MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1999

Afghan women under fire

Perhaps the most egregious and systematic trampling of human rights is taking place against 11 1/2 million women and girls in Afganistan. Under the brutal oppression of the Talihan (since 1996), women are forbidden to work or attend school. Thousands of war widows beg on the streets to feed their children. They must wear garments which completely shroud the body with only a small mesh opening for the eyes. Women are virtual prisoners in their homes. Windows are painted black and females are prohibited from leaving the confines of their abode unless accompanied by a close male relative. Females are not allowed to be treated by male doctors, even in dire emergencies. Health care has all but vanished.

Punishment of even the slightest infractions of these draconian decrees are severe and often result in torture, dismemberment or execution.

A women's thumb was cut off because she used nail polish. Another was shot at when taking her child to a hospital without an escort. An unmarried female, pregnant by rape, may be killed to save family honor. Public stoning (where people are buried up to their necks and stoned until dead) is the capital punishment of choice. Depression is prevalent and suicide common.

The Taliban claim is to follow a pure, fundamentalist Islamic ideology. But they perpetrate against women, which has no basis in Islam. Prior to the arrival of this barbaric regime and their horrific edicts, women in Afghanistan were educated, employed, wore contemporary clothes, voted and moved about freely.

Buckling under pressure, the Unocal Corporation withdrew from a consortium that planned to build an $8 billion energy pipeline system in war-torn Afghanistan. It is imperative that continued pressure be brought against the Taliban and corporations doing business with them. We cannot allow these terrible crimes against humanity to continue with impunity. Gender apartheid is not cultural - it is criminal.

To help send an instant e-mail to the U.S. government officials and the United Nations from the Feminist Majority website: http://www.feminist.org. Or write your own letters.

Call the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid at 1-888-93-WOMEN for a petition to circulate and further information. Boycott products of companies doing business with the Taliban. Cut out this article, copy it and circulate it. Tell others.

- Diana Lejine

Long Beach resident

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