Faisal Ahmad Shinwari

Infobox Person
name = Faisal Ahmad Shinwari

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birth_date = Birth year and age|1923
birth_place = Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan
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nationality = Afghanistan
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citizenship = Afghanistan
other_names = Fazl Hadi Shinwari
known_for = Chief Justice Supreme Court of Afghanistan, 2001-2006
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occupation = Islamic cleric
home_town = Jalalabad
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religion = Islam
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Faisal Ahmad Shinwari (alternatively Fazl Hadi Shinwari) is a citizen of Afghanistan, from Jalalabad, and an early appointee in Hamid Karzai's administration.cite news
url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/20/content_435839.htm
title=17 Afghans, Turk home from Guantanamo Bay
publisher=China Daily
date=April 20, 2005
accessdate=2008-04-18
quote=Pentagon spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said the 17 Afghans and the Turkish man had been cleared of accusations they were enemy combatants during the Combatant Status Review Tribunal process that recently ended. Five others cleared in late March already had been sent home and another 15 await transfers home. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinadaily.com.cn%2Fenglish%2Fdoc%2F2005-04%2F20%2Fcontent_435839.htm&date=2008-08-04 mirror] ] cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/international/asia/20afghan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
title=17 Afghans Freed From Guantánamo Prison
publisher=New York Times
author=Carlotta Gall
date=April 20 2005
accessdate=2008-04-18
quote=In a brief ceremony, Chief Justice Fazil Hadi Shinwari told the 17 men that they were free to return home and he tried to reconcile them to the idea their imprisonment was something sent from God. Some prisoners in Guantánamo were guilty and deserved to be imprisoned, he said, but others were innocent victims of false accusations or military mistakes, or were duped into supporting terrorism. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2005%2F04%2F20%2Finternational%2Fasia%2F20afghan.html%3F_r%3D1%26oref%3Dslogin&date=2008-08-04 mirror] ] cite news
url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120704.shtml
title=Despite Karzai election, Afghan conservatives soldier on
publisher=Eurasianet
author=Claudio Franco
date=2004-12-07
accessdate=2008-08-04
quote=A ban on cable TV, reinstated on November 12, illustrates the stakes involved. The original ban, first imposed by the Supreme Court in January 2003, was revoked in April 2003 after a government commission investigated claims of obscenity filed in Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad, the hometown of Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari. Although execution of the ban was eventually eased, restrictions on most western and Indian television shows remain firmly in place. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurasianet.org%2Fdepartments%2Finsight%2Farticles%2Feav120704.shtml&date=2008-08-04 mirror] ] He was appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan from 2001 until 2006. He was appointed to the post by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in accordance with the Afghan Constitution approved after the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government.

Shinwari is a member of the Itihad-i-Islami party.cite news
url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp020103a.shtml
title=Division between Islamists, Moderates hamper effort on new constitution
publisher=Eurasianet
author=
date=2003-02-01
accessdate=2008-08-04
quote=The ICG [International Crisis Group] says rebuilding the justice system needs to be raised higher on Afghanistan’s political agenda. It also is recommending the retirement of the current Afghan Supreme Court chief, Mawlavi Fazl Hadi Shinwari, on grounds that he does not meet the legal requirements on age and education. ]

In 2003 Shinwari spoke out against co-education -- the education of boys and girls in shared facilities -- while clarifying that he did not object to the education of girls and women in principle, just not in facilities shared with men and boys. [cite news
url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_1_35/ai_99933023?tag=artBody;col1
title=Fazl Hadi Shinwari, Afghanistan's new chief justice, has banned cable television - Brickbats - Brief Article
publisher=Reason magazine
author=
date=May 2003
accessdate=2008-08-04
quote="I want education for women," he said, "but we want men and women not to sit together." [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffindarticles.com%2Fp%2Farticles%2Fmi_m1568%2Fis_1_35%2Fai_99933023%3Ftag%3DartBody%3Bcol1&date=2008-08-04 mirror] ] Shinwari also lead the Supreme Court's efforts to ban Cable TV.

According to "Eurasianet" Shinwari was responsible for re-instating the ministry formerly known as the "Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice".:

In 2006, President Karzai renominated Shinwari to the position of Chief Justice, despite constitutional concerns regarding his degree in Islamic law.However, the parliament rejected the nomination. Shinwari served as Chief Justice until a new candidate, Abdul Salam Azimi, was approved by parliament.

By Western standards, he was widely considered to be a very conservative Islamist, and in his short term as chief justice some of the court's rulings included:

* the court, during the 2004 presidential election campaign, sought to ban a candidate who questioned whether polygamy was in keeping with the spirit of Islam;
* they have called for an end to cable television service in the country, at least pending government regulation, due in part to the apparent influence of films from Bollywood, which were allegedly prurient [http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/msg00917.html] ;
* the court upheld the death penalty for two journalists convicted of blasphemy for saying the Islam being practised in the country was reactionary [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7706] ;
* they banned women from singing on television [http://www.why-war.com/news/2002/08/31/afghansu.html] ; and
* they ruled that a girl, given as a bride when 9 years old and now 13, could not get a divorce from her abusive husband, notwithstanding a law that makes it illegal for girls under 16 to marry [http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/attack/48031.php] .

According to the International Crisis Group Shinwari appointed 128 judges, in addition to the original nine, and that of the credentials of 36 judges they were able to examine, none of the new judges had a degree in secular law::

audi peace talks

During Ramadan, 2008, there were rumors that Saudi King Abdullah was attempting to broker peace talks between the warring parties from Afghanistan. Former Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salem Zaeef and Shinwari were among leading Afghan figures who met with King Abdullah.

Zaeef acknowledged being invited by King Abdullah to dine with other leading Afghan figures, from the Karzai government, the Taliban, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami and other former members of the Taliban. cite news
url=http://news.theage.com.au/world/taliban-and-afghan-officials-break-bread-20081007-4v9j.html
title=Taliban and Afghan officials break bread
publisher=The Age
author=
date=2008-10-07
accessdate=2008-10-06
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.theage.com.au%2Fworld%2Ftaliban-and-afghan-officials-break-bread-20081007-4v9j.html&date=2008-10-06 mirror] ] Zaeef denied this meeting should be characterized as "peace talks". He stated that none of the individuals at this meeting had been authorized to conduct negotiations. Zaeef denied anyone discussed Afghanistan at this meeting.

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