Please read, sign & forward...
The Government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon women. Since the
Taleban 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=20
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, so that 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, who cannot find proper medication and
treatment for severe depression and would rather take their lives
than live in such conditions, has increased significantly.
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.
There are almost no medical facilities available for women, and
relief workers, in protest, have mostly left the country, taking
medicine and psychologists and other things necessary to treat the
sky-rocketing level of depression among women. 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. One doctor is considering, when what
little medication that is left finally runs out, leaving these women
in front of the President's residence as a form of peaceful 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, dress generally as they
wanted, and 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
sub-human in the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam. It is not
their tradition or 'culture', but 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
Taleban.
STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of
women in Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves support
and action by the United Nations 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 1999 to be treated as
sub-human and so much as property. Equality and human decency is a
RIGHT not a freedom, whether one lives in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
1) Suzanne Dathe, Grenoble, France
2) Laurence COMPARAT, Grenoble,France
3) Philippe MOTTE, Grenoble, France
4) Jok FERRAND, Mont St Martin, France
5) Emmanuelle PIGNOL, St Martin d'Heres, FRANCE 6) Marie GAUTHIER,
Grenoble, FRANCE
7) Laurent VESCALO, Grenoble,FRANCE
8) Mathieu MOY, St Egreve, FRANCE
9) Bernard BLANCHET, Mont St Martin, FRANCE
10) Tassadite FAVRIE, Grenoble, FRANCE
11) Loic GODARD, St Ismier, FRANCE
12) Benedicte PASCAL, Grenoble, FRANCE
13) Khedaidja BENATIA, Grenoble, FRANCE
14) Marie-Therese LLORET, Grenoble,FRANCE
15) Benoit THEAU, Poitiers, FRANCE
16) Bruno CONSTANTIN, Poitiers, FRANCE
17) Christian COGNARD, Poitiers, FRANCE
18) Robert GARDETTE, Paris, FRANCE
19) Claude CHEVILLARD, Montpellier, FRANCE
20) gilles FREISS, Montpellier, FRANCE
21) Patrick AUGEREAU, Montpellier, FRANCE.
22) Jean IMBERT, Marseille, FRANCE
23) Jean-Claude MURAT, Toulouse, France
24) Anna BASSOLS, Barcelona, Spain
25) Mireia DUNACH, Barcelona, Spain
26) Michel VILLAZ, Grenoble, France
27) Pages Frederique, Dijon, France
28) Rodolphe FISCHMEISTER, Chatenay-Malabry,France
29) Francois BOUTEAU, Paris, France
30) Patrick PETER, Paris, France
31) Lorenza RADICI, Paris, France
32) Monika Siegenthaler, Bern, Switzerland
33) Mark Philp, Glasgow, Scotland
34) Tomas Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden
35) Jonas Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
36) Karin Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
37) Ake Ljung, Stockholm, Sweden
38) Carina Sedlmayer, Stockholm, Sweden
39) Rebecca Uddman, Stockholm, Sweden
40) Lena Skog, Stockholm, Sweden
41) Micael Folke, Stockholm, Sweden
42) Britt-Marie Folke, Stockholm, Sweden
43) Birgitta Schuberth, Stockholm, Sweden
44) Lena Dahl, Stockholm, Sweden
45) Ebba Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden
46) Jessica Carlsson, Vaxjo, Sweden
47) Sara Blomquist, Vaxjo, Sweden
48) Magdalena Fosseus, Vaxjo, Sweden
49) Charlotta Langner, Goteborg, Sweden
50) Andrea Egedal, Goteborg, Sweden
51) Lena Persson, Stockholm, Sweden
52) Magnus Linder, Umea ,Sweden
53) Petra Olofsson, Umea, Sweden
54) Caroline Evenbom, Vaxjo, Sweden
55) Asa Pettersson, Grimsas, Sweden
56) Jessica Bjork, Grimsas, Sweden
57) Linda Ahlbom Goteborg, Sweden
58) Jenny Forsman, Boras, Sweden
59) Nina Gunnarson, Kinna, Sweden
60) Andrew Harrison, New Zealand
61) Bryre Murphy, New Zealand
62) Claire Lugton, New Zealand
63) Sarah Thornton, New Zealand
64) Rachel Eade, New Zealand
65) Magnus Hjert, London, UK
67) Madeleine Stamvik, Hurley, UK
68) Susanne Nowlan, Vermont, USA
69) Lotta Svenby, Malmoe, Sweden
70) Adina Giselsson, Malmoe, Sweden
71) Anders Kullman, Stockholm, Sweden
72) Rebecka Swane, Stockholm,Sweden
73) Jens Venge, Stockholm, Sweden
74) Catharina Ekdahl, Stockholm, Sweden
75) Nina Fylkegard, Stockholm, Sweden
76) Therese Stedman, Malmoe, Sweden
77) Jannica Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
78) Douglas Bratt
79) Mats Lofstrom, Stockholm, Sweden
80) Li Lindstrom, Sweden
81) Ursula Mueller, Sweden
82) Marianne Komstadius, Stockholm, Sweden
83) Peter Thyselius, Stockholm, Sweden
84) Gonzalo Oviedo, Quito, Ecuador
85) Amalia Romeo, Gland, Switzerland
86) Margarita Restrepo, Gland, Switzerland
87) Eliane Ruster, Crans p.C., Switzerland
88) Jennifer Bischoff-Elder, Hong Kong
89) Azita Lashgari, Beirut, Lebanon
90) Khashayar Ostovany, New York, USA
91) Lisa L Miller, Reno NV
92) Danielle Avazian, Los Angeles, CA
93) Sara Risher, Los Angeles, Ca.
94) Melanie London, New York, NY
95) Susan Brownstein , Los Angeles, CA
96) Steven Raspa, San Francisco, CA
97) Margot Duane, Ross, CA
98) Natasha Darnall, Los Angeles, CA
99) Candace Brower, Evanston, IL
100) James Kjelland, Evanston, IL
101) Michael Jampole, Beach Park, IL, USA
102) Diane Willis, Wilmette, IL, USA
103) Sharri Russell, Roanoke, VA, USA
104) Faye Cooley, Roanoke, VA, USA
105) Natalie Edwards, Charlottesville VA USA
106) Cyndy Williams, Charlottesville, VA USA
107) Donna Hall, Lynchburg, Va USA
108) Robin Hinkle, Lynchburg, VA USA
109) George Vass Venice, FL USA
110) Martha Ferris, Moncks Corner, SC USA
111) Teresa Smith, Charleston, SC, USA
112) Terry Longo, Orlando, FL, USA
113) Charlotte Downs, Orlando, FL, USA
114) Laura M. Connaughton, Orlando, FL USA
115) Ronit Doran, Tel Aviv, Israel
116) Iris Berenstein, Johannesburg, South Africa
117) Lynne Jeffreys, Johannesburg, South Africa
118) Sharon van Heerden, Johannesburg, South Africa
119) Lizelle Mc Mahon, Johannesburg, South Africa
120) Frik du Toit Suid Afrika
121) Glenda Warrin, Cape Town, South Africa
122) Andrew le Roux, Cape Town, South Africa
123) Nathea Beukes, Cape Town, South Africa
124) Johan Wiesner, Toowoomba, Australia
125) Retha Wiesner, Toowoomba, Australia
126) Leon de Villiers, Toowoomba, Australia
127) Leslie Willmers, Cape Town, South Africa
128) Wayne Jacobs, Cape Town, South Africa
129) Davlynne Lidbetter, Cape Town, South Africa
130) Gunnar Blondal, Oslo, Norway
131) Magns Blndal, Reykjavik, Iceland
132) Alan Hughes, Manston,England
133) Claire Page, Rochester, England
134) Cathy Smith, London, England
135) Joy Ogden, London, England
136) Joanne Casemore, London, England
137) Natalie Wilkie, London, England
138) Sarah Farmer, London, England
139) Tiffany Brown, London, England
140) Melody Brown, Surrey, England
141) Tim Balmford, Oxon, England
142) Liz Balmford, Oxon, England
143) Martin Haines, Nottingham, England
144) Peter Tanner, Colchester, England
145) Jamie Tanner, Colchester, England
146) Monika Platek, Polish Ass. of Legal Education, POLAND
147) Sam Welham, The Children & Armed Conflict Unit, Essex
Uni, UK
148) Marleen Temmerman, International Centre for Reproductive
Health,Ghent, Belgium
149) Robert Crivit, IMAVO, Brussels, Belgium
150) Gerry De Mol, Flimnap, Daknam, Belgium
151) Jan Van den Bergh, iMerge, Belgium
152) Bart Vanhoutte, Webpromis, Belgium
153) Johan Vanhee, Brugge, Belgium
154) Jan Vandenhende, Brugge, Belgium
155) Steven Depuydt, De Haan, Belgium
156) Steven Deneir, Oostrozebeke, Belgium
157) Jan Baele, Herzele, Belgium
158) Benoit Horion, Liege, Belgium
159) Karine Lambert, Brussels, Belgium
160) Claude Katz, Brussels, Belgium
161) Brigitte Bricteux, Brussels, Belgium
162) Bottu Jean-Etienne, Brussels, Belgium
163) Myriam Janssens, Tisselt, Belgium
164) Arne Adams, Antwerpen, Belgium
165) Guy Vande waele, Gent, Belgium
166) Dirk Van Hove, Bonheiden, Belgium
167) Nadia Lingier,Bonheiden,Belgium
168) Veronique Nowak, Brussels, Belgium
169) Sandrine Cogels, Brussels, Belgium
170) Carine Vander Elst, Brussels, Belgium
171) Patricia Colot, Brussels, Belgium
172) Kathy Brandt, Brussels, Belgium
173) Beate Gminder, Brussels, Belgium
174) Mercedes Mar=EDn, Brussels, Belgium
175) Anna Minett, Brussels, Belgium
176) Debbie Epstein, Minneapolis, USA
177) Heidi Roth, Gainesville, FL
178) Anna Elisa Ordo=F1ez Roth, Bogot=E1, Colombia
179) Theresa Finnin,Savannah,Ga,USA,& Bogota, Colombia
180) shawn geer, Savannah, Ga, USA
181) annabelle swincinski savannah, ga, usa
182) Ellen Sutheimer, Savannah, GA, USA
183) Sarah McCormack, Oxford, OH, USA
PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and forward
it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you receive this list with
more than 200 names on it, please e-mail a copy of it to :
[log in to unmask] <<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
(Send after every 200 names.)
Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not kill
the petition. Thank you. It is best to copy rather than forward the
petition.
Melissa Buckheit , Brandeis University
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