Rule of the rapists 
 Britain and the US said war on Afghanistan would
 liberate women. We are still waiting 

 When the US began bombing Afghanistan on October 7 2001,
 the oppression of Afghan women was used as a justification for
 overthrowing the Taliban regime.

 However, Amnesty International paints a rather different picture:
 "Two years after the ending of the Taliban regime, the
 international community and the Afghan transitional
 administration, led by President Hamid Karzai, have proved
 unable to protect women. The risk of rape and sexual violence
 by members of armed factions and former combatants is still
 high. Forced marriage, particularly of girl children, and violence
 against women in the family are widespread in many areas of
 the country." 

 In truth, the situation of women in Afghanistan remains appalling.

 Even in Kabul, where thousands of foreign troops are present,
 Afghan women do not feel safe, and many continue to wear the
 burka for protection. In some areas where girls' education does
 exist, parents are afraid to allow their daughters to take
 advantage of it following the burning down of several girls'
 schools. Girls have been abducted on the way to school and
 sexual assaults on children of both sexes are now
 commonplace, according to Human Rights Watch. 

 But then the US never did fight the Taliban to save Afghan
 women. As recently as 2000 the Bush administration gave the
 Taliban $43m as a reward for reducing the opium harvest. Now
 the US supports the Northern Alliance, which was responsible
 for killing more than 50,000 civilians during its bloody rule in the
 1990s. Those in power today - men such as Karim Khalili,
 Rabbani, Sayyaf, Fahim, Yunus Qanooni, Mohaqiq and Abdullah
 - were those who imposed anti-women restrictions as soon as
 they took control in 1992 and started a reign of terror throughout
 Afghanistan. Thousands of women and girls were systematically
 raped by armed thugs, and many committed suicide to avoid
 being sexually assaulted by them. 

 Mariam Rawi in Kabul
 Thursday February 12, 2004
 The Guardian

This piece first appeared (in full) in New Internationalist magazine
                          (www.newint.org) 

Mariam Rawi, a member of the Revolutionary Association of
Women of Afghanistan, is writing under a pseudonym
                           (www.rawa.org)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1146134,00.html
 ---------------------------------------------

              FURTHER REFERENCES

  GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE


file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/worites.txt