Afghanistan lawmaker and women’s rights advocate killed by Taliban News
Afghanistan lawmaker and women’s rights advocate killed by Taliban

[JURIST] The Taliban [JURIST news archive] have claimed responsibility for the Sunday killing of Sitara Achakzai, a women's rights advocate in Afghanistan [JURIST news archive] and a member of Kandahar's provincial assembly. Achakzai, who had returned to Afghanistan to pursue women's rights after living in Germany during the Taliban's rule, was shot outside her Kandahar home [AP report] after being approached by gunmen on motorcycles. The killing [Kuwait News Agency report] comes in the midst of controversy over the Afghan central government's Shi'ite Personal Status Law [JURIST news archive], which reportedly requires a woman to seek her husband's permission before leaving the house and effectively condones rape within a marriage. The text of that law has not been officially published.

Last week, Mohammad Asif Mohseni, a key Shi'ite cleric, defended the status law [JURIST report] and characterized Western criticism of it as interference with Afghan democracy. President Hamid Karzai signed the measure into law in March – reportedly as a conciliatory measure towards the Taliban – then called for its review [JURIST reports] under mounting international pressure.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

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On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.