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Self-immolation among Afghan Women (horrible photos)
TrendNews: The six-year-old, Samiullah, a resident of the provincial capital Aibak was raped by 18-year-old Muhammad Ullah on Friday after the teenager lured Samiullah into his garden with offerings of fruit, the head of the province’s criminal branch, Habib-ul-Rahman Saighani, said. more...
The Nation Magazine: Seven years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, our devastated country is still chained to the fundamentalist warlords and the Taliban; the country is like an unconscious body breathing its last. The US government and its allies exploited the plight of Afghan women to legitimate its so-called "war on terror" and attack on Afghanistan. The medieval and brutal regime of the Taliban was toppled, but instead of relying on Afghan people, the United States and its allies pushed us from the frying pan to the fire and brought the infamous criminals of the "Northern Alliance" into power--sworn enemies of democracy and human rights, who are as dark-minded, evil, anti-women and cruel as the Taliban. more...
BBC News: In valleys and villages across Badakshan, a province located in the Hindu Kush mountain range, such stories are common. Maternal mortality, when a woman dies during or shortly after pregnancy, is believed to be the highest in the world here. According to statistics published by the UN in 2002, the province had the highest rate of mortal maternity ever recorded. more...
The Sunday Times: Nobody seriously thinks the Taliban could take Kabul. The capital is surrounded by mountains, has only a few routes in and remained almost untouched during the Russian occupation. Afghanistan has more than 71,000 foreign troops under the leadership of Nato and the US, neither of which can contemplate defeat. It is hard to find any Afghan families who hanker after a Taliban regime that banned everything from girls’ schools to television and regarded public amputations and executions as entertainment. However, the fear among Kabulis is palpable. “There is a sense of dread of return to the dark days of the past,” said a western diplomat. more...
Canwest News Service: As Afghanistan's most senior and most famous female police officer, based in the country's ultra-conservative south, Lieut.-Col. Malalai Kakar knew she was a marked woman. On Sunday, two days after taking part in a Canadian event to mark the end of Islam's holiest month, insurgents grimly confirmed her fears, shooting Kakar dead as she left her house. more...
BBC Persian (Translated by RAWA): The police of Kabul say that they have arrested seven people for having raped a 12-year old girl in the city. The command police of Kabul said that the matter of the rape of the girl had been reported to them two days earlier and the girl had claimed that she had been raped by twelve men. more...
The National: RAWA was founded in 1977 by a group of female Afghan intellectuals with the aim of building a government along democratic and secular lines. In the ensuing decades it has protested against foreign occupation and religious extremism, while carrying out such social work as running schools and medical services for refugees who fled to Pakistan. RAWA has never been able to operate openly in this deeply conservative society. Its leader was assassinated in the late 1980s and members now believe US-backed warlords and officials are among those who more...
IOM: Trafficking in persons is a crime that can impair a personality and even destroy a human life and it gravely affects today’s Afghanistan as a source, transit and destination country. The traffickers ruthlessly exploit men, women and children by violating their basic human rights and this modern-day form of slavery continues to thrive with impunity. more...
CounterPunch.com: The antiwar movement in the U.S. can no longer afford to ignore the war in Afghanistan without fading into irrelevance. The original aims of the war on terror have been resuscitated, and as Obama has repeatedly emphasized in recent months, its “central front” is shifting back to Afghanistan. The Afghan people have endured seven long years of misery thanks to U.S. occupation, and it is high time to take a principled stand against U.S. imperial aims in Central Asia. The war on Afghanistan is no more justified than the war on Iraq. more...
The Washington Post: Rape is an endemic problem in Afghanistan. Whether women are forced into arranged marriages as child brides, or attacked by family members or local warlords, they are often held responsible for their own victimization. Afghan culture views a woman's virginity as sacrosanct, but Afghan law rarely gives her the chance to defend herself. Many women are thrown out of their families following, or even jailed. more...
Reuters: Relatives of Afghans killed in a US-led coalition raid in western Herat province have offered to dig up graves to support claims of large-scale civilian deaths. The Aug. 22 air strike in Shindand district has outraged Afghans and opened a rift between coalition forces on the one hand and the Afghan government and the UN on the other, which both say that more than 90 civilians were killed. more...
IRIN News: More than six years after the ousting of the Taliban regime in 2001 when all women were denied the right to work and education, many women suffer domestic and social violence, discrimination and lack of access to unbiased justice and other services, women's rights activists say. At least 184 cases of self-immolation were registered by the AIHRC in 2007 against 106 in 2006. more...
Global Research: It is difficult to find out what is really going on in Afghanistan. The focus of the mass media is almost entirely on the military activities of the Canadian and NATO forces. There is absolutely no coverage of political developments. The news on the economy is limited to the state of the poppy industry. This is no accident. The North American media, including the CBC, has strongly supported the U.S./NATO strategy and the administration of President Hamid Karzai. Contrary to the mainstream message, things are not going well. more...
PAN (Translated by RAWA): Seegha (temporary marriage) has made several women in Daikundi province fate-less. Shiite scholars in Afghanistan say that according to Jafari Fiqh, temporary marriage is legal and the wife and husband can be separated after the fixed period, or change the temporary marriage to a permanent one. The scholars say that the husband and wife can marry and live together for a day or till whenever they want; but after the end of the fixed period the legal relationship ends and the wife is illegal to the husband. more...
RAWA News: The U.S. bombs struck a large gathering of people who had congregated in Azizabad to honor a local leader who had died months earlier. A resident, Fatima, 25, explained from her hospital bed in Herat, where she wept and cursed those who carried out the air strike. “We were holding a memorial service in our home,” she said, tears running down her face. “Suddenly the infidels attacked and I lost consciousness. When I came to, I was in hospital, and they told me that all of my family were dead and already buried. Was my two-year-old child a terrorist? Then am I not also a terrorist? Why did they let me live?” more...
PAN (Translated by RAWA): In the present year, 47 cases of self-immolation have been reported in special burn hospital in Herat. Out of these, 42 of the cases had been death as a result of the burns. This shows the rise in the graph of self-immolation, compared to last year. Seema Shir Mohammadi said the reasons for self-immolation are domestic violence, lack of awareness of families about each others’ rights, poverty and unemployment. more...
IRIN: After Sierra Leone, Afghanistan has the worst maternal mortality rate in the world with 1,600 deaths for every 100,000 live births (at least 24,000 deaths annually), according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). Badakhshan has the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in the country. more...
New York Times: President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned on Saturday a coalition airstrike that he said killed up to 95 Afghans — including 50 children — in a village in western Afghanistan on Friday, and said his government would be announcing measures to prevent the loss of civilian life in the future. more...
Telegraph.co.uk: US-led coalition forces killed 76 civilians - including 50 women and 19 children - in a military operation yesterday, the Afghan government said. The attack, which included air strikes, took place in the Shindand district of Herat province in the west of Afghanistan and an investigation is now underway, its interior ministry said in a statement. more...
The Independent: Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah's medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man. more...
AFP: Three Western women aid workers and their Afghan driver were shot dead Wednesday by gunmen who fired numerous times into their vehicle near the capital Kabul, Afghan police and their organisation said. The killings, claimed by the insurgent Taliban, are the deadliest in years involving international aid workers. more...
AP via MSNBC: Rape — a crime long hidden in Afghanistan by victims fearing a life of scorn — is getting a public airing in this conservative Islamic country. In recent weeks, several outraged families have appeared on nightly news shows, demanding justice while sharing heartbreaking stories of sexual assaults on teenage daughters. more...
The Financial Times: The hospital that Amina had been checked into a few days before is, by Afghan standards, one of the best in the country, built with international money, staffed by foreign- trained doctors and kitted out with modern equipment. She could not hope for better treatment. more...
Quqnoos: An Afghan human rights organisation has said the increase in the number of child rapes may drag the country into anarchy. Child rapes have risen sharply in recent years, according to Afghanistan’s Human Rights Organisation (AHRO), which claims most of the sexual assaults are carried out by government officials and other powerful men. more...
AP: Wahid is one of 226 young children who live in Afghanistan's prisons, with mothers who are among the country's 304 incarcerated women. These children have committed no crime. But their mothers have decided prison is the best option for them in a poor, war-torn country where a safe, comfortable home is a rarity. more...
CounterPunch: I’m really not sure what Bush, Obama, and McCain mean when they say they want to win in Afghanistan. And, I'm not sure they know either. It's probably just a public-relations gimmick to sound “tough on terror.” But, judging from what we've seen, they seem to think that “winning” means killing every last “terrorist” in Afghanistan. That sort of thinking is based on false assumptions and it's an unattainable goal. more...
The Canadian Press: Girls as young as 11 are considered just old enough for a husband. Their parents collect lucrative $10,000 dowries from wealthy grooms-to-be, and these pre-teens are sent off to become housewives and start raising families. Last year 60 Kandahar girls sought to escape their fate through suicide, provincial officials say. Like Sher, many wound up as hospital burn victims after dousing themselves with gasoline and setting themselves ablaze. more...
World News Australia: A spokesman for Ghazni's governor, said the women, dressed in blue burqas, were shot and killed on Saturday just outside Ghazni city in central Afghanistan. He called the two "innocent local people." Taliban fighters told AP Television News the two were executed for allegedly running a prostitution ring catering to US soldiers and other foreign contractors at a US base in Ghazni city. more...
Times Online: An Afghan government investigation has concluded that 45 women and children and two men were killed when a US aircraft bombed a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan last Sunday. The nine-man investigation team appointed by the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, found that only civilians were hit during the airstrike. more...
MeriNews: Afghanistan has the highest rate of violence against women in the world. According to the ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghan women lack their primary necessities and are subject to extreme violence. Girls are usually married before their legal age. During the last six months more than 2000 cases of violence have been registered throughout the country. It is said that most cases of violence against women are not reported due to the traditional and cultural complexities. more...
(with photos and movie clip)Samia, victim of family violence in fundamentalists-dominated Afghanistan (with photos and movie clip)Afghan carpet weavers are unpaid slaves, rights activist says Being a writer -or woman- still dangerous in Afghanistan Female foe of warlords faces them in Afghan assembly Was Women's Vote a Roar, or a Whisper? The women of Afghanistan find a leader Afghan Woman Accused of Being U.S. Spy Is Killed Violence against women in Afghanistan remains dramatic – UN expert The Taleban may be gone, but the abuse of women goes on AI: Afghan Women Still Under Attack -- Systematic Failure to Protect Three Afghan women found dead with warning note A woman was stoned to death in Afghanistan Afghan women still in chains under Karzai Women Prisoners Complain of Bad Conditions and Sexual Abuse Access to Justice for Afghan Women 12-years old Rahima was gang-raped by warlords Afghan women offer to replace hostages Female election worker commits suicide after rape attempt on her (with photo) Afghan Women No Better Off; US accused of not fulfilling promises Painful story of the Herati shelter girls Afghan rights advocate expects death A populist hero emerges from under the rule of the gun Blast Kills 2 Afghan Women On Election Workers' Bus Afghan Schoolgirls Poisoned Afghan province bans women performers on TV, radio Self-Immolation Of Women On The Rise In Western Provinces Afghanistan's Supreme Court protests women singing on TV Afghanistan's Women after 'Liberation' Woman delegate almost expelled from Afghan assembly Thousands of married Afghan women were expelled from school Amnesty International: Constitution fails women Amnesty International: No justice and security for women Apathy of Afghan women after Taliban AFGHANISTAN: Report exposes continuing human rights abuses HRW Report Details Threats to Women's Rights, Freedom of Expression Afghan women: Fighting for the right to sing Eve Ensler: This is Most Fragile Time for Afghanistan "Climate of fear" rules Afghanistan, Girl's education at risk Afghanistan: the Taliban's smiling face Afghan poor sell daughters as brides Why burqas still stifle Afghan women Afghan warlords still enforcing Taliban oppression Post-Taliban Warlords Oppress Afghan Women Widespread abuse, restrictions on freedom continue Self-Immolations on Rise in Afghanistan Afghan Women Die Giving Birth at Staggering Rate Afghan Woman Fired for Meeting Bush Uncovered Afghan Girl Schools Struck by Attacks RAWA Literacy Program for Afghan Women (photos) Afghan Women Remain Victims of Hope Unfulfilled RAWA Interview with some prostitutes Women at risk in Afghanistan Afghan women still languish What the future holds for the women of Afghanistan? ZARMINA'S STORY "A female worker was gang raped in northern Afghanistan", UN HRW: Women Still Under Threat Afghan laws still repress women Afghan Woman Teacher Attacked with Acid Northern Alliance gunmen rape fourteen-year-old Fatima and her mother 3 Afghan women awaiting repatriation die Warlord's men commit rape in revenge against Taliban Pashtuns subjected to murder, sexual abuse in North of Afghanistan Annan: Afghan Women May Still Suffer Lifting The Veil On Taliban Sex Slavery Taliban Restrictions Drive Women To Suicide Reports of rape, looting by Afghan militiamen Afghan girls on sale for 100kg wheat "Give me security, then I will remove my burqa" Crimes of the "Northern Alliance" Seen Through the Eyes of a Grieving Mother The Heartbreaking Story of an Afghan Woman Taliban whipping a doctor and his female patients Inside Afghanistan: Behind the veil Misery brings down bride price in northern Afghanistan, UN Taliban orders women aid workers to stop driving Taliban stage lashing of unwed couple accused of having sex Taliban Hang Convicted Prostitutes Afghans trading young daughters to pay debts Story of a mother who never sees her only son Red Cross aids and interview with widows in Kabul Afghan women working in poppy fields prefer other jobs Samano, a poetess forced to turn to begging (photo) Taleban shuts 'widow's bakeries' Taliban arrest US aid worker, Ban women from working for NGOs Bakeries Sustain Afghan Widows Eager for Food-and Work Story of a Woman Victim of War
Salehah was burnt alive
Drug addiction among Afghan women on rise Sick women and the stick of Taliban Taliban Stone Woman for Adultery No female student in Afghan universities Taliban sack all female civil servants, teachers UN report flays Taliban rights violations against women Eyewitness report of a RAWA activist from Kabul A bereaved family cries for your help Taliban publicly execute woman (with photo and movie clips) Interview with many women kidnapped from Shamali regions Prostitution Under the rule of Taliban UN lashes out at Taliban for Violence against Women Large number of Afghan women are turning to prostitution Women Burning Under the Taliban Rule The Conversion of Girls Schools into Seminaries by the Taliban Taliban lashed a mother and her daughter publicly A Man Publicly Executed and a Woman Beaten Trafficking of Afghan Women from Kabul to Pakistan Cry of an Afghan women Lashing of women by Taliban Taliban impose new rules on women Trafficking of Afghan and Pakistani girls to Gulf states Women in Afghanistan suffer from depression Afghan female journalist survives life attempt Miserable life of educated Afghan women under Taliban rule Taliban Rules Weigh on Afghan Women Letter of a tormented Afghan woman to commemorate Princess Diana Mariam Girl’s High school turned into a market A woman’s sacred anger Attack on United Nations special girls’ schools Killing in front of the family members The Taliban Rapists Taliban raped two innocent girls Nazaneen’s Mother goes blind A woman challenge Taliban on the road Taliban’s another treatment of women Shakiba's Suicide The Wickedness of the Taliban and a couple Taliban raped Mariam in Kabul A woman stoned to death for adultery Taliban mistreat women Women under house arrest in Afghanistan Taliban's law drives women to suicide Taliban flog woman, cut off two men's hands Doctors ordered not ot treat women without their legal Mahrams What is going on Afghan widows? The Taliban's war on women (New York Times, Nov.6,1997) Girl-lashing by Taliban in Kabul The fundamentalist's gift: Prostitution Raping license Consequence of girls teaching Gang raping Execution for refusing forced marriage Women's self-immolation under the Taliban's domination A man and a woman are stoned to death by Jehadis (Photo) Dostum commander's crime "Women in their houses or in the grave" The fundamentalists and the Afghan women The gift of the fundamentalists Raping nine-year old girls Masoud's men rape foreigners The fundamentalists after gang-raping Shukria, killed her in cold-blooded Celebration of the conquest by raping Suicide to avoid rape Commanders have ten "wives"! The gift of the "Islamic revolution": Body-selling Women’s fault or cruelty in the name of "Shariat" (Islamic Law)? "Only loose women working in foreign aid agencies" Women workers beaten up in Kabul Taliban impose more curbs on nationals Foced abortion, Taliban style Reckoning for wearing thin socks
Gulbar, an Afghan woman who was burnt by her husband in Nov.2005 (details...)
Muska, a female election worker who committed suicide after rape attempt on her in Jalalabad on Oct.9, 2004 (details...) A true face of Afghan women today.
"There is a huge gap between the reality on the ground and the 'remarkable progress' claimed by western diplomats who sit in fortified compounds behind guards..." (Christina Lamb, The Sunday Times, November 5, 2006)Women wailing with grief as they are turned away from a funeral in Kabul in late 1994. AI
Those responsible for these killings are now in possession of power in Afghanistan and strongly supported by the US government.A woman with her child recounts how her husband was killed in Afshar, west of Kabul. Hundreds of innocent people from Hazara minority were massacred by forces of Sayyaf and Ahmad Shah Massoud in this area in 1993
Public execution of an Afghan woman by Taliban in Kabul
Photos from a video film by RAWA (click here to view more photos and movie clips)A victim of the fundamentalists brutalities against women More photos
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN: A human rights catastrophe
(Amnesty International document, March 1995)
The Jehadi fundamentalists after gang-raping Shukria, killed her in cold-blood
Naheed another victims of the Jehadi Fundamentalists