>From: Jamie Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED]'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: RE: [trance] Please, read this... >Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 17:26:22 +0100 > >Before you send this email on, you should know that we contacted the UN and >Amnesty International to verify the validity of this petition. It appears >that it isn't exactly a hoax, since the material in the email is indeed >correct, this is indeed the case in Afghanistan. > >However, the petition in itself is doing very little else than blocking up >the email server at the places in question. It appears to be a >well-meaning, >but sadly useless exercise. If people are interested in making a >difference, >please contact me privately and I'll give you the names and addresses of >people who can point you in the right direction to making your voice heard. > >Jamie > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Anna Gr�nlund [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 1999 3:52 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: [trance] Please, read this... > > > > > > > > >Please spare a minute to read this mail. Thank you. > > > > > > > >One woman was beaten to DEATH by an angry mob of fundamentalists for > > > >accidentally exposing her arm while she was driving. The government >of > > > >Afghanistan is waging a war upon women. > > > > > > > >The situation is getting so bad that one person in an editorial of >the > > > >Times compared the treatment of women there to the treatment of Jews >in > > > >pre-Holocaust Poland. > > > > > > > >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. 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 > > > >misbehavior. 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. > > > > > > > >David Cornwell has said that those in the West should not judge the > > > >Afghan people for such treatment because it is a 'cultural thing', >but > > > >this is not even true. 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 same 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. > > > >Besides, if we could excuse everything on cultural grounds, then we > > > >should not be appalled that the Carthaginians sacrificed their infant > > > >children, that little girls are circumcised in parts of Africa, that > > > >blacks in the US deep south in the 1930's were lynched, prohibited >from > > > >voting, and forced to submit to unjust Jim Crow laws. > > > > > > > >Everyone has a right to a tolerable human existence, even if they are > > > >women in a Muslim country in a part of the world that Westerners may > > not > > > >understand. If Iife can threaten military force in Kosovo in the >name > > > >of human rights for the sake of ethnic Albanians, then NATO and the > > > >West 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 support and > > action > > > >by the people of the United Nations and that the current situation >in > > > >Afghanistan 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 anywhere > > > >else. > > > >1) Marianne Giroud, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >2) Vera Koehli, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >3) Hartmut Stiess, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >4) Michael Sturm, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >5) Adrian Jakob, Berne, Switzerland > > > >6) Christian Jakob, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >7) Barbara Rieker, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >8) Chiara Lo Presti, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >9) Kathrin Koch, Zurich, Switzerland > > > >10) Fred R. Willitzkat, Kiel, Germany > > > >11) Susanne Heckoetter, Giessen, Germany > > > >12) Beate Schugk, Turku, Finland > > > >13) Mike Cofferon, Dublin, Ireland > > > >14) Paul Crossan, Dublin, Ireland > > > >15) Martin Vahey Dublin,Ireland > > > >16)Wendy Vahey,Dublin Ireland > > > >17) Steven O'Conor, Dublin, Ireland > > > >18) Deirdre O'Kane, Mullingar, Ireland > > > >19) Sara O'Kane, Dublin, Ireland > > > >20) Eileen O'Connor, Dublin, Ireland > > > >21) Amy O'Kane, Mullingar, Ireland > > > >22) Oscar O'Connor, Mullingar, Ireland > > > >23) Hugo O'Connor, Mullingar, Ireland > > > >24) Pauline Mossop, Dublin, Ireland > > > >25) Kay Tyrrell, Dublin, Ireland > > > >26) Peggy Tyrrell, Dublin, Ireland > > > >27)Mary Rose Tobin, Dublin Ireland > > > >28) Ita Flynn, London UK > > > >29) Laura Empson, Henley-on-Thames, UK > > > >30) Gillian Hughes, London UK > > > >31) Anne-Marie Logan, London UK > > > >32) Alex Lennane, London, UK > > > >33) Angela Snuggs, London UK > > > >34) Jo Pratt, London, UK > > > >35) Lori Worley, London, UK > > > >36) C Burton, London, UK > > > >37) Clare Haynes, London, UK > > > >38) Lucy Short, London, UK > > > >39) Andrew Downs, London, England > > > >40) Steve Peake, London, England > > > >41) Dag Kristensen, Trondheim, Norge > > > >42) Bj�rn Arne Hagen, Skien, Norway > > > >43) Anna Gr�nlund, G�teborg, Sweden > > > >44) Nilly Oren, Natanya, Israel Please sign to support, and include your town and country. Then copy > > > >and e-mail to as many people as possible. > > > > > > > >If you receive this list with more than 50 names on it, please >e-mail > > > >a copy of it to: Mary Robinson, High Commissioner, UNHCHR, > > > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >and to: > > > >Angela King, Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of > > > >Women, UN, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not kill > > > >the petition. > > > > > > > >Thank you. > > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -- This message was sent through the Faithless Mailing-list. To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE FAITHLESS in the body of the message.
