The penal code criminalizes assault against women, but the State Department reports, "...hundreds of thousands of women continued to suffer abuse at the hands of their husbands, fathers, brothers, armed individuals, parallel legal systems, and institutions of state such as the police and justice system. Many elements of society tolerated and practiced violence against women...Authorities rarely prosecuted abusers and only occasionally investigated complaints of violent attacks, rape, or killings, or suicides of women. If cases came to court, the accused were often exonerated or punished lightly."
Life for women under the Taliban was hell, but under the Karzai government the report indicates that not much has changed for millions of Afghan women. "Societal discrimination against women persisted, including domestic abuse, rape, forced marriages, exchange of girls to settle disputes, kidnappings, and honor killings. In some rural areas, particularly in the south, women were forbidden to leave the home except in the company of a male relative."
The State Department noted a report by Womankind which claimed "87 percent of women complained they were victims of violence, half of it sexual. According to the report, more than 60 percent of marriages were forced and, despite laws banning the practice, 57 percent of brides were under the legal marriage age of 16. The report stated many of these girls were offered as restitution for a crime or as debt settlement."
According to the State Department report, "Local officials occasionally imprisoned women at the request of family members for opposing the family's choice of a marriage partner or being charged with adultery or bigamy. Women also faced bigamy charges from husbands who had deserted them and then reappeared after the woman had remarried. Local officials imprisoned women in place of a family member who had committed a crime but could not be located. Some women resided in detention facilities because they had run away from home due to domestic violence or the prospect of forced marriage. Several girls between the ages of 17 and 21 remained detained in Pol-e-Charkhi prison having been captured after fleeing abusive forced marriages."
Marriage of young girls is a pervasive problem. The State Department reports, "International and local observers estimated 60 percent of girls were married before 16...Article 99 of the Law on Marriage states marriage of a minor may be conducted by a guardian."
Honor killings where women are killed for allegedly besmirching the family honor are still a pervasive problem. "The AIHRC documented a total of 76 honor killings throughout the year; however, the unreported number was believed to be much higher."
Women are often forced to resort to self-immolation when they feel there is no other escape from their abusive situations. During 2008 "the AIHRC documented 72 cases of self-immolation, in contrast to 110 cases in 2007. Other organizations reported an overall increase during the past two years. According to the AIHRC, almost all the women had doused themselves with gasoline and set themselves alight. In Herat Province, during the first six months of the year, the Herat city hospital alone recorded 47 cases of self-immolation, of whom 40 died. There have also been reports of relatives setting women on fire to create the appearance of self-immolation," according to the State Department. Many of these were really honor killings.
Child abuse.
Education for female children is absent in much of the country. According to the report, "...nearly one-third of districts and several provinces had no schools for girls. Girls' enrollment was as low as 15 percent in some areas. Even in secure areas such as Kabul, where access to schools was not an issue, some male family members did not allow girls to attend school."
The plight of children in Afghanistan is dismal according to the State Department report. "Child abuse was endemic throughout the country, ranging from general neglect, physical abuse, abandonment, and confinement to working to pay off family debts. The Ministry of Work and Social Affairs stated that child labor and police beatings frequently occurred and more than five million children lived in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. During the year drought and food shortages across the country forced many families to send their children onto the streets to beg for food and money. According to an AIHRC report during the year, police regularly beat children they took off the streets and incarcerated them. Detention centers for "young offenders" deprived children of the right to an education, the report stated. In a statement commenting on the AIHRC report, UNICEF reported a punitive and retributive approach to juvenile justice predominated throughout the country. Although it is against the law, corporal punishment in schools remained common."
State Department finds no problems with U.S. Occupation forces?
It is interesting that in its report of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, that the State Department fails to report abuses perpetrated by U.S. occupation forces and those of it allies. These include the abuse and deaths of prisoners held in U.S-run prisons, as well as those killed and wounded as a result of so-called collateral damage in the U.S. war of terror. But then I would be naïve to think that the State Department would document these crimes. Apparently attacking wedding parties with U.S. air strikes is okay.
What the report does show is more than enough to bother anyone with a conscience. Keep in mind this is the State Department's report and even it has to reveal some of the gruesome reality in Afghanistan, despite its efforts to paint a picture of progress under the U.S. puppet government. Life under U.S. occupation in Afghanistan is not the freedom and democracy and an improved standard of living promoted in its propaganda by the Bush regime. Women still face an unbearable life seven years after the U.S. invasion. More U.S. troops sent by our new president will not improve life there for the average Afghan.
Demand U.S. withdrawal now.
The current escalation of the war undertaken by Obama will only prolong the suffering in Afghanistan and defer the day when the Afghan people will get rid of not only the U.S. occupiers, but also reactionaries such as the Taliban. Currently, U.S. imperialism and the reactionary Islamic forces, while opposing each other, also strengthen one another. Many people are choosing to support one side or the other in order to survive.
But they, and we, do not have to choose which reactionary and outmoded system to support. Both imperialism and fundamentalism have existed far too long. We who live in the heart of the imperialist beast must demand the withdrawal of all U.S. and allied forces from Afghanistan. The people of that country can then deal with the Taliban and other feudal reactionary forces in their own way.
Life for women under the Taliban was hell, but under the Karzai government the report indicates that not much has changed for millions of Afghan women. "Societal discrimination against women persisted, including domestic abuse, rape, forced marriages, exchange of girls to settle disputes, kidnappings, and honor killings. In some rural areas, particularly in the south, women were forbidden to leave the home except in the company of a male relative."
The State Department noted a report by Womankind which claimed "87 percent of women complained they were victims of violence, half of it sexual. According to the report, more than 60 percent of marriages were forced and, despite laws banning the practice, 57 percent of brides were under the legal marriage age of 16. The report stated many of these girls were offered as restitution for a crime or as debt settlement."
According to the State Department report, "Local officials occasionally imprisoned women at the request of family members for opposing the family's choice of a marriage partner or being charged with adultery or bigamy. Women also faced bigamy charges from husbands who had deserted them and then reappeared after the woman had remarried. Local officials imprisoned women in place of a family member who had committed a crime but could not be located. Some women resided in detention facilities because they had run away from home due to domestic violence or the prospect of forced marriage. Several girls between the ages of 17 and 21 remained detained in Pol-e-Charkhi prison having been captured after fleeing abusive forced marriages."
Honor killings where women are killed for allegedly besmirching the family honor are still a pervasive problem. "The AIHRC documented a total of 76 honor killings throughout the year; however, the unreported number was believed to be much higher."
Women are often forced to resort to self-immolation when they feel there is no other escape from their abusive situations. During 2008 "the AIHRC documented 72 cases of self-immolation, in contrast to 110 cases in 2007. Other organizations reported an overall increase during the past two years. According to the AIHRC, almost all the women had doused themselves with gasoline and set themselves alight. In Herat Province, during the first six months of the year, the Herat city hospital alone recorded 47 cases of self-immolation, of whom 40 died. There have also been reports of relatives setting women on fire to create the appearance of self-immolation," according to the State Department. Many of these were really honor killings.
Child abuse.
Education for female children is absent in much of the country. According to the report, "...nearly one-third of districts and several provinces had no schools for girls. Girls' enrollment was as low as 15 percent in some areas. Even in secure areas such as Kabul, where access to schools was not an issue, some male family members did not allow girls to attend school."
The plight of children in Afghanistan is dismal according to the State Department report. "Child abuse was endemic throughout the country, ranging from general neglect, physical abuse, abandonment, and confinement to working to pay off family debts. The Ministry of Work and Social Affairs stated that child labor and police beatings frequently occurred and more than five million children lived in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. During the year drought and food shortages across the country forced many families to send their children onto the streets to beg for food and money. According to an AIHRC report during the year, police regularly beat children they took off the streets and incarcerated them. Detention centers for "young offenders" deprived children of the right to an education, the report stated. In a statement commenting on the AIHRC report, UNICEF reported a punitive and retributive approach to juvenile justice predominated throughout the country. Although it is against the law, corporal punishment in schools remained common."
State Department finds no problems with U.S. Occupation forces?
It is interesting that in its report of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, that the State Department fails to report abuses perpetrated by U.S. occupation forces and those of it allies. These include the abuse and deaths of prisoners held in U.S-run prisons, as well as those killed and wounded as a result of so-called collateral damage in the U.S. war of terror. But then I would be naïve to think that the State Department would document these crimes. Apparently attacking wedding parties with U.S. air strikes is okay.
What the report does show is more than enough to bother anyone with a conscience. Keep in mind this is the State Department's report and even it has to reveal some of the gruesome reality in Afghanistan, despite its efforts to paint a picture of progress under the U.S. puppet government. Life under U.S. occupation in Afghanistan is not the freedom and democracy and an improved standard of living promoted in its propaganda by the Bush regime. Women still face an unbearable life seven years after the U.S. invasion. More U.S. troops sent by our new president will not improve life there for the average Afghan.
Demand U.S. withdrawal now.
The current escalation of the war undertaken by Obama will only prolong the suffering in Afghanistan and defer the day when the Afghan people will get rid of not only the U.S. occupiers, but also reactionaries such as the Taliban. Currently, U.S. imperialism and the reactionary Islamic forces, while opposing each other, also strengthen one another. Many people are choosing to support one side or the other in order to survive.
But they, and we, do not have to choose which reactionary and outmoded system to support. Both imperialism and fundamentalism have existed far too long. We who live in the heart of the imperialist beast must demand the withdrawal of all U.S. and allied forces from Afghanistan. The people of that country can then deal with the Taliban and other feudal reactionary forces in their own way.
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