Afghanistan's ugly truth

As Amnesty International says in its 2005 report:

Women continue to face systematic and widespread violence and public and private discrimination. Fear of abductions by armed groups forced women to restrict their movements outside the home. In the family, extreme restrictions on women's behavior and high levels of violence persisted. Election officials registering women voters were among those killed by armed groups.

You might have heard recently that the US and other Western countries tried to stop the fundamentalist court in Afghanistan from sentencing Abdul Rahman to death. Rahman, an Afghan man who converted from Islam to Christianity 14 years ago, was earlier arrested in Kabul for apostasy.

No doubt, freedom of belief and of expression are pillars of democracy and RAWA as a secular organisation believes in both of these principles. Defending Abdul Rahman against a fundamentalist court was a positive step but nevertheless, America's vociferous support for Abdul Rahman lacked value because it kept silent from 1992-1996 when the Northern Alliance criminals came to power and committed the most shocking crimes against our people, especially the women.

Therefore, defending Abdul Rahman's case by the US and the West is meaningless for our people, because if democratic values including freedom of belief mattered to the US, it above all would have condemned and punished the Northern Alliance military groups who are the main violators of these values.

What I have just mentioned is the reality of my country. Surely you will agree with me and my people that such a country cannot be considered truly free and liberated.

Dear friends, women's rights have always been ignored in Afghanistan. It is one of the most backward and traditional countries in the world and women have been subjected to every possible kind of horrible male chauvinism. In short, women are discriminated against in society in every way. Therefore, raising the voice of Afghan women in an organised and effective manner was a necessity as well as a problem to which an answer had to be found. The establishment of RAWA was that answer.

RAWA was formed in Kabul in 1977 as a way to promote women's rights through non-violent action. Since then, the organisation has expanded and evolved, RAWA now runs schools, orphanages, mobile health-care units, adult literacy classes, income-generating projects and it provides emergency relief in refugee camps.

As a woman's organisation, we are opposed to violence and believe in human suffrage. Therefore we have concentrated our work on increasing awareness among women and encouraging them to struggle for their basic rights. As far as our economical means allow us (which are critical at this moment), we have engaged in organising demonstrations, conferences, publicity campaigns through printed publications and also the Internet. We have gained much experience using these means to deliver the voice of our women to the people of the world and we have had some success.

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan is at the forefront of the international campaign for women's rights and democracy in Afghanistan. We are of the opinion that Afghanistan will never experience real peace and justice if the fundamentalists are not eliminated as a political and military force in Afghanistan. We also believe that only a secular democracy can bring stability to our country.

RAWA is perhaps one of the most important organisations aware of the gravity of this situation in its entirety. RAWA alone is fighting for the minds of the people. The key issue for RAWA is to make people aware and to inspire them into believing that freedom from the hands of fundamentalism and terrorism is not impossible. To this end, RAWA uses all justified means. By educating people, especially women, RAWA has been able to win many hearts.

We continue its work, speaking out as loudly as we can about the problems that Afghan women face under the puppet government of Hamid Karzai. Their suffering continues in the face of violence and poverty. Our outspokenness, along with our activities in educating and economically empowering women, has put RAWA members at great risk.