Afghanistan: Arbitrary detention of woman human rights defender Mary Akrami

Your Excellency,

I am deeply concerned following reports of the arbitrary detention of woman human rights defender Mary Akrami on 14 July 2008. Mary Akrami is a member of the Afghan Women's Skills Development Centre (AWSDC) and is an advocate for women's rights in Afghanistan.

On 14 July 2008, Mary Akrami went to the office of the Attorney General, Abdul Jabbar Sabit, to accompany a woman who had been summoned there to a meeting. The woman had been referred to the AWSDC after seeking advice from the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) when she left her husband. The Attorney General reportedly raised his voice at the woman and ordered her to return to her husband immediately, before accusing Mary Akrami and the AWSDC of supporting prostitutes and insisting that its members must pay the penalty. He then ordered that both women be detained. Mary Akrami was detained for three hours before being released. No official reason was given for her detention.

I believe that Mary Akrami was detained as a result of her legitimate and non-violent activities in defence of human rights. In view of these reports, I wish to express my serious concern for the security of Mary Akrami, the other members of the Afghan Women's Skills Development Centre, and all those working in defence of women's rights in Afghanistan.

I urge the authorities in Afghanistan to:

1.Conduct an immediate an impartial investigation into the arbitrary detention of Mary Akrami, as Front Line believes it was directly related to her legitimate human rights activities;

2.Guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of Mary Akrami and members of the Afghan Women's Skills Development Centre;

3.Take measures to ensure that all human rights defenders in Afghanistan, carrying out their legitimate work in human rights, are able to operate free of restrictions and harassment.

I respectfully remind you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. I would particularly draw attention to Article 1 which states that: “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels,” and to Article 12 (2): The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”.

Yours sincerely,