wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] In Afghanistan, religion still used to intimidate

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Note #8522 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04452
October 8, 2004

In Afghanistan, religion still used to intimidate women,
report says

by Chris Herlinger
Religion News Service

NEW YORK - Afghan warlords and resurgent Taliban forces are using religion to
threaten and intimidate women in the run-up to Afghanistan's Oct. 9
presidential election, according to a new report by New York-based Human
Rights Watch.

	The report, "Between Hope and Fear: Intimidation and Threats Against
Women in Public Life in Afghanistan," claims that the intimidation by
religious groups and others long opposed to participation by women in Afghan
public life is widespread and threatens the right of women to vote freely in
the elections.

	"A pervasive atmosphere of fear persists for women involved in
politics and women's rights in Afghanistan, despite significant improvements
in women's lives since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001," the human
rights monitoring group said in releasing the report Oct. 5.

	One woman, an activist working in a northern Afghan province, told
Human
Rights Watch investigators that she had received threatening phone calls
saying she would be killed for her work and to make her "an example to other
women." Aside from activists, those who have experienced threats include
female journalists, humanitarian workers, and government and election
officials.

	The presidential elections in Afghanistan are being touted as a key
test for women re-entering public life since the removal three years ago of
the Taliban, the coalition that imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic
law and effectively banned women from the country's public sphere.

	Progress made since 2001 includes constitutional guarantees for
women's rights and educational access for more than 1 million Afghan girls,
Human Rights Watch noted. Another positive sign is found in voter
registration numbers, with more than 41 percent of the country's 10.5
registered million voters reportedly being women.

	But the report warned that multiple registrations have reportedly
inflated official pre-election figures, and that continued insecurity in some
parts of the country is preventing some women from registering.

	Human Rights Watch also warned that gains in women's rights "mask a
more
depressing reality."

	"Continuing religious and cultural conservatism, and a dangerous
security environment, mean that women still struggle to participate in the
country's evolving political institutions," the report said. Resurgent
Taliban forces, as well as regional military factions and religious
conservative leaders, "are limiting Afghan women's participation in society
through death threats, harassment, and physical attacks."

	The Human Rights Watch assessment also noted that religious
conservatives, the Taliban and U.S.-supported warlords often have similar
views about the role of women and that the United States and its allies have
not made the warlords' treatment of women a high priority.

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