Women's rights in Afghanistan

Sat Mar 17 15:28:17 UTC 2001

PLEASE SPEND TIME READING THIS
Subject: Fw: Women's Rights- Petition

Date sent: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 16:13:13 +0200
Organisation: CAMA TRADING
This is an actual petition, and "signatures" will be lost if you drop  the
line.
I don't know if this is going to help but take 3 minutes out of  your life
to do
your part. Madhu, the government of Afghanistan, is waging a war upon women.
Since the Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear burqua and have
been beaten and stoned in public for not having the proper attire, even if
this
means simply not having the mesh covering in front of their eyes. One woman
was
beaten to death by an angry mob of fundamentalists for accidentally exposing
her
arm (!) while she was driving. Another was stoned to death for trying to
leave
the country with a man that was not a relative. Women are not allowed to
work or
even go out in public without a male relative;professional women such as
professors, translators, doctors,lawyers, artists and writers have been
forced
from their jobs  and stuffed into their homes. Homes where a woman is
present
must have their windows painted so that she can never be seen by outsiders.
They
must  wear silent shoes so that they are never heard. Women live in fear of
their lives for the slightest misbehaviour. Because they cannot work, those
without male relatives or husbands are either starving to death or begging
on
the street, even if they hold Ph.D.s. Depression is becoming so widespread
that
it has reached emergency  levels. There is no way in such an extreme Islamic
society to know the suicide rate with certainty, but relief workers are
estimating that the suicide rate among women must be extraordinarily high:
those
who cannot find proper medication and treatment for severe depression and
would
rather take  their lives than live in such conditions. At one of the rare
hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying
motionless  on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak,
eat, or
do anything, but slowly wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen
crouched in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in  fear.
When
what little medication that is left finally runs out, one doctor is
considering
leaving these women in front of the president's residence as  a form of
protest.
It is at the point where the term "human rights violations" has become an
understatement. Husbands have the power of life and death over their women
relatives, especially their wives, but an angry mob has just as  much right
to
stone or beat a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of flesh or
offending them in the slightest way. Women enjoyed relative freedom: to
work, to
dress generally as they wanted, and to drive and appear in public alone
until
only 1996. The rapidity of this transition is  the main reason for the
depression and suicide; women who were once  educators or doctors or simply
used
to basic human freedoms are now severely  restricted and treated as subhuman
in
the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam.  It is not their tradition or
'culture,' but it is alien to them, and it is extreme even for those
cultures
where fundamentalism is the rule. Everyone has a right to a tolerable human
existence, even if they are women in a Muslim country. If we can threaten
military force in Kosovo in the name of human rights for the  sake of ethnic
Albanians, citizens of the world can certainly express peaceful outrage at
the
oppression,  murder and injustice committed against women by the Taliban.

STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of women
in Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves action by the
UnitedNations and that the current situation overseas will not be tolerated.
Women's Rights is not a small issue anywhere, and it is UNACCEPTABLE for
women in 2000 to be treated as unhuman and as so much property. Equality
and human decency is a fundamental RIGHT, not a freedom to be granted,
whether one lives in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

1) Giuliana D. Black, Daly City, CA, USA
2) Mariam Nayiny, Palo Alto, CA, USA
3) Sunaina Gulati-Ruh, Palo Alto, CA USA
4) Megan McCaslin, Palo Alto, CA USA
5). Blake Hallanan, San Francisco, Ca. USA
6) Kit Henderson, Sacramento, CA USA
7) Kara Myers, San Francisco, CA
8) Ellen Tilden, San Fransisco, CA
9) Vanessa Ross, San Francisco, CA
10) Jenna Shaw- Battista, San Francisco, CA
11) Jeanne Racik, Berkeley, CA
12) Julie Silas, Oakland, CA
13) Renee Longstreet, Tarzana, CA
14) Susan Johnson, Encino, CA
15) Kenneth Johnson, Encino, CA
16) Terri Treas, Los Angeles, CA
17) Amy Retzinger, North Hollywood, CA
18) Babette Crooms, Los Angeles, CA
19) Olivia Kienzel; Santa Barbara, CA
20) Rebecca Longworth, New York, NY
21) Kelly J. Williams, Chester, VA
22) Audrey W. Bunch, Elizabeth City, NC
23) Frances G. Shannonhouse, Elizabeth City, NC
24) Sharolyn M. Herring, Elizabeth City, NC
25) Michael W. Christol, Owensboro, Ky
26) Damon K. Christol, Louisville, Ky
27) Wendy D. Patton, Owensboro, Ky
28) Judy W. Christol, Owensboro, Ky
29) John Cole, Evansville, IN
30) Donna Owen, Los Angeles, CA
31) Elizabeth Carbe', Los Angeles, CA
32) Jean-Pierre Durand, Los Angeles, CA
33) Rich Eames, Los Angeles, CA
34) David Witham, Long Beach, CA
35) Otmaro Ruiz, Santa Clarita, CA
36) Robin Wright, Chatsworth, CA
37) Maria Martinez, Chatsworth, CA
38) Robert Kyle, Altadena, CA
39) Leslie Baker, Los Angeles, CA
40) Joe Weinroth. Los Angeles, CA
41) Bob Chambers, Northridge, CA
42) Deborah Beck, Santa Monica, CA
43) Patty Mattson, Hurst, Texas
44) Michael J. McCaffry, Rohnert Park, CA
45) Alice Yucht, Highland Park, NJ
46) Janice Levetan, Atlanta, GA
47) Debbie Adelman, Marietta, GA
48) Harriet Granfield, NYC, NY
49) Bara S. Rosenheck, West Orange, NJ
50) Enid Handler, Pittsboro, NC
51) Gabrielle Falk
52) Sabine Schipper, Haddonfield,NJ
53) Helen Fenwick, West New York, NJ
54) Matt Marks, Nottingham, UK
55] Claire Thacker, Leeds, UK
56) Claire Malcolm, Newcastle, UK
57) Carolyne Redmond, Newcastle, UK.
58) Megan Hitchin, London, UK
60) Kathleen Smith, London, UK
61) Kathryn Nunn,Milton Keynes UK
62) Daphne Williams, Milton Keynes, UK
63) Pauline Barnes, Milton Keynes, UK
64) Elizabeth Nash, Notthingham, UK
65) Zoe Bennett Moore, Cambridge, UK
66) Chris Wright, Cambridge, UK
67) Penny Flynn, Cambridge, UK
68) Laurence Biggs, Codicote, Herts, UK
69) Eleanor Smith, Codicote, Herts, UK
70) Nick Scott , Ryde , Isle of Wight , UK
71) Craig Fullard, Tipton, West Midlands, UK
72) Annette Dent, Sedgley, West Midlands. UK
73) Fr Allan Buik, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent.UK
74) Wendy Draper, Radlett, Herts, UK
75) Thurston Riehl, Georgetown, Guyana
76) Revd. Russ Naylor
77) Revd Wesley Fairhurst
78) Revd Alistair Newton
79) Revd. Michael Williams
80) Lisa Cooper Newcastle-under-Lyme UK
81) Jeremy Cooper Newcastle-under-Lyme UK
82) Ian W Wildgoose Bakewell UK
83) Kathy Wildgoose Bakewell UK
84) Sue James Ballina Austrlia
85) Richard James Ballina Austrlia
86) Troy Donockley York UK
87) Terri Donockley York UK
88) Mick Phythian, York, UK
89) Jane Phythian, York, UK
90) Robert Ashby, London, UK
91) Richard Paterson, Caerphilly, UK
92) Caroline Eayrs. Wrexham, UK
93) Madeleine Eayrs. New York, USA
94) Marina Bissone. Paris, FRANCE
95) Daisy Meyrick, Manchester, UK
96) Sophie Wilcox, Manchester, UK
97) Pippa Dalton, London, UK
98) Peter Kennedy, Nairobi, Kenya
99) Patricia Kennedy, Nairobi, Kenya
100) Caroline Mather, Nairobi, Kenya
101) Sally Mullens, Shimoni, Kenya
102) Steve Mullens, Shimoni Kenya
103) Jennie Koornhof, Wilderness, South Africa
104) Anton Koornhof, Wilderness, South Africa
105) Otto L. Kossar, Sedgefield, South Africa
106) Barbara Borgman, Gainesville, FL
107) Carolyn Shaffer, Miami, Florida
l08) Elizabeth Shaffer,Albuquerque,NM
109)Cheryl Kyle, San Francisco, CA
110) Karen Royce, Greenwich, CT
111) Barbara Oppedisano, Cos Cob, CT
112) Kathleen Burgweger, Cos Cob, CT
113)Miriam Mennin, Cos Cob, CT
114) Maureen Baker, Rockland, Maine
115) Victor O'Beirne, Rockland, ME
116) Alexandra Caponigro, Cushing, ME
117) John Paul Caponigro, Cushing, ME
118) Sarah Szwajkos, West Rockport, ME
119) Alicia dePatsy, Newcastle, ME
120) dominic dePatsy, Newcastle, ME
121) Kathy Tayman, Portland, ME
122)Jennifer Hutchins, Portland, ME
123)Heather Hutchins, Portland, ME.
124) Angela Milardo, Boston, MA
125) Melanie Pursel, Bowie, MD
126) Katherine Thompson, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
127) Tanya Marshall, County Durham, UK.
128) Tony Edwards County Durham UK
129) Peter Scargill, Northumberland UK
130) Jonathan Farmer, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
131) Joan Hankin, Co. Durham UK
132) Matthew Ellis, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
133) Brian Hankin, Co. Durham UK
134) Julie Hankin, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
135) Fiona Kay, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
136) Warren Cowell, London, UK
137) Mikey Benn, London UK
138) Laurie Gordon, Quibec,Canada
139) Krassy Halatchev, Quibec,Canada
140) Norman Birman, Montrial,Quibec,Canada
141) Charlotte Birman, Montrial,Quibec,Canada
142) Myrna Moffat, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada
143) Sarah Moffat, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada
144) Don Moffat, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada
145) David Bird, Baie d'Urfe, Quebec, Canada
146) Ngaio Richards, Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada
147) Janelle Kennedy, Vegreville, Alberta, Canada
147) Josie Stephens, Antigonish, Nava Scotia, Canada
148) Gerald Trites, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
149) Christian Bellavance, Toronto, Canada

COPY text of this email on to a new message, put your
name at the bottom of the names list and forward it to
everyone on your distribution lists. If you receive
this list with more than 300 names on it, please
e-mail a copy of it to:
mailto:sarabande at brandeis.edu
sarabande at brandeis.edu <
Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not kill
the
petition. Thank you!

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20010317/1aa54882/attachment.htm>