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E-petition for the Rights of Women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
>I would ask you to read this and, if so motivated to sign it.
>
>The government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon women.
Since the
Taliban
>took power in 1996, women have had to wear 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 >for accidentally exposing her arm while she
was driving. Another was >stoned to death for trying to leave
the country with a man that was >not a relative.
>
>Women are not allowed to work or even go out in public
without a >male relative; professional women such as
professors, translators, >doctors, lawyers, artists and writers
have been forced from their jobs and >stuffed into their homes,
so that depression is becoming so widespread
that
>it has reached emergency levels.
>
>There is 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.
>
>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 >thatthey are never heard.
>
>Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest
misbehavior. >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. 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
protest. It is at
>the point where the term human rights violations' has become
an understatement.
>
>Husbands have the power of life and death over their women
>relatives, especially 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 in 1999 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 Ahlbom Goteborg, 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) Natalie Edwards, Charlottesville VA USA
>106) Cyndy Williams, Charlottesville, VA USA
>107) Donna Hall, Lynchburg, Va USA
>108) Robin Hinkle, Lynchburg, VA USA
>109) George Vass Venice, FL USA
>110) Martha Ferris, Moncks Corner, SC USA
>111) Teresa Smith, Charleston, SC, USA
>112) Terry Longo, Orlando, FL, USA
>113) Charlotte Downs, Orlando, FL, USA
>114) Laura M. Connaughton, Orlando, FL USA
>115) Ronit Doran, Tel Aviv, Israel
>116) Hagar Ronen, Tel Aviv, Israel
>117) Yael Ronen, Jerusalem, Israel
>118) Councillor Rev Ewan Aitken
>119) Rev Angus R. Mathieson
>120) Rev T. Alan W. Garrity
>121) Rev William G. Neill
>122) Rev Robert P Bell
>123) Rev John Stevenson
>124) Rev.Dave Robinson
>125) Rev. Robert Seipolt
>126) Mrs Kerry Seipolt
>127) Brouss Ironbark Chambers, God's Squad Melbourne,
Australia
>128) Holmesy, Melbourne Australia
>129) Lauren hogendoorn, Melbourne, Australia
>130) Kelly Caldwell, Melbourne, Australia
>131) Elisha Flint, Albury, Australia
>132) Amanda Matusch, Adelaide, Australia
>133) Susan Powell, Adelaide, Australia
>134) Brian Hanisch, Adelaide, Australia
>135) Trent Lay, Adelaide, Australia
>136) Benjamin Lewis, Adelaide, Australia
>137) Matthias Tomczak, Adelaide, Australia
>138) Kim Watson, Townsville, Australia
>139) Linda Lawyer, USA
>140) Roberta Newman, Charlotte, NC, USA
>141) Ann-AdOOe Lloyd, Asheville, NC, USA
>142) Victor Greentree, Neotsu OR USA
>143) Charles Schultz, Berea, KY USA
>144) Elizabeth Cozzo, Berea, KY USA
>145) Ruth Shields, Tokyo, JAPAN
>146) Aki Orimoto, Melbourne, Australia
>147) Kumiko Yukawa, Melbourne, Australia
>148) Ishiva Malga, Melbourne, Australia
>149) Lincoln Siliakus, Paris, France
>150) Simon Neville & Louise Duxbury, Denmark, Australia
>151) Kim and Marianna Greenham, Denmark, Western Australia
>152) Kym Sandover,Albany Western Australia
>153) Richard Sandover,Cottesle Western Australia
>154) Barbara Aukim, Kingsley, Western Australia
155) Natalie Aukim, Heathridge, Western Australia1551
156) Anne Cook, Leederville, Western Australia
157) Pat Cambridge Western Australia
158) Julie Watson, Western Australia
159) Theo Vanderpol, GA, USA
160) Simona Zavrelova, PTC, Georgia, USA
161) Jordan Alexander, GA, USA
162) Simona Dajko, GA, USA
163) Veronika Polanska, Vancouver, BC, Canada
164) Lucie Polanska, Vancouver, BC, Canada
165) James Richardson, Vancouver, BC, Canada
166) John Fyssas, Vancouver, BC, CANADA
167) Conrad Helten, Vancouver, BC, Canada
168)Carleen Lay, Vancouver, BC, Canada
169) Scott Rogers, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
170) Leslie Bolt, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
171) Angela Simo Brown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
172) Linda Luneau, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
173) A. Kareen Jackson, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
174) John Jackson, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
175) Daniel Jackson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
176) Brenda Jackson, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
177) Kahlil Cappuccino, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
178) Joanna Jackson, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
179) David Shapiro, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
180) Alison Toye, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
181) Tara Hamilton, McDonald's Corners, Ontario, Canada
182) Ella Hamilton, McDonald's Corners, Ontario, Canada
183) Adjala Hamilton, McDonald's Corners, Ontario, Canada
PLEASE COPY this email 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: sarabande@brandeis.edu <
mailto:sarabande@brandeis.edu>
mailto:sarabande@brandeis.edu
(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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