Violence against women is relentless despite the tightening of laws and efforts by the government and civil society.
Like every year Afghanistan observed the 16 days of global Activism against Gender-based Violence, from Nov 25 to Dec 10. The spotlight was on the burning of a girls’ school in Logar, massacre of five women in Kandahar airport, and the killing of a woman in Badghis, while in Nangarhar, a maulvi did nothing to stop the illegal marriage of a man to two sisters.
President Ashraf Ghani reiterated his government’s commitment to human rights on Dec 19 at a national conference in Kabul.
Sima Samar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), urged the president at the same conference to protect human rights through the rule of law, end the culture of exemption and strengthen relations between the government and people.
Nangarhar sisters
The old father of the two sisters, Nader Khan, has complained that his daughters were forced into marriage with a powerful local man, Welayat Khan. The man has trampled on the family honour, he complained. No one in authority has taken the slightest attention though he complained two months ago to local officials, he told a meeting of civil society groups in Kabul.
The man said his older daughter was given in marriage first. But she was sent home on the unproven complaint that she was not a virgin. Welayat Khan demanded her 13-year-old sister should be given in her place.
“Thirty people armed with rockets and Kalashnikov guns attacked my house and destroyed my family honour,” he said. He said that if the guilty were not punished, no one would ever feel safe in Afghanistan. “Today they took my daughter; tomorrow they will take someone else’s daughter. I am human and my rights must be protected,” he said.
Activist Hamida Wardak observed that both religion and power are abused by the powerful. “Anyone who has power and weapons can take away another’s daughter or sister; they think nothing of the woman or attacking others’ homes.”
AIHRC has appealed for justice to Nader Khan’s family. Sayed Abdul Ghafar Bacha, head of counter crimes in the Ministry of Interior Affairs told Killid that security forces arrested Welayat Khan on Dec 18 December on the orders of the president. Earlier Ataullah Khoogianai, the spokesperson, had said the main accused had fled and security officers had arrested only some individuals linked to the case. “The case has been referred to the Attorney General Office, and the four arrested are father of Welayat Khan, a local policeman, a mullah and a tribal leader,” Khoogianai said.
Death in Badghis
Taleban shot a woman in Badghis province on the complaints of her husband in a “desert” court. Abdul Rawoof Taj, provincial police chief, confirmed the killing on Dec 17 in the Daizangi area. The 25-year-old woman was twice married, and the Taleban shot her on the complaints of the first husband. She married again after she was divorced from her first husband but the man denied giving her a divorce and complained to the Taleban.
Mohammad Naser Nazari, member of the provincial council in Badghis, said the first husband was in Iran during the divorce and had given the permission through his lawyer. The woman who had two sons was ordered by the Taleban to leave her second husband and go back to her father’s house where she was shot dead.
The Taleban had similarly killed a woman in 2012 on the charge of fornication in Ghorband area of Parwan province, north of Kabul, arousing strong indignation. In January 2016 the Taleban shot a woman in Sar-e Pol province in similar circumstances but did not claim responsibility.
Five murders in Kandahar
Five female employees of Kandahar airport were tragically killed by armed men. The security officers put the blame on Taleban. Samim Khpelwak, spokesperson for the Kandahar governor, said the killings were to scare other working women. The women were in a minibus on their way to the airport when three motorbike riders shot at them. The women and the driver were killed, and the men managed to escape. The Taleban have not taken responsibility.
Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, Taleban spokesman with a Twitter account, wrote Taleban were not involved.
Arson in Logar girls’ school
The attack on the primary school for girls in Mohammad Agha was during the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. The Ministry of Education has confirmed the attack on the school where 500 girls were enrolled, and the police have offered reward for any information. But Taleban have not taken responsibility.
Logar police say 2,000 books including copies of the holy Quran, desks, chairs and other furniture were burnt. The targeting of women’s educational institutions has widened the gap between male and female enrolment figures in Afghanistan. It has had an impact on women’s development indicators including health with women not being able to access even basic services.
