Freedom on the march in Afghanistan

George W. Bush 03/01/06:

I'm going to repeat what I said before: We like stories, and expect stories, of young girls going to school in Afghanistan. It means a lot to the American people to hear the President say that. It means a lot for people to realize that there is an entrepreneurial class that's beginning to grow. We believe in hope, which is the exact opposite of the ideology of the bin Ladens of the world, and the Taliban. (my emphasis)

From Afghanistan: Women, Socially Bound and Officially Neglected by Zarghona Salihi and Habiburahman Ibrahimi Pajhwok Afghan News/Inter Press Service 03/27/06:

Women comprise half the population of Afghanistan, but they continued to suffer from official neglect and primitive social restrictions in 2005, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has reported.

The commission said it has documented 154 cases of self-immolation by women in the western zone during the year, while in the southern Helmand province, as many as 144 forced marriages and 25 money-for-opium marriages were reported. ...

A 29-year-old, named only as Amina, was dragged out of her parent's house in Urgu District, Badakhan province by her husband and local officials before being publicly stoned to death. The man accused of committing adultery with her is alleged to have been whipped a 100 times and freed.

Violence against women is widely accepted by the community and inadequately addressed by the government or judiciary. Instead, ''societal codes, invoked in the name of tradition and religion, are used as justification to deny women the ability to enjoy their fundamental rights'', Amnesty has said.

In April last year, authorities in northern Baghlan province, found the bodies of three women who had been sexually assaulted and dumped with a warning note to women to say at home. One of them worked with an aid agency.

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