* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Regardless of what they agree to on paper, the Taliban will never agree that human rights belong to women as well as to men and that women’s human rights must be protected.
The Taliban has opened an office in Doha, Qatar, and claims to want to negotiate a peaceful end to the long war in Afghanistan.
Although we yearn for peace, Women for Afghan Women (WAW) believes that far from achieving that goal, negotiating with the Taliban is the way to brutal repression. The Taliban have not changed since their years of fundamentalist, totalitarian reign over Afghanistan in the 1990s. And WAW’s position has not changed. We are against negotiations with the Taliban.
The Taliban are murderers and terrorists who will stop at nothing to achieve totalitarian rule over Afghanistan.
At 6:30 one morning last week, they conducted a brazen attack on the president’s palace. We awoke to TV images of little girls and boys and their teachers at a nearby school crawling out from under rubble.
Regardless of what they agree to on paper, the Taliban will never agree that human rights belong to women as well as to men and that women’s human rights must be protected. They oppose this fundamental right: the education of females. They have burned down hundreds of girls’ schools and murdered their teachers. Above all, they will never respect and obey the Afghan constitution or participate in a democratic political process in Afghanistan. If they were willing to do that, they’d have run for seats in the parliament.
From the moment the idea of negotiations between the US and the Taliban was first bandied about, Women for Afghan Women was vehemently opposed. Our position was not easy. We were virtually alone. International newspapers, op-ed writers, talking heads, members of the U.S. Congress, and women’s rights activists heralded the idea while we took it on the chin, were called anti-peace war mongers, lovers of the military. But lately, the anti-negotiation position has been gaining momentum. We are no longer alone, and we are not surprised. But more people must come to their senses.
Many readers must remember having been sickened by the Taliban treatment of women in the 1990s. Prepare to be sickened again if the Taliban regain their power, which is the obvious outcome of negotiations. Their actions of the past 12 years show that they have not changed one bit. They have not agreed to respect and obey the Afghan constitution or participate in a democratic political process. Thus they have not run for parliament in Afghan elections. They want much more than a few seats in that body, conservative though it is. Instead, they have burned down hundreds of girls’ schools, thrown acid in the faces of girls attending school, and murdered their teachers. They stoke violence against the government and against women throughout the country.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the source of their treatment of women, their denial of women’s fundamental humanity, is Islam or religious piety. Buying into that allows you to say, “Hands off, they have a right to their beliefs.” Consider instead that their subjugation of women is the Taliban route to possessing Afghanistan, lock, stock and barrel. Thus, they will never agree that human rights belong to women. Keeping a population, even half a population in a state of ignorance, unable to read or write, to add or subtract, is a means of control. So is denying the people the joy and comfort of music or art. It’s a strategy to gain power. It worked before and it will work again. It will eradicate the impressive strides the country has made toward democracy and women’s rights in a mere 12 years. These are strides the U.S. has wanted and worked for in Afghanistan but is now willing to throw away though a negotiated agreement that everyone knows will fail to control the Taliban appetite for power.
The ugliest aspect of the U.S. effort to negotiate with the Taliban is not that it ignores the fate of 14 million women, whom we have promised not to abandon -although that is certainly shameful. The ugliest aspect is that the Afghan people themselves do not want the Taliban to have any role in their country’s future. They believe the U.S. is handing them over to brutal thugs, whom they despise, consigning them to hell. In other words, the U.S. is pushing hard for these negotiations against the will of the people themselves. Those of you who think we have had no business being in Afghanistan to begin with should ask yourselves if we’re justified in leaving the country this way. Here, Taliban, take them all. We are tired. We are getting out. They are yours.
For all these reasons, and especially because the US is negotiating a settlement with the enemy of the people of Afghanistan, who do not want the Taliban in their government or even in their country, Women for Afghan Women has been opposed to negotiations since they were first mentioned. It has been a difficult time for us because we stood alone, cut off from multitudes of people who let their eagerness for peace warp their judgment: politicians, journalists, talking heads, other women’s rights advocates and ordinary people who are tired of the war (as we are). Many are our supporters and our friends; others are people we have respected. We were risking a lot when we spoke out, but we spoke out every chance we had.
Lately, however, there has been a shift in attitude. People are coming to their senses. They are beginning to see that the Taliban cannot be trusted, that they will not honor any agreement they sign. They want all of Afghanistan for themselves and will take it. They already have a name for their new country: the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
This is our plea to President Obama and President Karzai:
The Afghan people do not want the Taliban to have any role in Afghanistan’s future. They have made this clear in poll after poll. Do not hand over this country to its ruthless enemy. Please call off these talks and never again give the Taliban the opportunity to posture as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. The Taliban will not be happy with a negotiated deal - their objective is to take over Afghanistan. Instead, please put all your efforts and resources into ensuring a fair and transparent electoral process next year in which all Afghans have the time, the information, and the security they need to vote.
And to all our supporters and the supporters of human rights around the world:
The people of Afghanistan want progress, not regression to Taliban rule. Do not abandon them.
Manizha Naderi is the executive director of Women for Afghan Women, one of the largest women’s rights non-government organisations in Afghanistan. The organization runs eight shelters in different provinces in Afghanistan for women who have been grossly abused. We are opening more in 2013. We employ only local Afghans, 430 staff members, whose lifelong understanding of Afghan culture permeates WAW policy. We have transitional houses for women and girls leaving prisons and shelters. In all our facilities, we focus on education: literacy, life skills, human rights, vocational training.
