Dear All,
I think we had a posting on this a while ago, but please do send this
petition on to any people, or lists, who you think would be supportive. It
is very disturbing...
Thanks
Jenny Robinson
see end for instructions what to do next
>Subject: Women in Afghanistan
>
>
>The government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon women.
>Since the Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear the
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
,reportedly, for accidentally exposing her arm while she was driving.
Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country with a man who
was not a relative. Women are prohibited to go out in public without a male
relative.
>Women are not allowed to work. Professional women such as
professors,
translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and writers have been forced from
their jobs and stuffed into their homes.
>Depression is becoming so widespread that it has reached emergency
levels.
There 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.
>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.
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.
>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.
>Men have the power of life and death over their women relatives,
especially
husbands over 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 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 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 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 AhlbomGoteborg, 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) Celeste Thompson, Round Rock, TX, USA
>106) Sherry Stang, Pflugerville, TX, USA
>107) Amy J. Singer, Pflugerville, TX USA
>108) Milissa Bowen, Austin, TX USA
>109) Michelle Jozwiak, Brenham, TX USA
>110) Mary Orsted, College Station, TX USA
>111) Janet Gardner, Dallas, TX USA
>112) Marilyn Hollingsworth, Dallas, TX USA
>113) Nancy Shamblin, Garland. TX USA
>114) K. M. Mullen, Houston, TX - USA
>115) Noreen Tolman, Houston, Texas - USA
>116) Judy Bechtel, Merced, CA - USA
>117) Delores Iliff, FL, USA
>118) Nicole Propper, FL, USA
>119) Bonnie LaChance, FL, USA
>120) JoAnn Blades, FL, USA
>121) Pam Blades, FL, USA
>122) Louise Campbell, FL, USA
>123) Marcy DeSanto, FL, USA
>124) Donald Blades, FL,USA
>125) Tom LaChance, FL, USA
>126) Craig Huff, GA, USA
>127) Karen Huff, FL, USA
>128) Paul Jarrell, Wadsworth, OH - USA
>129) Ian Austin , TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
>130) Germaine Maxwell, POS, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
>131) Phyllis Serrao, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
>132) Max Serrao, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
>133) Lynn Waldron. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
>134) Cheri Alves-Branker, British Columbia, CANADA
>135) Lori Underwood, British Columbia, Canada
>136) Monique Gallant, British Columbia, Canada
>137) Shannon Robertson, British Columbia, Canada
>138) Maria Duran, British Columbia, Canada
>139) James Robertson, British Columbia, Canada
>140) Sheila Stainton, British Columbia, Canada
>141)Pam Evans, British Columbia, Canada
>142)Chantal Ricard, Britsh Columbia, CANADA
>143) Marie-Claude Bouffard, Puerto Vallarta Mexico
>144) Raquel Tacher, Puerto Vallarta Mexico
>145)Claudia Guzman, Puerto Vallarta Mexico
>146) Alberto Llera, Mexico City
>147) Laura Yanez, Mexico City
>148) Victor Perdomo, Ky, USA
>149) Luz del Carmen Noriega, Qro, Mexico
>150)Imelda Hernandez , Monterrey, Mexico
>151) Chereen Osborne, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
>152) Mary Smirle Bruce, Napanee, Ontario, Canada
>153) Maija-Liisa Shelley, Napanee, Ontario, Canada
>154) Richard Sankar, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands
>155) Ron Burton, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands
>156) Willy Fankhauser, Giez, Switzerland
>157) Patricia Duff, Sohphia Antipolis, France
>158) Sheila Yates, Broughton Astley, Leicester, England
>159) Peter Yates, Broughton Astley, Leicester, England
>160) Alan Burgess, Donisthorpe, Leicester, England
>161) Helen I. Barrett, Churston, Brixham, England
>162) John Barrett, Churston,Brixham,England
>163) Peter Collins, Dipton, Stanley, England
>164) Nils Chittenden, Low Fell, Gateshead, England
>165) Fred Robinson, Durham, England.
>166) David Byrne, Low Fell, Gateshead, England
167) Michael Edwards, UCL, London England
168) Doreen Massey, Open University, England
169) Susan Himmelweit, Open University, England
170) Jenny Robinson, Open University, England
171)
172)
173) >
>PLEASE COPY this e-mail 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]
<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.
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