DigiActive.org

Campaign: Supporting Jailed Afghan Student

Description: Recently an Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence for 24-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh, a journalism student accused of blasphemy for asking questions in class about women’s rights under Islam. But the judges still sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

The case against this student, whose brother has angered Afghan warlords with his own writing, has come to symbolize Afghanistan’s ultraconservative view on religious and individual freedoms. Some people started to mobolize opinion to support him.

Digital Tools Being Used:Blog and Petition

How these tools have been used: Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) has launched a petition to support Afghan student and jailed Iranian academics. SPME wants to collect 1,000 signatures before sending it to the governments of Afghanistan and Iran and the United Nations Council on Human Rights. Some Afghan bloggers such as Afghan Lord call court decision ‘unjust’ and try to remind people his case.

Impact: Mobilizing international opinion and media may have a positive impact for this jailed journalism student. Afghan government depends on international aid to ’survive’ and ‘persecuting’ this Afghan student won’t be helpful for it’s image.