In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
| A Monthly Publication Year One Number Eleven-Twelve New
Jersey USA Subscription $10.00 Single Copy $1.00 Combined August-September 1998 Edition |
Afghanistan Voice:
A publication of
(APDA)
The Voice Demanding:
Democracy, Freedom,
Editorial:
The recent Taliban victories in the North and the virtual reduction of the Northern Alliance to scattered guerilla groups fighting for their survival have made a bad situation much worse. For now the only viable challenge to the Taliban is Ahmad Shah Massoud who is being pounded by the Taliban ferociously, and yet so far has not lost much ground to the Taliban. In fact, Commander Massoud has made some modest gains in the North killing or capturing hundreds of the Taliban militia and their Pakistani supporters.
The real significance of Massoud's resistance is not so much in his being the sole survivor in this brutal assault by the Taliban mercenaries; rather,it is Massoud's taking the initiative in trying to define and clarify the political dimension of his resistance to the Taliban. His very recent message to the American people, through the U.S. Congress, is the most lucid presentation of what is at stake and what political alternative to the Taliban he is offering. In fact, this elucidation, especially if he is able to convince the Afghans, might turn the tide against the Taliban.
Those readers of ours who have followed our previous publications may remember our warnings about the tragic consequences which a Taliban victory can have for Afghanistan's present and future. Massoud is capitalizing on these in stark contrast to his own vision for Afghanistan's future.
The alien "purist Islam" and its medieval barbarism that the Taliban have introduced in Afghanistan, the ethnic cleansing and the brutality of the Taliban in Mazar-I Sharif and Bamian, the brutal treatment of women, drugs trafficking, and giving safe haven to terrorists, these and many more issues are raised. However, at this juncture in Afghan history, none seems more powerful than Massoud's pointing to the heinous fact that the Taliban are giving free rein to Pakistani extremists who have virtually made Afghanistan an occupied country, a colony serving the colonialist ambitions of the Pakistani government. As the truth about the Taliban and their Pakistani sponsors is becoming more and more transparent, those Afghans, especially Pashtuns, who looked to the Taliban as former King Zahir Shah's soldiers, are more and more in search of an alternative to the Taliban. Massoud, in his message, is clearly pointing to Afghans wanting to "regain their right to self-determination through a democratic or traditional mechanism acceptable to our people".
He skillfully disarms the Taliban claim of bringing stability to the country or to the region by saying:
Let me correct a few fallacies that
are propagated by Taliban
backers and their lobbies around the
world. This situation over the short
and long-run, even in the case of
total control by the Taliban, will not
be to anyone's interest. It will not
result in stability, peace and
prosperity in the region. The
accept such a repressive regime.
Regional countries will never feel
secure and safe. Resistance will
take on a new national dimension,
Massoud is pointing to a possible rallying point for Afghans of all ethnic and sectarian backgrounds, and this may be a way out for the Afghans.
Already, we see many Pashtuns extricating themselves from the Taliban and their inhuman and un-Islamic practices. More and more people see the opportunism of former Khalqis who have joined the ranks of the Taliban on the ethnic and sectarian intolerance bandwagon. They see that the original closeness that UNOCAL and others showed to the Taliban was repudiated and the immediate gain that Pakistan and others were counting on did not materialize. Iran did not fall into the trap, and instead gained more influence in the new Central Asian states not only ruining Pakistan's chances of better relations with those states but deteriorating her image in the region altogether. More damage was done to Pakistan-Iran relationships. The Saudis signaled dissatisfaction with the Taliban leadership hard line position.
In short, Massoud is capitalizing on all of these developments, and he has a good chance of rallying the nationalistic forces around him.
The big problem is Massoud's own image which is probably tarnished irreparably from his association with those groups whose corruption, incompetence, and self-serving became the strong reasons for the creation of the Taliban in the first place. He himself has not escaped accusing fingers pointed at him. In his message, he acknow-ledges this, too.
If Afghans ponder their possibilities at this grave time, a turning point, they will see that they are presented with a clear choice: either use their own traditional mechanisms, something Massoud offers if he is supported, or look to Pakistani benevolence to shape their future. The choice between these two should be easy for every Afghan who is committed to his/her country's freedom.
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Condemning the Taliban regime and supporting a broad based government in Afghanistan.
Afghans lost their lives, was a key contribution to the ending of the
United States generally lost interest
Afghan factions were thus unable to
form a broad-based and representative
Afghanistan pledging itself to establish
a true Islamic government, disarm all
other factions, eliminate narcotics
cultivation, establish law and order,
terror, continued to expand its dom-
ination of more and more territory
ment itself has become more and more
militant and extreme in its actions and
its interpretation of Islamic principles;
leadership, has become increasingly
associated and deeply involved with
international terrorism including, but
not limited to, Osama bin Ladin, who
was responsible for the August 1998
attacks on United States embassies in
which the Taliban are associated are
not only focused on separatist activities
produced in Afghanistan is from areas
large portion of that heroin is sold on
who were involved in the World Trade
Central Intelligence Agency personnel
in Langley, Virginia, and the recent
bombings of United States embassies
initiative began in early 1997 and has
successfully held 3 major meetings,
approximately 200 Afghans in Bonn,
limited attack against terrorist bases
in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan on
terror and systematically abuse the
rights of all Afghans, especially
Sunni Muslim believers, especially
thousands of Pakistani Taliban have
creating a transborder movement
Whereas reports of the persecution of
religious minorities inside Pakistan
are a growing concern to Congress;
especially Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,
in addition to Russia and Iran have
voiced alarms at the fall of northern
areas of Afghanistan where there has
been almost no narcotics cultivation
and where all the major groups have
been interested in strong and close
relations with the United States;
vigorous support for efforts to form a
broad-based government based on the
several of whose members have been
reappraisal of over-all United States
neighbors; Now, therefore, be it
sentatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives and the Senate that--
publicly condemn the Taliban regime for its reprehensible atrocities against human rights, in particular women's rights, its embrace of international terrorism, and its willing itegration into a worldwide narcotics syndicate;
recognize that it will be better served by a comprehensive regional strategy that addresses Afghan issues rather than its current one that relies primarily on Pakistan;
explore its mutual interest regarding the danger of the Taliban with other coun-tries of the region;
grant diplomatic recognition to the Taliban or assist in any way its recog-nition in the United Nations but rather should support the inter-Afghan dialogue efforts to form a truly representative broad-based government;
should conduct a vulnerability assessment of the Taliban regime;
work to initiate through the United Nations Security Council a ban on all international commercial air travel to and from Taliban controlled Afghanistan;
on the Taliban regime to permit human-itarian supplies to be delivered without interference to all regions of Afghanistan;
consider those Afghans, especially known friends of the United States, fleeing political persecution from the Taliban regime to be refugee eligible for consider-ation for asylum;
should urge the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to protect the rights of Christ-ians and Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and should publish a special report to Cong-ress on the human rights situation in Pakistan, especially as it affects religious minorities; and
should report to the Congress concerning whether the Taliban, which provides a safe haven for Osama bin Ladin and other terrorist organizations as well as illicit drug monies which assist these terrorists, should be added to the list of designated foreign terrorist organizations.
Our heart-felt thanks to the Congress of the United States for considering the Resolution above
From: The Association of Peace and Democracy for Afghanistan
To: His Excellency, Kofi Annan, The United Nations Secretary General
At this painful junction, when the imposed and destructive war waged by the well-known, belligerent, and invading foreign agents have brought the valiant Afghan nation and the historic country of Afghanistan to the point of disintegration and extinction, and when all the civilized norms and relationships, as well as all windows of opportunity for dignified existence, a necessary corollary of present-day life, have been closed for the Afghans,
At a time when cruel and barbaric mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and rekindling of ethnic and sectarian enmities are not only endangering all of Afghanistan but also threatening all her neighbors and the whole region,
At this critical moment when meetings and talks among the high-ranking representatives of the eight (6+2 formula) involved and influencing countries including representatives from the United States and Russia will be held in New York under the auspices of the United Nations,
Considering the fact that the victimized Afghan nation, a longtime, faithful UN member and a firm supporter of its principles, through these twenty years and especially within the last six years, has been impatiently waiting for an effective and serious initiative from this organization towards a just and lasting peace,
Keeping in mind the bitter truth that the continuation of the present conditions is bringing most of the occupied regions of Afghanistan closer to and under the influence of active spread of terrorism as well as production and smuggling of narcotics,
The Association for Peace and Democracy for Afghanistan urgently demands that the United Nations, specifically the Security Council, act im-mediately, just as it has acted in the case of Bosnia, Angola, etc., to bring a stop to war and blood-shed, the inhumane and barbaric ethnic cleansing, and sectarian conflict with the aim of bringing social justice and of carrying out measures that would bring the war criminals to trial for their crimes against humanity.
The APDA demands immediate attention to the atrocious conditions in Afghanistan and wants the World Body to act in consonance with its stated principles and its charter to help this member nation see peace and tranquility in place of war and extinction.
Finally, it is hoped that with such proper initiatives, an opportunity will be opened for the Afghan nation's knowledgeable and peace-loving elements, circles that are committed to human rights and the formation of a broad-based government, to act and decide on measures that will move the country away from the current dangerous course.
Mr. Hafiz Baghban writes for Afghan Political Discussion Forum, 10 Oct.'98
| There is no room for the word "Secure" in the
title of Barry Bearak's "Special Report" on Afghanistan. A Truthful Yet Deceptive Report "Afghans Ruled by the Taliban: Poor, Isolated, but Secure" is the title of Barry Bearak's special report on Afghanistan on the front page of the Saturday, October 10, 1998, issue of The New York Times. Reading this title, one thinks, "How can a nation be 'poor," "isolated", and secure at the same time? The magnitude and variety of the contradictions increase as one reads beyond the first paragraph of his report. "Kabul's largest children's hospital, like Afghanistan itself, is a study in Want. X-ray machines have no film. The Burn Unit has been shut for lack of gauze and ointments. When a child needs a shot, parents are sent to the bazaar to buy the medication and a syringe. No records are kept of the 500 youngsters treated each day as outpatients, for this requires stationery and there is a shortage of paper and pens," writes Mr. Bearak. Mr. Bearak, I believe in the truth of every misery that you report in the previous paragraph, but I see no security for the Afghans in these miseries. If you do, share your knowledge with other anxious Afghans and me impatiently waiting to learn about it. "In the neonatal unit, a baby born two months prematurely was fighting for his life last week in a faulty 32-year-old incubator with a cracked glass casing. A few rooms away were four new machines ready to be uncrated, but no one knew how to use them. The day after the equipment arrived, the relief agency that bought them was expelled by the army of the Taliban...With it went the workers who knew how to operate the incubators," adds Mr. Bearak. Mr. Bearak, I assume that the premature baby fighting for his life in the faulty incubator, based on your report, was an Afghan. Where is the security for this defenseless creature? Mr. Bearak continues, "...with winter approaching and hunger already here, it is hard to tell if Kabul is a the cliff's edge of a catastrophe or merely in the throes of severe hardship, something to which residents are sadly accustomed. The international agencies have been supplying clean water and fresh bread and medical necessities--services that benefited 400,000 people, a third of the city's population. There is no one to take their place. Government employees have not been paid in two months.Beggars are everywhere. Old men and children station themselves inside potholes, serving as human markers for dangerous ruts in the roads, hoping grateful drivers will toss them a tip. Do you see security, Mr. Bearak, in working two months and not being paid? Do you see security in serving as a human marker or in begging for a few pennies? "We have been surveying the hospitals and their shelves are empty," said Christopher Luedi of the Red Cross, one of the few relief groups still working here. "It is hard to see the impact of this on the population because many people have simply stopped going to see the doctors. What is the use? Many are just told to go away." "The prominant place of 'secure' in the title of your report may prove deceptive to many who may not read beyond the title. The Taliban have reproduced Hell for Afghanistan and Afghans in this world. Your use of "secure" in "Afghans Ruled by Taliban: Poor, Isolated, but Secure" may create a false impression among the readers, and reduce the value of your otherwise very objective report. |
The Plight of Women Under the Taliban Rule -- PHR Press Releases
We have been concerned about the plight of women under the Taliban rule for some time now, but the coverage we have seen in the media have mostly turned out to be making excuses for the Taliban rule under the name of "purist Islam" or traditional ways of the Afghans.
The Islamic organizations in the U.S., often critical of "wrong kind" of freedoms given to women in Western societies, and concentrating on the importance of Hijab, totally misrepresent the real issues involved in this most important area.
At the outset, it must be said resoundingly that what the Taliban, under the influence of Pakistani religious madrasas, the reactionary Jamiat ul-olama, and other narrow minded Pakistani circles, have brought upon the women of Afghanistan is neither Islamic nor in line with Afghan traditions. Most people in the West get the wrong impression that the women in Afghan-
istan are simply being "asked" to follow the imperatives of their religion. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Others, concerned about the moral breakdown and deterioration of "family
values" in the West, feel that the Taliban movement is bringing harsh punish-ments as "an eye for an eye" rule which
would be good for the society's welfare. Again, they are mistaken.
Unfortunately, some Afghan intellectuals, being partial to the Taliban for ethnic or sectarian reasons, have muddled the issues by insisting that the Afghan women are "safer " under the Taliban rule. (See Hafiz Baghban's criticism of the misleading title in Barry Bearak's NYT article in this issue.)
However, several positive steps in the direction of revealing the truth of the situation have been taken recently which we would like to bring to the attention of our readers.
The Shared Recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Physicians for Human Rights, the dedicated, selfless group that in the words of Boston Globe has brought honor to the medical profession has been in the forefront of the crusade against the intolerable human rights abuses of women and minorities in Afghanistan.
Our own Zohra Rasekh, M.P.H., who spent 3 months in Afghanistan in the spring of 1998, and who as the target of Taliban anger, narrowly escaped a beating or worse in their hands, in press conferences and publications, called attention to the extensive health and human rights survey she conducted for the Physicians for Human Rights.
The most publicized of these was the press conference convened by Mavis Leno and the Feminist majority Foundation in New York in which Zohra Rasekh emphasized the PHR concern that "there has been no effective pressure placed on the Taliban to dismantle its harsh restrictions against women."
"Afghanistan is a dying country in all aspects of the word. Access to health care for women is almost nonexistent. Malnutrition and mental illness are among the many on-going problems in the capital city of Kabul," said Rasekh.
The human rights organization has been so keenly aware of the true nature of Afghan problem that without mincing words and with courage has "called upon those nations in a position to influence Afghanistan (including the so-called Six Plus Two Group--United States, Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) to deny recognition to the Taliban as a govern-ment; to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all Afghan women in need; to deploy international human rights monitors to collect human rights information on the plight of women and minorities; to publicly call upon the government of Pakistan to end its support for the Taliban and immediately withdraw all military and intelligence personnel from Afghanistan." (Press Release in New York, October 21, 1998)
Consider the following excerpts from the survey of 160 women and accom-panying in-depth interviews with 40 women which show "how a society in which women played a prominent role in the health professions, in government, and in teaching, has been replaced by one where:"
women are regularly and brutally
beaten for walking on the street
without a male chaperone or
without a garment (burqa) that
covers their bodies from head to
toe;
women who once contributed to the
support of their families have
become destitute, and must now
beg because they are forbidden from working;
women cannot obtain health care from many facilities and cannot be examined by a male doctor without a chaperone; yet female doctors and nurses are severely restricted from practicing, and many have fled the country;
and
schools for women and girls have
closed their doors, with the exception of Qur'anic training for girls under eight, leaving the female population hopeless about their futures. (PHR Press Release, Aug. 5, 1998)
The 109-page report, The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan "provides a first-ever opportunity for a broad range of Afghan women, whose voices have been silenced by the regime, to describe in detail their health and human rights concerns under Taliban rule since September 1996 when the group's forces took control of Kabul." The findings were published in the August 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Alarming statistics, as much as 87% decrease in access to health services, and large scale general deterioration in women and children's health have been reported.
Despite all these, the terrorist Taliban regime uses every conceivable tactic to draw attention away from its crimes against the people of Afghan-istan, especially minorities, women and children. It is calling the concern of the international community un-Islamic propaganda and uses threats against international humanitarian aid workers and journalists.
Afghanistan Voice declares categorically that it is high time this blight be confronted forcefully for the sake of the Afghan people and for the sake of the future of our word.
Contacts Barbara Ayotte (617) 695-0041, Day (617) 776-8020, Eve and Holly Burkhalter (202) 547-9881, Day (202) 547-8304, Eve
The Press Release lists (617) 695-0041 for copies of the Report.
The Paperback, The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan , Sept. 1998, 200 pp. is $10.00 plus $3.00 postage in the U.S. ISBN: 1-879707-25-X
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