[R-G] Fwd: Equality Now: Write to the officials calling for the reinstatement of Malalai Joya

[Anthony Fenton]

Begin forwarded message:

> Afghanistan: Peace and Security Undermined: Suspension of Malalai  
> Joya from Parliament
>
> Please write to the officials calling for the reinstatement of  
> Malalai Joya
>
> Equality Now, Women's Action 21.5, October 2007
> Spanish version | French version | Arabic version
>
>
> Malalai Joya in Press Conference in Kabul on May 21
> Malalai Joya entered Afghanistan's new Parliament in September 2005  
> pledging to "protect the rights of the oppressed and safeguard  
> women's rights." She won the second highest number of votes in  
> Farah province, taking her seat in the Lower House (Wolesi Jirga).  
> A staunch critic of the warlords and defender of women's rights,  
> Malalai has consistently been stopped from speaking in Parliament  
> or had speeches cut short, has survived a number of assassination  
> attempts and is forced to sleep in different places every night in  
> order to stay alive.
>
> On 21 May 2007 Malalai was suspended from Parliament for an  
> interview she gave to a private Afghan television station in which  
> she lamented that the Afghan Parliament was worse than a stable of  
> animals. She was suspended under Article 70 of the Rules of  
> Procedures of the Wolesi Jirga. These rules were undergoing  
> revision at the time and had not yet been approved by Parliament.  
> Article 70 proposes that a Member of the Assembly will be subject  
> to disciplinary procedures in the event of a number of offenses,  
> including "intimidation and threatening of a member, defamation and  
> accusation of others, insult and desecration against the  
> administrative board government officials and the staffers of the  
> general secretariat". Under Article 70, the Member can be suspended  
> for one day and for a further unspecified number of days at the  
> request of the administrative board (comprising of central  
> government and local offices) and approval of the Wolesi Jirga.  
> Malalai's conduct was not r! eferred to the administrative board .  
> Instead, she was suspended following a majority show of hands by  
> the Wolesi Jirga. Malalai wrote directly to the Supreme Court to  
> protest her suspension and the procedure used to secure it. The  
> Afghan Constitution protects freedom of speech and gives immunity  
> from prosecution for views expressed during the performance of  
> parliamentary duty. She subsequently heard through a television  
> announcement that her case would be referred to the appropriate  
> court. However, there is still no official indication as to how or  
> when her case will be dealt with. In the meantime, she remains  
> suspended from Parliament, leaving her constituency without proper  
> representation.
>
> Malalai has been continually threatened and abused both within  
> parliament and outside. She has recounted Members of Parliament  
> calling her a "prostitute" or "whore." On 7 May 2006 Member of  
> Parliament Almas Khan spoke about the anniversary and achievements  
> of the day that freedom fighters (Mujahidin) seized power from the  
> Afghan communist regime, which was followed by civil war among  
> various groups. Malalai on this occasion was given the opportunity  
> to speak. She commented on Mr. Almas' claim that the atrocities  
> committed during this time were mistakes, condemning them instead  
> as criminal acts. Her speech resulted in members of parliament  
> hurling water bottles at her and it has been widely reported that  
> some parliamentarians called for her to be raped and killed.  
> According to another Member of Parliament, it was also reported  
> that Rasul Sayyaf, a former warlord who has himself been accused by  
> human rights organizations of war crimes, ordered someone to wait  
> by the door! and stab Malalai as she walked out. Malalai was  
> protected by other Members of Parliament who formed a human ring  
> around her and enlisted the protection of security forces.
>
> Since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Afghan women have  
> been calling for equal rights and highlighting the urgent need for  
> human security. At the Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy,  
> organized by Equality Now in coalition with other women's  
> organizations in December 2001, 40 Afghan women leaders recommended  
> the central inclusion of women in decision-making and all peace  
> processes, endorsed principles of non-discrimination based on  
> gender, age, ethnicity, disability, religion and political  
> affiliation, and called for assurance of a safe and secure  
> environment for women and girls. Afghanistan ratified the  
> Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination  
> Against Women (CEDAW) in March 2003 and adopted a new Constitution  
> in January 2004, which provides for equal rights for women and men  
> before the law. However, women continue to be violently targeted in  
> Afghanistan and denied equal rights and equal protection of the  
> law. The United Nations Development Fun! d for Women (UNIFEM)  
> published research in 2006 documenting systematic abuse of women's  
> rights in Afghanistan, including violence against women instigated  
> by state actors such as the army and police, including forced  
> prostitution, forced marriage, rape, kidnapping and sexual  
> assaults. In June 2007 two women journalists were murdered with  
> many others receiving death threats. On 25 September 2006 Safia Ama  
> Jan, the southern provincial head of Afghanistan's Ministry of  
> Women's Affairs, was murdered outside the front gate of her  
> Kandahar home. In recent months a large number of schools for girls  
> have been forced to close after being attacked.
>
> United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 recognizes the  
> critical role of women in promoting peace and security and calls  
> for increased representation of women in decision-making. Malalai  
> Joya was duly elected to Parliament and has been consistently and  
> courageously speaking out for human rights, recognizing that  
> respect for human rights is fundamental to peace and security. Her  
> suspension undermines democracy in Afghanistan and is a violation  
> of her rights, as well as the rights of those she represents.
>
> Recommended Actions
>
> Please write to the officials below calling for the reinstatement  
> of Malalai Joya and a full investigation into the way she was  
> excluded from representing her constituency and participating in  
> parliamentary proceedings. Remind them of the provisions of the  
> Afghan Constitution that guarantee freedom of speech and women's  
> equality. Insist that the right of Malalai Joya and all other  
> Members of Parliament to peacefully express their views be  
> protected and that procedures be put in place to prevent the  
> suppression of free speech and democracy. Call on these officials  
> to ensure the personal safety of Malalai and all others seeking to  
> protect and promote their full equal rights under the Constitution.
>
> President Hamid Karzai
> Gul Khana Palace
> Presidential Palace
> Kabul, Afghanistan
> president at afghanistangov.org
>
> Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi
> Afghan Supreme Court
> Charai Seahat Hama
> Microyana
> Kabul, Afghanistan
>
> Yunus Qanooni, Speaker of the House
> Afghanistan National Assembly
> Wolesi Jirga
> Kabul, Afghanistan
>
> Please send copies of your letters to:
>
> Dr. Husn Banu Ghazanfar
> Minister of Women's Affairs
> Ministry of Women's Affairs
> Shar-e-naw
> Kabul, Afghanistan
>
>
>