Oh dear ... this was definitely hard to read.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7942819.stm

quote:

Afghan women who turn to immolation Sitting in her family's mud brick home, Shanas recalled the day she set herself on fire. The 16-year-old doused her legs in petrol and then with a match set the fuel alight. "The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital surrounded by my family. That was three or four days later." From what Shanas says it is unclear what drove her five years ago to take such drastic action. She may have been unhappy about her engagement during that period. But what is clear is that her story is one that is repeated across Afghanistan. Lack of freedoms Self-immolation among women has the highest recorded levels in Herat province (although many other provinces provide no data on the subject). Most of the women are in their teens or early 20s and are recently or soon-to-be married. Kandigol We want to have the same rights as men Kandigol, women's rights campaigner Experts suggest that a combination of poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence and lack of freedoms continue to drive this decades-old trend. While the Afghan constitution - written after the fall of the Taleban in 2001 - enshrines equal rights for men and women, much of the country remains conservatively entrenched. At the burns centre of the provincial hospital in Herat, Dr Mohammed Jalili knows more than most about this gruesome practice. He says he has seen more than 80 cases of women committing self-immolation in the past year. The majority of these women have died from their injuries. "Many of the women and their families say 'it was an accident'," he says. "It's their way of hiding their shame about the act." But Dr Jalili says the cases are often easy to detect. Apart from the extent of burns, one tell-tale sign of an act of self-immolation is that there are no burns on the arm used to pour the petrol. Shocking response At the hospital, Dr Jalili was treating two women. He had operated on 20-year-old Anargol three times, including a skin graft operation on her badly scarred neck. Art and crafts fair in Kabul to mark International Women's Day Afghan women rarely get a forum to display their talent Anargol says she had committed self-immolation after arguing with her husband. When asked whether she had a message for other women, she had a shocking response. "Don't burn yourself," she said, lying on her hospital bed. "If you want a way out, use a gun: it's less painful." It was an absolute cry of despair, and something rarely heard from women in this deeply conservative society. But according to Soraya Balaigh, director of the provincial department for women's affairs, it is an emotion that many women relate to. "Pressure is often put on these women by their husbands or the mothers-in-law," she says. "Violence is common and many women are desperate. I had a woman in this office who begged me to kill her here rather than send her back." But there are some women who think that small steps are being made in the field of women's rights. To mark International Women's Day in March, an arts and crafts fair was held in the city, with all the items made and sold by women. Hundreds of people visited the fair selling an array of items, including jams, oil-paintings, religious sayings carved in wood and wedding cakes bedecked in decorations. "I wanted to show that women can do some things better than men," says the organiser, Kandigol. "We want to have the same rights as men." But Kandigol, like many women here, is realistic enough to know that this is wishful thinking at the moment. Some will continue to feel isolated and desperate. And a few will decide to make a terrible, painful escape - and set themselves ablaze.

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

^^ a very good reason why we must stay there.

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quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN ^^ a very good reason why we must stay there.

Yeah, right ... like the warlords (former criminals) will let you put to foot the "real democracy" there. By the looks of it, they are all bribed and drugs are allowed to be grown, democracy sacrificed for the sake of regional stability and NATO control. This was never really about democracy.

Millions of Europeans, in particularly Russians, are dying from this drug trade - most of the world's opium is from Afghanistan. Yeah, I heard they are making great strides in curbing production of it since 2001, yet 95% of world's opium is still from Afghanistan.

And now the rumours are that USA and NATO are going to try to reach compromise with Taliban. Joy to the world!

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

quote:

Originally posted by Magnetonium Yeah, right ... like the warlords (former criminals) will let you put to foot the "real democracy" there. By the looks of it, they are all bribed and drugs are allowed to be grown, democracy sacrificed for the sake of regional stability and NATO control. This was never really about democracy. Millions of Europeans, in particularly Russians, are dying from this drug trade - most of the world's opium is from Afghanistan. Yeah, I heard they are making great strides in curbing production of it since 2001, yet 95% of world's opium is still from Afghanistan. And now the rumours are that USA and NATO are going to try to reach compromise with Taliban. Joy to the world!

Im really not that concerned about the deaths of drug addicts. You live by the needle…

As far as afghanistan goes as a whole, I didn’t say it was one big success story. But the fact of the matter remains that regimes like the taliban deserve constant military attention from the west (or anyone else that gives a damn) if at all possible. Killing taliban fighters is a good thing for the world. Nobody said success in the country would be easy or quick. And even if its impossible, its still a war worth fighting. Unless of course you think giving extreme islam whatever it wants to be a good thing?

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quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN Im really not that concerned about the deaths of drug addicts. You live by the needle… As far as afghanistan goes as a whole, I didn’t say it was one big success story. But the fact of the matter remains that regimes like the taliban deserve constant military attention from the west (or anyone else that gives a damn) if at all possible. Killing taliban fighters is a good thing for the world. Nobody said success in the country would be easy or quick. And even if its impossible, its still a war worth fighting. Unless of course you think giving extreme islam whatever it wants to be a good thing?

Good point. Its a double-edged sword. I guess I see another analogy here - just like with Russia, you can't fix a country overnight.

I still dont support sacrificing Canadian soldiers for the sake of maintaining the current way of things. We're peacekeepers, not cannon fodder for American agenda for crying out loud. Yes, there are benefits of the NATO campaign, and the negatives, I dont think its our mission. Its not our time. There's no progress - and quite frankly, its becoming clear that many Afghani people are against the democracy.

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

how many troops has canada lost over there?

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quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN how many troops has canada lost over there?

More than 100-something - thats way more than you Aussies lost in either theatre. The loss of every Canadian is a great tragedy. Plus the financial costs of this campaign are huge. Canada's is known for peacekeeping - but this is not the region, not the right campaign. We shouldn't be sacrificing our limited troops for American agenda. At the same time we are hurting out international reputation and passing up important regions which really need a peacekeeping mission. Enough supporting the Afghan opium drug trade (which helps Taliban greatly - like it helps the South American guerillas).

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

shit, i didnt realise it was that many. youre right, that's way more than we've lost.

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this article i got from IFEX Communique, extremely sad indeed

2. AFGHANISTAN: 20 YEARS FOR "BLASPHEMOUS" STUDENT JOURNALIST

Afghanistan's Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year sentence for Parwez
Kambakhsh, a student and part-time journalist who was charged with
blasphemy after he emailed friends an article that critically analysed the
portrayal of women in the Quran, report Human Rights Watch, the Committee
to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The rights organisations are calling on President Hamid Karzai to pardon
Kambakhsh and secure his safe release. "Kambakhsh has committed no crime.
Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him," says
Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director.

Lawyer Azfal Nooristani learned earlier this month that the Afghan Supreme
court secretly upheld Kambakhsh's sentence on 11 February without giving
him the opportunity to defend his client. "I went to the supreme court to
hand in the defence arguments. There, I was told that the court confirmed
the 20-year sentence a month ago and that the case has been already passed
back to the prosecutor," Nooristani told RSF. "How can they reach such a
decision without even waiting to hear what the defence has to say?" The
Supreme Court was Kambakhsh's last hope of receiving a fair hearing in a
case that has flouted both international and Afghan law and has exposed the
lack of independence of the Afghan judiciary.

Kambaksh's brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, has told Human Rights Watch he believes
the trumped-up charges and sentence are in retaliation to stories Ibrahimi
wrote as a reporter for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).
Shortly before the arrest of his brother, Ibrahimi published several
articles exposing human rights abuses by local warlords and militias in
Afghanistan. The National Directorate of Security searched Ibrahimi's home
several times and threatened him on many occasions before arresting
Kambakhsh, Human Rights Watch previously reported. Since Kambaksh's arrest
in October 2007, the combination of the illegal intervention of warlords
and the radical religious conservatism of Afghanistan's judges have stymied
any chance of justice in Kambaksh's case, according to Human Rights Watch.

Kambakhsh, who is in his early 20s, was detained in Balkh province and
accused of writing and distributing the article in question; however, it
has been established that the article came from an Iranian website and
Kambakhsh only downloaded it. The Primary Court in Balkh sentenced
Kambakhsh to death early last year after a sham trial that lasted only
minutes. Evidence against Kambakhsh came from fellow students and teachers
who claimed the journalist asked "difficult questions" in class.

In October last year, the Court of Appeal upheld Kambaksh's conviction and
reduced his sentence to 20 years in prison. During the second trial, the
prosecution's main witness and the only person to directly link Kambakhsh
to the article retracted his statement, saying he was forced to testify by
security forces.

Rights groups are gravely concerned Kambaksh, who says he is being told he
will be transferred, will be sent to Mazar-i-Sharif or to Pul-i-Charki
prisons. Both jails house jihadist inmates who pose a threat to Kambakhsh's
life. "He thinks he will be killed," said Nooristani. "He is an innocent
man, but he did not receive justice in the courts."

In another case representing the political power of religious conservatives
in Afghanistan, journalist Ghows Zalmai faces a 20-year jail sentence for
publishing a translation of the Quran in Dari, one of the languages spoken
in Afghanistan. Zalmai was arrested in November, 2007 and has also been
charged with blasphemy. Conservative religious leaders found his
translation to be "un-Islamic," saying it misinterpreted verses. The
Supreme Court is currently reviewing his case.

quote:

Originally posted by tathi this article i got from IFEX Communique, extremely sad indeed 2. AFGHANISTAN: 20 YEARS FOR "BLASPHEMOUS" STUDENT JOURNALIST Afghanistan's Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year sentence for Parwez Kambakhsh, a student and part-time journalist who was charged with blasphemy after he emailed friends an article that critically analysed the portrayal of women in the Quran, report Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The rights organisations are calling on President Hamid Karzai to pardon Kambakhsh and secure his safe release. "Kambakhsh has committed no crime. Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him," says Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director. Lawyer Azfal Nooristani learned earlier this month that the Afghan Supreme court secretly upheld Kambakhsh's sentence on 11 February without giving him the opportunity to defend his client. "I went to the supreme court to hand in the defence arguments. There, I was told that the court confirmed the 20-year sentence a month ago and that the case has been already passed back to the prosecutor," Nooristani told RSF. "How can they reach such a decision without even waiting to hear what the defence has to say?" The Supreme Court was Kambakhsh's last hope of receiving a fair hearing in a case that has flouted both international and Afghan law and has exposed the lack of independence of the Afghan judiciary. Kambaksh's brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, has told Human Rights Watch he believes the trumped-up charges and sentence are in retaliation to stories Ibrahimi wrote as a reporter for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). Shortly before the arrest of his brother, Ibrahimi published several articles exposing human rights abuses by local warlords and militias in Afghanistan. The National Directorate of Security searched Ibrahimi's home several times and threatened him on many occasions before arresting Kambakhsh, Human Rights Watch previously reported. Since Kambaksh's arrest in October 2007, the combination of the illegal intervention of warlords and the radical religious conservatism of Afghanistan's judges have stymied any chance of justice in Kambaksh's case, according to Human Rights Watch. Kambakhsh, who is in his early 20s, was detained in Balkh province and accused of writing and distributing the article in question; however, it has been established that the article came from an Iranian website and Kambakhsh only downloaded it. The Primary Court in Balkh sentenced Kambakhsh to death early last year after a sham trial that lasted only minutes. Evidence against Kambakhsh came from fellow students and teachers who claimed the journalist asked "difficult questions" in class. In October last year, the Court of Appeal upheld Kambaksh's conviction and reduced his sentence to 20 years in prison. During the second trial, the prosecution's main witness and the only person to directly link Kambakhsh to the article retracted his statement, saying he was forced to testify by security forces. Rights groups are gravely concerned Kambaksh, who says he is being told he will be transferred, will be sent to Mazar-i-Sharif or to Pul-i-Charki prisons. Both jails house jihadist inmates who pose a threat to Kambakhsh's life. "He thinks he will be killed," said Nooristani. "He is an innocent man, but he did not receive justice in the courts." In another case representing the political power of religious conservatives in Afghanistan, journalist Ghows Zalmai faces a 20-year jail sentence for publishing a translation of the Quran in Dari, one of the languages spoken in Afghanistan. Zalmai was arrested in November, 2007 and has also been charged with blasphemy. Conservative religious leaders found his translation to be "un-Islamic," saying it misinterpreted verses. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing his case.

Is this the guy who initially recieved the death penalty, but got the the proposed penalty reduced due to the public outrage a few months back?

What good is installing a democracy if it goes right back in a circular fashion to instilling these barbaric laws. I cringe every time I hear the Neo-Cons reciting their "spreading democracy" sentiment. It may sound heroic, but the US continually supports very undemocratic regimes, and a democracy does not ensure real liberty by any means.

Afghanistan's history should have been an indicator to any thinktanks that participated this invasion- in that it is very very unlikely to be controlled by a foreign occupier. I don't see the combat stopping soon, and autonomous narco regions are gonna keep sprouting up.

These cheiftains are morally backwards, it will take generations of proper education to make progress, I am not surprised by this at all frankly.

All that being said, I think a troop pullout would be terrible at this point.... but at some point they got to chill out on the offensive, leave the autonomous zones be, and focus on building a positive influence in the cities that they do control(and diverting more resources for defensive measures). In time perhaps parts of the rest of afghanistan will fall to the puppet democracy that will hopefully progress. perhaps.

So much progress in Afghanistan for women's rights! :sarcasm:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7940527.stm

quote:

Terrifying plight of Afghan actress Afghan actress Parwin Mushthal's passion for her job has exacted a heavy toll - resulting in the murder of her husband and forcing her to live in hiding with her two children. Ms Mushthal's career choice appears to have upset the Taleban and their supporters. She has received threatening telephone calls and abuse in the streets from people telling her to stop acting. She told the BBC that she believes her continued defiance of those threats resulted in the shooting by unknown gunmen of her 39-year-old husband, a taxi driver, in Kabul in December. Since then her life has been turned upside down. Prostitution Parwin Mushthal's interest in acting stemmed from her days at high school. She has appeared in more than 20 theatre productions and dozens of films and is a regular on Afghan televsion. She is currently in the television series, Bulbul, and has appeared in numerous adverts. Her best known performances are in Shakespeare's Love's Labour Lost, which was performed in the Dari language, and in Soeurs (which she co-created). Both productions were in collaboration with Kabul's Foundation for Culture and Civil Society. But although Ms Mushthal was well known, she had to hide her career from her husband's family, because many people in Afghanistan link acting with immorality. Women who act can find themselves accused of prostitution. "When his brothers came from the provinces to our home [in Kabul] as guests, we didn't put on the TV because I was always on ads," the 41-year-old told the BBC World Service's Outlook programme. "I was scared that they would see it, so I would just put on a DVD and show them that," she said. But as her fame grew, so did the level of threats against her. She began to receive warnings from people who recognised her. "When I was going to work, people were standing in my way waiting for me," she said. "They were usually on bikes and they were telling me that, 'you women shouldn't be here any more'." At first she brushed the threats off but then things started to get worse. "My husband... was getting phone calls from Khost Province asking him why he was letting his wife appear on TV," she said. Ms Mushthal at first thought that the threats were not serious and could be connected to her choice of clothing, so she started to wear a big scarf. "Then later, I understood that it was about me working on TV and that I should stop doing so," she said. 'Punched' Over time, the attacks became more menacing. "I was walking towards home and then a man came behind me on a bike and punched me in my back," said Ms Mushthal. "I fell down in the street really badly, I still have a pain in my leg, because he punched me really hard. "I was with my little son and I was crying and we were running to get home." Her husband was concerned as to why she was in pain, but she did not want to worry him and just said that she had fallen and hurt her leg. However, things took a turn for the worst as her husband became the target of a horrific attack. "That night, this guy who killed my husband had been calling him constantly to come out [of our home]," said Parwin. "My husband was very tired and he couldn't be bothered to go out. The same guy called the next day at around five o'clock in the evening and asked him to come and meet him. "My husband went out, I realised that it was a bit late and it was getting dark." When her husband failed to return home, she tried calling him but his phone was off. It was dark and there was no electricity. "At eight o'clock, I heard a shooting, I couldn't go out because I was scared and very upset," said Parwin. "I was alone with my kids as there was no other man in my family. I could feel that something had happened but I didn't know what. "My children started crying and asking where their dad was. I couldn't do anything so I let them sleep and just said that dad would come." Ms Mushthal locked the door and stayed awake all night, in fear that someone might come for her and her children, who are eight and nine. 'Our life was happy' In the morning, she received shocking news from the police that her husband had been killed. "I saw my husband lying down on the floor, his face was full of blood. They didn't allow me to go near his body but you could see that they had shot him so many times. I was just shouting and crying," she said. "That day my children were very upset and they were really scared, they kept holding and to me and saying, 'don't go out because they will kill you as well'." Her husband's family took his body to Khost Province and she has now been in hiding for three months with her two children. She also has to wear a full-length burka so that no one recognises her. "I'm still in hiding, no one knows where I am," she said. "Our life was really happy, we were really close to each other, he really loved me." Parwin Mushthal is not alone. Correspondents say there is marked sense of unease among many other working women in Kabul and other Afghan cities as the presence of the Taleban - who have made no secret for of their disapproval of women working - appears to grow ever stronger.

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture