Panorama

Parvez Kambash was jailed after downloading a women's rights article

Sentenced to death for reportedly downloading an article on women's rights and showing it to classmates, Parvez Kambash could be forgiven for believing little progress has been made since the international community first arrived in Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban.

Appearing before a court of mullahs in the government-controlled city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the 22-year-old received the harshest punishment for blasphemy.

He has spent the last eighteen months behind bars. Panorama's Jane Corbin went to visit him in Kabul's detention centre.

He told her that his case was controversial but he only had a 3-minute hearing. "They announced I would receive the death penalty," he said.

"I can't ever explain what I felt when I heard the decision. I couldn't even begin to understand why that was happening to me and where the decision was coming from."

Afghan tensions

On appeal, his sentence was commuted to a 22-year prison term, and a presidential pardon could still free him - but Afghan President Hamid Karzai has not intervened despite international appeals and pressure.

"I can only say that if President Karzai had intervened in my case it would have been better," Mr Kambash explained.

His case has highlighted the tension between the voices of conservative Islam in Afghanistan and the liberal international backers of the president.

President Karzai is left in a difficult position - not wanting to appear to bow to international pressure in what is a strongly Islamic country.

President Karzai has not intervened in the case despite international appeals

Under the constitution introduced five years ago, men and women are equal in the eyes of Afghan law. But in practice, this is far from reality.

Husn Banu Ghazanfar, Minister for Women's Affairs, thinks that change is only a matter of time.

"We cannot change old traditions quickly and easily," she told Panorama, "it needs years of cultural work to change people's minds".

Sentence upheld

Currently 60% of Afghan women are still being forced into marriage, some as young as nine, despite the law that states 16 is the minimum age.

While eight out of ten are the victims of some form of domestic abuse, and 80% remain illiterate.

This is in spite of Afghanistan's leaders "talking of democracy politically, and women's participation, and all this progress that has been made in the past seven years," according to MP Fawzia Kofi.

Back in prison, Mr Kambash heeds caution when speaking to Panorama, careful about what he can reveal and unable to speak openly.

"You know the situation in Afghanistan and what position I'm in," he said. "It's politically sensitive for me. I am not in a position to say anymore. One day I would like to explain bit by bit what happened to everyone."

His appeal to the supreme court failed and his 22-year sentence was upheld. Mr Kambash has once again appealed to President Karzai. And he is still waiting to hear.

Panorama: What Are We Fighting For? is on BBC One, Monday 17 August at 8.30pm.

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