A periodical on human rights and civil society Special issue on women 4th Year, Issues 23-24, April 2012 Website: http://armanshahropenasia.wordpress.com/ E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: [email protected] Facebook Armanshahr Publishing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Armanshahr.Publishing Armanshahr Foundation Armanshahr Foundation is an independent, not for profit citizen organisation based in Kabul and is not affiliated with any economic, political, religious, ethnic, groups or governments. The Foundation’s mission is to create proper forums to ensure citizen social demand for democracy, human rights, justice and rule of law and to create through cultural manifestations and publications a broad constituency of well-in- formed citizens. Armanshahr Foundation also actively promotes reflection and debate both inside Afghanistan, trans-regionally and internationally with the goal of ensuring solidarity, progress and safeguarding peace. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of the document can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. Some of the items and articles that are published in each issue of “Armanshahr” from other sources are intended to inform our readers, but their contents or positions do not necessarily reflect Armanshahr’s positions. Armanshahr, a periodical on human rights and civil society Issues 23-24 (Year IV) – On Women April 2012 Circulation: 20,000 All rights are reserved for the publisher. Website: http://armanshahropenasia.wordpress.com/ E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: [email protected] Facebook Armanshahr Publishing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Armanshahr.Publishing In this issue: Women’s Rights: • Historical suffering women & impact of political control their participation – Sima Samar p 5 • HRDs & women facing Taleban-type and Western fundamentalism! – MP Fawzia Koofi p 7 • Discrimination against women’s participation – Herat Prosecutor Maria Bashir p 9 • Ministry of Women’s Affairs has lowest budget– Deputy Minister Mostafavi p 10 • AIHRC’s press release on Ulema Council’s resolution p 13 • Joint statement of 50% Campaign & 21 groups and networks for 8 March p 13 • Statement of CSHRO for 8 March p 15 Reports• Afghanistan of Violence government against reports Women: on CEDAW p 15 • UN: Elimination of Violence against Women Law has a long way to go p 16 • HRW: Hundreds of women jailed for ‹moral crimes’ p 18 Armanshahr• AHRDO: Afghan Public women Debates: after Taleban; Will history repeat itself? p 19 • 86th public debate: Present and future of women in Afghanistan p 20 • 6 years of public debates about women: Women, telling the untold p 22 Human Rights Violations: • Ulema Council’ s resolution about women p 23 • AIHRC: US sent detainees to Afghan prisons known for torture despite moratorium p 24 • The culture war over Afghan women is heating up p 25 • President Karzai and the ‹secondary› sex p 26 • The NYT reports on slavery in Afghanistan p 27 • Amnesty International: Death penalty in Afghanistan 2011 p 28 Women’s• Human rights Analysis violations news p 28 • Freedom of societies depends on liberation of women from captivity – Guissou Jahangiri p 31 Women• People: actorsin Culture of change and Arts: p 33 Books:• On a decade of women’s cinema – interview with Roya Sadat p 35 • Armanshahr: Six years of publishing on women’s issues p 37 • Other articles in the Dari version of Armanshahr p 37 • Armanshahr/Open Asia publications p 38 Exclusive interview Historical suffering of women and impact of political control on their participation Jawad Darwaziyan Sima Samar. An interview with 1 head of AIHRC Excerpts On women’s participation: taken from the Dari version: chador around their head, but they can wear long sleeves and their legs can be bare up to the knee. In Bangladesh, women’s stomach Womens Rights I have always called for can be seen when they wear the sari. In my women’s participation. When opinion, traditions are mixed with the religion the Americans began bombing in every country to control the human beings. Afghanistan, I was in Pakistan Unfortunately, that is a serious problem in and told the UN representative Afghanistan. for Afghanistan in Islamabad that women must certainly Religion was abused under Amanullah Khan take part, otherwise it will be in relation to hijab; it was used against the very difficult to find a place Russians. Culture, traditions and religion for them later. When I became were used against women to marginalise minister of women’s affairs, them. In most humanitarian projects during we did not have anything, the war (both during the Jihad and resistance neither a place nor equipment. and in the Taleban era), women were The present building of the forgotten. Some institutions were active in Ministry belonged to the the field of education, but not education Ministry of Labour and Social for girls! The World Food Programme Affairs at the time and it took distributed food to a number of religious two months to take the empty schools, where there were no girls at all. You andOn the almost failure ruined to resolvebuilding. the would not see weak participation of women problems of women since in any advanced society, including the ones the early 19th century: that relatively comply with human rights and women’s rights. We still have the highest rate of illiteracy. This In the most advanced countries was one of the reasons why the war has been of the world, women’s issues prolonged and is very brutal. If you look at come up during the elections the internal conflicts throughout the world, and are forgotten afterwards. most countries in war have either low rate of All the means are used to illiteracyOn abuse or of high women rate ofunder poverty. the Mujahedin: control half the population; it can be the hijab, culture, traditios, religion etc. We The women’s issue has been abused from the notice those problems in the Taraki era to Dr Najib’s era and afterwards. Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, We can only fulfil women’s rights when Iran and India. Other problems women are empowered to achieve the such as the low level of literacy rights. If men join us to defend our rights, and poverty also play major they would be defending their own dignity. roles. Hijab has different That is why governments in countries like interpretations in the Islamic Afghanistan have responsibility to prepare countries. For example, in the the way to advance, e.g. access to education. Sudan, women must have a It is true that more than 6 million children go 1- Ms. Sima Samar is the chairperson of the Afghanistan to school in Afghanistan, but the majority of Independent Human Rights Commission. For her biog- raphy, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_Samar children who have access to schools are boys. This shows the priority that parents give to Wives of political leaders are still hiding boys over girls. Secondly, when the school is at home. We cannot solve this problem so located two hours away from the village, the long as the leadership lacks the required families would send the boys to the school commitment. For example, most of them do but not the girls, because boys are less likely not allow their wives to be photographed for to fall victim to sexual abuse. My personal election cards. experience was that whenever the regional The other example of zealotry in our society officials or religious leaders allowed their was the Law for the Personal Status of the daughters to school, other people followed Shi’ite and extensive problems are created. suit.On assessment of opportunities provided to human rights and women’s Now, the Law for Elimination of Violence organisations in the past decade: against Women is facing problems in the 2012 Issues 23-24, April 4th Year, Parliament. They must chain other people in order to show their manliness and zealotry. What is considered as zealotry in Afghanistan Things have changed a lot in comparison isOn regarded AIHRC’s shameful work for in women: other countries. with 10 years ago. In the past and during 23 years of war, a girl would be killed for having been raped. A brother or a father who had We do not wish to prioritise a gender over killed his sister/daughter, would come to be another, but women’s rights have been violated known as a zealous and courageous person, more, therefore we have a women’s section. but today the cases are exposed and justice is We have endeavoured and will continue to demanded. Before, nobody would interfere, endeavour to make the laws in Afghanistan nobody would report to the police and compatible with international conventions everybody would show them respect. and law and human dignity. The commission We have a short report that is the outcome has also worked on implementation of the Armanshahr of interviews with 12 women. They all laws. There are still some people above the 23-24 come from the same locality and are totally law in Afghanistan and take the liberty to illiterate. They said, “Violence against us has speak above the law. Examples are some of been reduced, because there is an authority the people in the Ulema Council who take the we can go to,” even though none of them has liberty to impose their own unconstitutional 6 referred to the AIHRC or other authorities to demandsOn transitional on other justice people! and Conflict complain. Mapping Report: In comparison with the protests against the Ulema Council’s resolution nowadays, there The conflict Mapping report was assigned was hardly any resistance, when the issue of to the AIHRC under the government’s hijab came up in the mujahedin era.