Taliban
Afghani Women Speak outAgainst Human Rights Violations
By
For the lasteight years, the citizens of Afghanistan have been facing increasing oppressionat the hands of an illegal and militaristic occupying force who call themselvesthe Taliban. While Western governments spout moral rhetoric about protectinghuman rights in the world, they have only paid lip service to deploring theviolence and oppression in Afghanistan. Perhaps worse still, the US activistcommunity has yet to take on in any meaningful manner, the cause of Afghaniwomen and the role of our government in the human rights disaster inAfghanistan. This month, on the 22nd of June, two women from the RevolutionaryAssociation of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), will speak at the Caltech'sDabney Hall , describing life in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Taliban Takeover ofAfghanistan
Modern historyrecounts Afghanistan as being the site of Soviet occupation in the 1980s.Afghanistan was quickly turned into a Cold War battleground by the USSR and theUS, with US-armed mujahideen fighting the Soviets. The withdrawal of Sovietforces in 1989 was then followed by bloody civil war as heavily-armedmujahideen turned upon one another. In 1996 the civil war of Afghanistan was overshadowedby a small group of men calling themselves the Taliban who forcibly took overthe country after two years of violent attempts. During these two years tens ofthousands of Afghani civilians were indiscriminately killed by bombing andshelling from rockets and mortars and in the years since, Taliban planes havedropped bombs on Afghani civilians and destroyed entire villages in acts ofvengeance (Amnesty International Report, November 1996). While internationalonlookers initially approved of a regime that seemed to have brought stabilityback to the war-ravaged country, for citizens of Afghanistan, and especiallyAfghani women, it signaled the beginning of a new reign of terror.
Abuse of Women
The specter ofwar and civil unrest has been a constant backdrop to life in Afghanistan forthe last 21 years. However, the relative freedom that women enjoyed before theTaliban takeover was one of the few uplifting aspects of Afghani society. AnOctober 1996 Washington Post report cited women comprising 70% of schoolteachers, 50% of students, 50% of government workers, 60% of universityteachers, and 40% of medical doctors in Afghanistan. While the society wascertainly not free of sexist ideology and practice, women had relatively easyaccess to employment, education and healthcare. With the Taliban capture ofKabul in 1996, this freedom was extinguished practically overnight. Theprinciple of Taliban rule is a strict adherence to what they call Islamic law,which is heavily influenced by the traditions of the Pashtun tribe of which theTaliban are exclusively composed. Unfortunately for Afghanis, the Taliban havechosen to enforce a (mis)interpretation of the Koran that is not only extremebut inhumane and which has been decried by Muslim clerics in many othercountries.
The Taliban saythat in order to restore women's safety, dignity and freedom, they must give uptheir jobs and stay at home. Numerous Amnesty International (AI) reports overthe last five years describe horrific scenes of abuse delivered to women forbreaking Taliban-enforced laws. These laws include wearing a burqa (veil) atall times when outdoors, being accompanied by a close male relative at alltimes, not exposing a single inch of skin, wearing nail varnish or high heeledshoes.
While it isobvious Afghani women are suffering as a result of disobeying these laws, evenplaying by the Taliban's rules has had a debilitating effect on the health ofAfghani women. Male doctors are not allowed to examine women and most femaledoctors have been forced to give up their practice and remain at home. As aresult women's access to healthcare has been essentially cut off. Amongst thewomen of Afghanistan are some 40,000 women widowed as a result of the civil warin Kabul alone, who do not have male family members to earn an income oraccompany them out of doors. Many women are unable to afford a burqa and areconsequently restricted indoors or risk severe physical punishment by Talibanguards.
A Physicians forHuman Rights (PHR) report by health researcher, Zohra Rasekh documents theunprecedented increase in women's physical and mental trauma since the Talibantakeover. The report reveals the harsh realities of life for Afghani women.Over a hundred interviews with Afghan women confirms that what is happeningunder Taliban rule is not only an abject violation of international humanrights standards, but an affront to Islamic values of Afghani civilians. Thethree month study, conducted last year describes the shocking effects ofTaliban oppression on women over the last two years: "The results of thesurvey of 160 Afghan women indicated that the extension of the Taliban'sauthority in Afghanistan has had debilitating consequences for women's healthand human rights there
Denial ofeducation to women is also part of the Taliban agenda. A June 1997 AI report onAfghanistan says "Women and girls have continued to be barred fromattending schools and universities in Taliban controlled areas. On a number ofoccasions in the past, the Taliban have stated that schooling for women andgirls would be restarted when the security situation in the country improved.However, this has been shown to be an empty promise as girls remain excludedfrom schools even in areas of southwestern Afghanistan where the Taliban havebeen in uncontested control for nearly three years. Taliban representativeshave argued that there are not sufficient funds to provide for girls'education. However, UNICEF stated in a press release on 1 April 1997 that thisargument is implausible." The excuses which the Taliban claim to affectwomen's education does not apply to men: boys' schools have remained open andfunctioning.
A Voice for AfghaniWomen
Despite theoverwhelming forces of repression against them, Afghani women do have a voice,albeit one that is largely ignored by the international community and theUnited Nations. Risking death threats and other intimidation tactics, theRevolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) bravely standtheir ground. An independent political organization formed in 1977, RAWA are anoutspoken group of intrepid feminists who take an uncompromising stand onfighting for democracy and the rights of women in Afghanistan. They arecurrently based in Pakistan, home to millions of Afghani refugees that havefled their country's instabilities. In addition to providing a platform for thevoices of thousands of Afghani women, they actively stage demonstrations,provide humanitarian aid to Afghani refugees, run underground schools for womenand girls in Afghanistan, publish pro-democracy, anti-Taliban literature, andmore. Their unyielding opposition to the Taliban is supported by an archive ofhundreds of stories, articles, photos, movie clips, and press releases exposingthe Taliban's violent abuse of Afghani citizens.
To hear about theUS role in Afghanistan and what life under Taliban rule is like for Afghaniwomen, come hear Sajeda Hayat and Sehar Saba, representatives of RAWAs ForeignAffairs Committee speak at Caltech's Dabney Hall on the 22nd of June, 7 PM.This event is free and open to the public.
For moreinformation on Afghanistan and RAWA check out http://www.rawa.org and foradditional events in the LA area this June please check out the speakers onlinecalendar of events athttp://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8197/rawacalendar.htm or call(626)398-6036. To subscribe to the Acting in Solidarity with Afghani People(ASAP) listserve, go to http://www.egroups.com/group/asap-net