A Case Study of Afghan Women’s Rights Essay

sheepskin coatiistan has fuck almost three decades of continuous contest, which has on a lower floormined the physiological and informal security measures of afghanistaniistani wo work force in plain as well as urban environments. In a historical analysis, rape prevalence and knowledgeable soldiers group be directly connect to heathenish conflict and contendring factions. The Inter matter merger has exacerbated the conundrum of fightlord-dominance in the terra firmaside by utilizing blue every(prenominal)iance militias in the struggle on Terror. These militias make records of extensive homo rights abuses and contend crimes, including the perpetration of systemic rape campaigns for ethnic-cleansing. benignant rights abuses force Afghan women to live on in terror.1 Sixteen-year-old Nazias family wedded her to a forty-year-old man, Mumtaz, in September 2007.2 Two weeks later, her husband daily round her for no obvious reason. 3 Mumtaz had conk out um brageous that Nazia met other men secretly, so he beat her until she fainted ensure much Ethnic groups and racism essay.4 He trussed her d bear and broke her teeth with a stone.5 He poured boiling pissing on her feet.6 When Nazia attendantly did non pass water dinner for him because she could non stand, he tied her up and beat her again.7 While lasting the wildness, she felt an excruciating pain in her left and right ears and tasted blood silken down her face.8 Mumtaz had cut off her ears and her wander with hisknife.9 Nazias story, told from her hospital bed in Qalat,Afghanistan, 10 serves as an example of the betrothal of women in Afghanistan11 and the human rights violations targeted atwomen.12 Human rights abuses against Afghan women occur daily.13 Women face punishment such(prenominal)(prenominal) as frequent whippings, stonings, and imprisonment for unwittingly exposing their ankles or for wearing brightly colourize shoes.14 Although Afghanistans current consti tution,15 and the world(prenominal) treaties 16 to which Afghanistan is a signatory, enumerate fair to middling rights for women and men, 17 poor right givement, lose of awargonness about womens rights,and standpat(prenominal) traditions 18 pr regular(a)t the promise of mates rights from becoming a reality.19 in spite of these guarantees of womens fundamental rights, significant ch each(prenominal)enges remain for Afghan women in terms of implementing the constitutional provisions, and reconciling the to a greater extent(prenominal) conservative and male-dominated aspects of Afghan inn with culturally pragmatic conceptions of sex beity.20 The 2003 shaping also requires that Afghanistan abide by world-wide conventions that it has signed,21 including the Convention on the excreta of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),22 yet Afghan women and girls cover to cause from entrenched secernment end-to-end the country.23 As a result, Afghanistan is current ly a inductn for severe human rights abuses against women and girls.24 Women argon the victims of discrimination and human rights abuses because Muslim societies often interpret human rights for women to conflict with Muslim lawfulness of nature. 25 Afghanistan is one of these societies.26 Despite equate rights for women and men written in the 2003 physical composition, Afghan women are not afforded rights set out-to doe with to men in work out, and they playly live in terror. 27 This comment holdes gender rights in Afghanistan, focusing on go along human rights violations28 despite Afghanistans world-wide treaty obligations 29 and prohibitions against discrimination in the 2003 Afghan nature.A member of the Bamyan Provincial Council, Wahidi Beheshti, is accused of vote downing a young girl named Shakila on January 22 this year in his own house in Bamyan responsibleness. She had been raped by Beheshti and then killed with a gun of his bodyguard. Beheshtis family cl aimed Shakila had perpetrate suicide however forensics turn out that she had been killed. Wahidi Beheshti denied any involvement in the weigh just the patrol had also express that Shakila had been killed with a gun of Beheshtis bodyguard Qurban. Also the forensics who performed the postmortem said they had open evidence that Shakila had been raped by Beheshti originally she was killed. According to Mohammad Alam, Shakilas buddy, two Beheshti and his nephew Abdul Wahab were present at the scene of the murder just both(prenominal) denied their heraldic bearing. He had told Bokhdi News Agency, Wahidi Beheshti menace my family by phone several clock and demanded that we cooperate with them so that the thing is solved quietly. He promised in his phone calls that he exit pay the court tones to free Qurban (accused of murder) and wrap up the matter in whatever instruction possible.Wahidi Beheshtis brother Fokori Beheshti is a member of the fantan and his father was a st rongman in the field of honor during the 1990s. The case is under deliberation in a court in Bamyan province notwithstanding Beheshtis powerful brother and friends are trying to free him by any means possible. According to sources Fokori Beheshti, tell Hussain Anwari and Said Alimi Balkhi (all members of the national assembly) ready pressurized the police forensics not to present evidence of Shakilas rape by Wahidi Beheshti to the court. In a country where so-called lawmakers rape and kill an innocent girl, it is however natural to attend obstruction of justice.There are thousands of Shakilas who go along victims or live a disembodied spirit of pain and sufferings, and hundreds of Beheshtis who roam about freely thanks to the impunity given to them by beastly local commanders, misogynist lawmakers and judges, and ultimately the baby mafia politics.30 During the consultations, a major(ip)ity of women express that they fuddle not meaning replete(p)y touch officipated in planning for the Security intonation. In the provinces where Transition has yet to officially boodle, women do not believe they allow for be mixed in consultations to determine future plans, steps, and activities associated with the canalize of security authority.Recent consultations also revealed that women do not feel that Afghan national Security Forces are responsive to womens take and do not touch on human rights standards. Women perceive Afghan guinea pig Security Forces as not having the full potentiality and expertise prerequisite to address the security postulate of Afghan citizens, small-armicularly women and children. They also believe that in young geezerhood, little attention has been given to score the capacity of ANSF to improve civilianian regard to existing laws and advance regulation of law by demonstrating that raft who violate laws will be punished. However, women still expressed a strong interest in the world-wide conjunction continuing to work to throw the capacity and adequately resource the ANSF. constitution makers in Afghanistan reiterate again and again that transition is not about legions and security matters alone, however practical experience on the ground shows that there isnt adequate attention paid to stir rule of law, governance, and access to justice. Similarly, it is unclear how such work ates are impacting womens security. Transition should start from a citizen-articulated vision in which women and men of Afghanistan take responsibility for their better future.The route map for the exit of world(prenominal) forces is necessary however, an accelerated withdrawal will endanger the investments of human life and material resources generously contributed by more than than 40 nations, not to mention the numerous casualties of Afghan content Security Forces and enormous sacrifice by the this countrys women, men and children. Women nerves and activists flip better access to local communities and a re aware about the challenges and causes of hazard in their communities therefore they should be consulted and included to verify that security and transition plans are implement success richly.BACKGROUNDA. Treatment of Women in Afghanistan from the govern of the Soviet trades union to the Present pursual civil war in Afghanistan in 1978, the Soviet Union took control of Afghanistan and created umpteen opportunities for women,including aggressive literacy programs.31 Under the Soviet Unions Communist governing body activityfrom 1979 to 1992, Afghan women enjoyed advert rights and loving, economic, and semipolitical license.32 In the 1980s, the Communists enforced equal rights for women and men in a civil-war-torn Afghanistan.33 As a result, women held a greater tote up of business, law enforcement, and Parliament positions than they did prior to the civil war. 34 Furthermore, education and employment became more accessiblely accept fit for women.35 As a result, women fabricated positions as lawyers, entertainers, and doctors.36 As smash of this greater freedom, women saw more educational, employment, and pro opportunities. 37 In 1979, female students even outnumbered male students at universities.38In 1992,39 the Communist regime fell and the Muslim read of Afghanistan assumed control.40 Subsequently, the rights and self-worth of women went out the window41 The 1977 constitution that guaranteed equal rights for women and men was throw out 42 The Moslem State of Afghanistan began to remove womens rights systematically, and institutionalized versatile violations against women.43 In 1993, the Islamic State of Afghanistan govern women must be completely covered, women could not wear perfume or makeup, and womens freedom and mobility would be restricted.44The justification for these rulings was that men become too excited by women and are tempted to stray from the Islamic way of life, and the restrictions on women reduce this temptation.4 5 In addition, other, more violent human rights abuses towards women occurred under the Islamic State of Afghanistan, such as torture, rape, and sexual abuse.46 Interestingly, also in 1993, as part of the Vienna firmness of purpose,47 Afghanistan formally reaffirmed its faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal rights of men and women48 The Vienna Declaration also stressed the importance of eliminating violence against women and any conflicts that may arise betwixt the rights of women and the harmful effects of certain tralatitious or customary practices, cultural prejudices and spectral extremism.49 Despite Afghanistans part in the Vienna Declaration, human rights abuses against women continued as the Taliban 50 emerged as a explosive presence in Afghanistan.51 Taliban rule, which lasted from 1996 to 2001,52 resulted in major set moxies for women.53 The Taliban matureed as a political-religious force,54 and eventually se ized the cities of Kandahar in 1994, Herat in 1995, and Kabul, Afghanistans capital, in 1996.55 Before the Taliban captured Kabul, women make up seventy percent of teachers, forty percent of doctors, and generally worked in all areas of employment.56 After the Taliban fully seized power, it severely oppressed womens rights.57 The oppressive Taliban policies violated fall in Nations treaties, but the Taliban asserted that the treaties duties were inconsistent with religious law and cultural practices.58 The Taliban began by closing all schools for girls and forbidding women to work outside the house. 59 The Taliban imposed rules on women, restricting their freedom of movement, dress, education, and employment.60 The women and girls who violated these rules received punishments, including beatings on the streets, amputation of limbs, and public executions.61 The Taliban justified its practices in accordance with its recital of the Quran,62claiming to follow a pure, fundamentalist I slamic ideology.63 Taliban leading enforced the law as they saw fit and prohibited differing exposition.64 The plight of Afghan women living under the Taliban regime became an issue of global concern. 65 After the terrorist attacks on the World occupation Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent United States legions invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the Taliban regime collapsed.66 This study presented women with the opportunity to commove for gender equality.67On December 5, 2001, the Bonn Agreements 68 mandated that the transitional Administration of Afghanistan set up a Constitutional Commission to draft a untried constitution.69 The Constitutional Commissions mandate was to ascertain the Afghan bulks desires, both inside the country and abroad, regarding their new constitution.70 The xxxv member accusation drafted the new constitution. 71 Seven of the thirty-five commission members were women, 72 which ensured the participation of women i n the constitution making surgical procedure73 As part of the drafting commission, Afghan women were finally able to play a role in addressing womens fundamental rights in the 2003 Constitution.74 transnationalistist POLICY REVIW AND RECOMMENDATIONS struggle and political insecurity in Afghanistan are directly related to rape incidence and sexual violence, curiously under a free direct of ethnically divided militia factions. By empowering the conglutinationern Alliance militias, the world-wide company has created a long-term institutional problem that will undermine the democratic transition. not only do these warlords receive the military capacity to affect the electoral operatees in their localities, but their de facto rule of the countryside also incapacitates the central authority in maintaining effective governance. The prevalence of warlords has also been legitimized done with(predicate) the democratic process, which offers militia commanders an opportunity to en gage the political process in an official capacity bit secretly maintaining their criminal and military powers. As a result, the international community has made the long-term presence of coalition military forces necessary for maintaining law and arrange.Because the international community empowered these militias in the War on Terror, the presence of international forces is required to turn back the commanders under control, in browse to countermand the brutality and violence of the civil war period. The juvenile decision by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to ontogenesis the number of International Security helper Force (ISAF) troops to expand the international mission into the unstable countryside is the most recent attempt to bolster the central governments effectiveness in the country-bred regions.75 The expanded mission has been hailed as the final result to transition from warlord rule to democratic self-governance. The Canadian military recently annou nced that its new troop contingent expects to remain in Kandahar province for up to 20 years to help restore the country and prevent another collapse into civil war. These forces are expected to act as a stabilizing force to keep warlords in check.However, a long-term international presence might be alarming to Afghans who have a history of deep xenophobia and repugnance towards occupying forces. Furthermore, regional and international power struggles surrounded by Pakistan and India, and the USA and Russia have exacerbated Afghanistans home(a) fragmentation, as international military forces continue to mobilize paramilitary groups against their rivals. Afghan people have also grown suspicious of the international humanitarian agenda in Afghanistan, which diverts a majority percentage of international funds to private security and overseas salaries, rather than food, medicine, or other vitally needed supplies for Afghan people.There are four key actions that the International coalescence and civil parliamentary law of magnitude actors must drive in value to correct the political chaos that has emerged in the post-Taliban period, which undermines the rights and testimonial of Afghan women. First, American forces must stop financial backing militias for use against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the War on Terror. By utilizing these proxy militias, the international community has disempowered Afghan people and undermined the capacity of the central government to protect its citizens and enforce its laws. The resulting political instability and preponderance of foreign-backed warlords and militia groups in the countryside also directly threatens both the physical and sexual security of boorish Afghan women. Second, the warlords that the US-led coalition co-opted during the offensive against the Taliban, who presently hold official Parliamentary and storage locker positions in the central government, must be stripped of their political power in the new democracy.Furthermore, those warlords accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual abuse, must be brought before both local courts and international tribunals. In order to establish a culture of social reconciliation and peace-building, all human rights violations committed during the four war periods must be resolved through healthy and social mechanisms that provide rape victims with the opportunity to prove justice for atrocities perpetrated against them. Traditional values, specially those pertaining to women, the family, and social justice, must be considered in the development of laws that address violence against women. Third, in order to address the survival demand of the majority of Afghan women, international civil alliance actors must invest in rural development, health, and education, and co-operate with local partner organizations. Currently, international financing for humanitarian assistance is directed in general towards the more stable and accessible urban environments, where international organizations have developed dislocated communities of wealthy ex-patriots.Rampant accusations that non-governmental organizations have waste Afghanistans international funding through dubious projects and lofty salaries for foreign workers must also be investigated, in order to establish legitimacy and accountability within the civil golf-club network. The creation of an internationally-sponsored, government-monitored, socially responsible, and grassroots civil society in rural Afghanistan would empower rural women in their communities and development the capacity of the central government in the lawless countryside. Fourth, the traditional Islamic culture and values of Afghans must be complyed in the development of womens rights policies.Historically, Afghans have opposed radical changes in womens social and legal status, especially those that they perceived violated the principles of Islamic law. In order to maintain a burnish of legitimacy with rural peoples, the international community must demonstrate an understanding of and respect for traditional norms and Islamic religious values, including those pertaining to women. By operating within culturally tender frameworks, the international community would avoid un kindred backlash and better address the take of Afghan women.The failure of the state of Afghanistan rest the most fundamental obstacle in the promotion of gender equality, as without the distinctiveness to enforce domestic legal and political reforms in rural areas, the government is faineant in most of the country. The International partnership in Afghanistan must cease empowering and enabling warlords and militia commanders for convenient military purposes, which essentially impedes efforts to bring rapists and human rights violators to justice in local and international arenas. Coalition forces and the international community must also remain conscious of the deep Islamic fount of the Afghan people, as it pertains to cultural norms that give to women, sex, and family relations.The recommendations listed above build upon and supplement the concrete recommendations developed by Afghan women who have advocated for their inclusion in peace and security processes over many years. Each time, women have worked to develop solutions for what needs to be through to improve their situation. AWN brings a number of these recommendations back to the memory of policy makers who may have read Afghan Women Position piece of music toward Bonn and Beyond. This is a reflection to evaluate the take of seriousness and attention that might have been put towards the demands of women since September 2011.1. Womens organization should be included in designing, observe and evaluating indicators that measure the impact of transition on women. Transition decisions should be based, in part, on results of this monitoring. 2. The recruitment of Afghan Local patrol (ALP) and o ther security alternative needs to include a transparent vetting process so that former and current warlords with front record of human rights violations do not automatically become part of the national forces. A portion of the vetting process should be community based, allowing womens groups and women from communities to report on the background of the newly enrolled security forces 3. Women leaders in government and civil society are under constant attack, part it is necessary to ensure womens protection in general, women leaders protection needs to be a priority as per their critical role as agents of change in society against conservative elements pickings Afghanistan back to 1990.4. The Afghan government should have a clear reporting process for the human rights instruments and international laws that it has signed and needs to demonstrate that Afghan laws are not in contradiction with its international legal commitments for women.5. A joint International Afghanistan War Memo ry Commission should be created so that the past 30 years of war violations are identified and there is a documentation process as a matter of conflict prevention. Such an investigation does not have to conclude in a legal trial but a memory of war and the theme of a healing process. Otherwise, the practice of impunity will not unite Afghans towards a rule of law culture.CONCLUSIONAfghanistan is still a haven for gender violence and discrimination despite equal rights enumerated in the Afghan Constitution. 76The Afghan Constitution requires that Afghanistan abide by the UDHR, the U.N. Charter, and other international treaties to which Afghanistan is a signatory. 77 However, these rights are unrealized in practice due to problems with the judiciary, such as insufficiency of training and corruption,78 and the lack of awareness among the Afghan people of the law.79 To remedy these problems, Afghanistan should interpret its Constitution in accordance with Islamic laws adjacent the ex amples of Iran80 and Egypt81 Afghanistan should train the judiciary not only on secular law, but on how to interpret the Constitution and international law in accordance with Sharia.If feasible, respected Islamic judges from Egypt should provide guidance to Afghanistans judges.Furthermore, Afghanistan should simultaneously disseminate information like the Bench Book 82 to increase womens awareness and understanding of their rights and the procedural mechanisms to report infringement upon their rights. As Afghanistan continues to develop and strengthen its legal infrastructure within the framework of Islamic law, progressive interpretation of the Sharia is necessary in order for constitutional laws to be accepted and followed by Muslims.83 As the people of Afghanistan become more aware of the laws that govern their state and as they accept that womens rights principles can co-exist with Islamic principles, womens participation in society and politics will improve. This would be a la rge and overdue step for Afghanistan.References1. collar Jessica Nash, Editorial, Afghan Women Forced to Live in Terror, W. GEORGIAN, Oct. 17, 2007, http//media.www.thewestgeorgian.com/media/storage/paper523/news/2007/10/1 7/Opinion/Afghan.Women.Forced.To.Live.In.Terror-3035567-page2.shtml. 2. Nazia Afghanistan My conserve cut out off My Ears and Nose and skint My Teeth, IRIN NEWS, Dec. 26, 2007,http//www.irinnews.org/HOVReport.aspx?ReportId=76003. 3. Id.4. Id.5. Id.6. Id.7. Id.8. Nazia Afghanistan My Husband Cut off My Ears and Nose and Broke My Teeth, higher up annotating 2. 9. Id. (showing pictures of the mutilation).10. Id.11. Michael Stittle, Warlords No remedy Than Taliban, Says Afghan MP, CTV NEWS, Nov. 8. 2007, http//www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071107/Malalai-Joya 071107/20071107/. 12. See Nash, supra note 1.13. See id.14. Id.15. The 502 delegate Loya Jirga ( dreadful Council) passed the 2003 Afghan Constitution on January 4, 2004, which governs Afgh anistan to mean solar day. crowd together INGALUS, THE NEW AFGHAN CONSTITUTION A STEP BACKWARDS FOR DEMOCRACY 1-2 (2004), http//www.fpif.org/ paper/2004afghanconst.html. 16. See infra notes 105-09 and accompanying text.17. See infra notes 87-90.18. Women Workers Exposed to Health Risks in Herat Factories, IRIN NEWS, Oct. 30, 2007, http//www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75048. 19. See, e.g., Nash, supra note 1 (explaining that womens freedoms are restricted every day in Afghanistan). 20. Horia Mosadiq, The New Afghan Constitution How Women Succeeded in Ensuring Certain Rights and What Challenges Remain, 3 diminutive HALF 28, 28 (2005), available at http//www. womenforwomen.org/news-women-forwomen/ files/crit-half/CHJournalv3.pdf. 21. AFG. CONST. art. 7, available at http//afghanland.com/history/constitution.html. 22. United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women States Parties, http//www.un.org/ womenwatch/ jackdaw/cedaw/states.htm (last visited Oct. 18,2008) hereinafter CEDAW States Parties. 23. Human Rights Watch, more Business Than prevalent The Work Which Awaits the Human Rights Council, Mar. 12, 2007, http//hrw.org/englisb/docs/2007/03/12/sudanl5471.htm hereinafter HRW, More Business Than Usual. 24. Id.25. Katherine M. Weaver, Comment, Womens Rights and Sharia impartiality A Workable Reality? An mental testing of Possible International Human Rights Approaches through the Continuing Reform of the Pakistani hudood Ordinance, 17 DUKE J. COMP. & INTL L. 483, 483 (2007). 26. See supra notes 15-21 and accompanying text.27. See Nash, supra note 1. 28. HRW, More Business Than Usual, supra note 23 (Afghan women and girls continue to suffer from entrenched discrimination throughout the country.). 29. CEDAW States Parties, supra note 22. Afghanistan acceded the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on border 5, 2003. Id. 30. See http//www .rawa.org/temp/runews/2012/07/18/a-member-of-bamyan-s-provincial-council-accused-of-raping-and-murdering-a-teenage-girl.html .