[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 68 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 68

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the treatment of women and 
                  girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 1999

  Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the treatment of women and 
                  girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Whereas more than 11,000,000 women and girls living under Taliban rule in 
        Afghanistan are denied their basic human rights;
Whereas according to the Department of State and international human rights 
        organizations, the Taliban continues to commit widespread and well-
        documented human rights abuses, in gross violation of internationally 
        accepted norms;
Whereas, according to the United States Department of State Country Report on 
        Human Rights Practices (hereafter ``1998 State Department Human Rights 
        Report''), violence against women in Afghanistan occurs frequently, 
        including beatings, rapes, forced marriages, disappearances, kidnapings, 
        and killings;
Whereas women and girls in Afghanistan are barred from working, going to school, 
        leaving their homes without an immediate male family member as 
        chaperone, visiting doctors, hospitals or clinics, and receiving 
        humanitarian aid;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, gender 
        restrictions by the Taliban continue to interfere with the delivery of 
        humanitarian assistance to women and girls in Afghanistan;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, women in 
        Afghanistan are forced to don a head-to-toe garment known as a burqa, 
        which has only a mesh screen for vision, and women in Afghanistan found 
        in public not wearing a burqa, or wearing a burqa that does not properly 
        cover the ankles, are beaten by Taliban militiamen;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, some poor 
        women in Afghanistan cannot afford the cost of a burqa and thus are 
        forced to remain at home or risk beatings if they go outside the home 
        without one;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, the lack of 
        a burqa has resulted in the inability of some women in Afghanistan to 
        get necessary medical care because they cannot leave home;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, women in 
        Afghanistan are reportedly beaten if their shoe heels click when they 
        walk;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, women in 
        homes in Afghanistan must not be visible from the street, and houses 
        with female occupants must have their windows painted over;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, women in 
        Afghanistan are not allowed to drive, and taxi drivers reportedly are 
        beaten if they take unescorted women as passengers;
Whereas according to the 1998 State Department Human Rights Report, women in 
        Afghanistan are forbidden to enter mosques or other places of worship; 
        and
Whereas women and girls of all ages in Afghanistan have suffered needlessly and 
        even died from curable illness because they have been turned away from 
        health care facilities because of their gender: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the President should instruct the United States 
        Representative to the United Nations to use all appropriate 
        means to prevent the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan from 
        obtaining the seat in the United Nations General Assembly 
        reserved for Afghanistan so long as gross violations of 
        internationally recognized human rights against women and girls 
        persist; and
            (2) the United States should refuse to recognize any 
        government in Afghanistan which is not taking actions to 
        achieve the following goals in Afghanistan:
                    (A) The effective participation of women in all 
                civil, economic, and social life.
                    (B) The right of women to work.
                    (C) The right of women and girls to an education 
                without discrimination and the reopening of schools to 
                women and girls at all levels of education.
                    (D) The freedom of movement of women and girls.
                    (E) Equal access of women and girls to health 
                facilities.
                    (F) Equal access of women and girls to humanitarian 
                aid.
                                 <all>