U.S., EU, Blast Afghan Law on Domestic Violence -- KABUL—Afghanistan's Western partners are protesting against new legislation they say would effectively make it impossible to prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence, calling it a step backward for women's rights in the country. -- The Afghan Parliament last month voted in favor of a change to the criminal code that would ban relatives of the accused from testifying in court, a change that went largely unnoticed until human-rights activists commented on it recently. -- The legislation requires President Hamid Karzai's signature to take effect. If enacted, critics say it would be weaken the already tenuous rights of women and girls, increasingly under threat as Western influence wanes and conservative forces reassert themselves. -- Robert Hilton, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Kabul, said Washington is "extremely concerned" about the law. "We are following the issue closely and have raised our concerns with the Parliament and the government. We hope to see the language amended," he said. -- Late Monday, Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign-policy chief, said the legislation, if enacted, "would be a serious backward step in the justified and legitimate struggle for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan." -- And last week, Canada said it strongly opposed the legislation. -- At stake are billions of dollars in international aid that Afghanistan depends on to pay its government employees and security forces. Afghanistan's international partners in 2012 said Kabul must show tangible progress on women's rights in order for the aid to continue. -- While the partner nations haven't explicitly linked the new law to a continuation of aid, precedent suggests it could happen: Norway in October reduced its aid to Afghanistan, saying Kabul was failing to do enough to fight violence against women. -- Human rights groups have condemned the legislation. -- "This war was sold to taxpayers in these countries as being in part about rescuing women from the abuse they were subject to under the Taliban. There has to be continued progress," says Heather Barr, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. -- "There are not a lot of people in the government who view women's rights very differently form the Taliban," Ms. Barr said in an interview on Tuesday. -- Article 26 of the draft law, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, includes "relatives of the accused" in a list of people who cannot be questioned as witnesses -- So far, Mr. Karzai hasn't spoken publicly on the issue. A spokeswoman for the president wasn't able to comment Tuesday. --- The law is the latest indication that the fragile progress made on women's rights is at risk of rolling back as foreign military and civilian presence is thinning out after more than 12 years of involvement in the war-torn country. -- Last May, for instance, lawmakers sought to repeal a crucial law aimed at curbing violence against women, saying it went against Islam. Some of them compared shelters for abused women to brothels - More, Margherita Stancati,. Wall Street Journal