according to Abdulrahim Rashid.

“Previous courts made decisions based on the criminal and civil code. But now all decisions are based on Sharia [Islamic law]”, he adds, proudly pointing to the pile of cases they have already solved.

Ms. Amini is less impressed by plans for the future of Afghanistan’s legal system.

“I have a question for the Taliban. Did their parents marry under these laws or are they based on the laws their children will write?” he asks.

Under the tree between two roads in an unnamed nearby town, none of this is any comfort to Nazdana.

Now, at just 20 years old, she’s been here for a year, clutching divorce papers and hoping someone will help her.

“I knocked on many doors asking for help, including the UN, but no one listened to my voice,” he says.

“Where is the support? Don’t I deserve freedom as a woman?”

The BBC was unable to contact Hekmatullah for comment.

Report by Mamoon Durrani BBC Afghan Service e
Kawoon Khamoosh BBC World Service•@Kawoonkhamoosh
from Kabul

The post Child bride won right to divorce – now Taliban say it doesn’t count appeared first on TheConclaveNg.