Hundreds of Afghan women are languishing in prison for so-called moral crimes, which include running away from home and having sex outside marriage, campaign group Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. The report released in Kabul, “I Had to Run Away”, called for them to be freed and said President Hamid Karzai’s Western-backed government had failed to fulfil its obligations under international human rights laws. “It is shocking that 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban, women and girls are still imprisoned for running away from domestic violence or forced marriage,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. The group estimated there are a total of 400 women in prison and girls in juvenile detention facilities having been accused or convicted of offences including “running away”, which is not a crime under the Afghan penal code.
