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The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women's Rights

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The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women's Rights Afghanistan The “Ten-Dollar Talib” HUMAN and Women’s Rights RIGHTS WATCH Afghan Women and the Risks of Reintegration and Reconciliation The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women’s Rights Afghan Women and the Risks of Reintegration and Reconciliation Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-658-9 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org July 2010 1-56432-658-9 The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women’s Rights Afghan Women and the Risks of Reintegration and Reconciliation Maps ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Summary ...........................................................................................................................................3 Key Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 10 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 11 I. Background .................................................................................................................................. 16 Taliban Abuses Against Women and Girls 1996-2001 ................................................................. 16 II. Life Today for Women and Girls in Taliban-Controlled Areas ......................................................... 24 Attacks and Threats Against Women Working Outside the Home ................................................ 24 Night Letters .............................................................................................................................. 25 Loss of Employment ................................................................................................................... 27 Attacks on Girls’ Education ........................................................................................................ 30 Silencing Women in Politics ....................................................................................................... 33 III. Reintegration, Reconciliation, and Rights ................................................................................... 35 Background: From Targets to Talks ............................................................................................. 35 The Rise of the “Ten-Dollar Talib” ............................................................................................... 38 The Swat Valley Deal .................................................................................................................. 39 Ensuring Women’s Participation ................................................................................................ 39 Weakness of Constitutional Guarantees for Women’s Rights in Reconciliation and Reintegration ....... 42 Additional Guarantees Needed to Protect Women’s Rights ......................................................... 45 No Peace Without Justice .......................................................................................................... 46 Risks of Rewarding Abusive Insurgents with Political Office ....................................................... 49 Reconciliation and the Amnesty Law .......................................................................................... 51 Reconciliation and War Criminals ............................................................................................... 54 IV. Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 59 Reintegration and Reconciliation ............................................................................................... 59 Women’s Representation .......................................................................................................... 60 Attacks on Women in Public Life ............................................................................................... 62 Attacks on Girls’ Access to Education ........................................................................................ 62 Transitional Justice .................................................................................................................... 63 Governance Reform ................................................................................................................... 63 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... 65 Maps Afghanistan. © 2010 John Emerson/Human Rights Watch 1 Human Rights Watch | July 2010 © 2010 Giulio Frigieri/Human Rights Watch The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women’s Rights 2 SUMMARY Human Rights Watch | July 2010 We are still under the Taliban and our lives are limited to our house walls… We cannot work. We cannot go out to visit our relatives without our husbands. My daughters cannot go to school… because we were threatened, they left school. What hopes and wishes of leading a normal and peaceful life can I have? Fatima N., central province, February 18, 2010 I call upon you again that is my brother, my dear, Talib jan (dear), this is your land. Come back! I will blame myself if it is my mistake in some way, but if it is your mistake, I will not blame you. President Hamid Karzai, June 2, 20101 Who suffers first from the war? It is the Afghan women. It is the Afghan women who lose their houses, who lose their husbands who bring the food home. That’s why women don’t oppose reintegration and reconcil- iation, because if that will bring peace then why not? But if the government is going to do reintegration and reconciliation overnight… then of course things will get worse for Afghan women. Samira Hamidi, Executive Director, Afghan Women’s Network, Kabul, February 14, 2010 THE “TEN-DOLLAR TALIB” AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS For Afghan women these are anxious times, caught between war and the prospect of a foreboding peace. Women and girls are paying a heavy price in the conflict areas of Afghanistan: killed and wounded by insurgents and airstrikes; local codes of honor violated by intrusive “night raids” by interna- tional soldiers; their movement sharply hindered by insecurity; and for many the loss of their families’ breadwinners. Insurgents regularly deny Afghan girls the right to education via attacks on schools and threats against teachers or students. They deny women the right to pursue their own livelihoods, attacking or threatening women working outside of the home. 4 The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women’s Rights Afghan women want an end to the conflict. But as the impact their lives. After the fall of the Taliban, many found that prospect of negotiations with the Taliban draws closer, many basic rights long repressed had been restored. They resumed women fear that they may also pay a heavy price for peace. their jobs, sent their daughters to school, voted, and some Reconciliation with the Taliban, a group synonymous with even went into local politics. Since the resurgence of Taliban misogynous policies and the violent repression of women, and other militant groups took root, from 2005-2006 onwards, raises serious concerns about the possible erosion of recently women’s rights came quickly under attack again. gained rights and freedoms. The prospect of deals with Hezb- Many of the women we spoke to had received threatening i-Islami (Gulbuddin), which is also known for its repressive phone calls and letters. Some had to take their daughters out attitudes towards women, involves similar concerns. Attempts of school. Many have felt forced to stop work and reduce their by some promoting negotiations to redefine the insurgency as movements. primarily “non-ideological,” which ignores the experiences of women living in Taliban-controlled areas, have exacerbated For instance, Asma A. taught in a girls school in a southern these anxieties. province, until she received a threatening letter from the Taliban, which stated: Nine years after the military overthrow of the Taliban government, the government of Afghanistan under President We warn you to leave your job as a teacher as soon as Hamid Karzai is promoting negotiations with the Taliban possible otherwise we will cut the heads off your children and leaders and other insurgent factions. Facing a conflict with no shall set fire to your daughter. end in sight, an Afghan public increasingly disaffected by Freshta S. from a south eastern province, told us: thousands of civilian casualties, and pressure for an exit strategy from troop-contributing countries, the government In my village the Taliban distributed ‘night letters’ [letters and
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