[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 15 (Friday, February 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1136-S1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 6--RELATIVE TO AFGHANISTAN
Mr. DODD submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Con. Res. 6
Whereas Congress recognizes that the legacy of civil
conflict in Afghanistan during the last 17 years has had a
devastating effect on the civilian population in that country
and a particularly negative impact on the rights and security
of women and girls;
Whereas the longstanding civil conflict in Afghanistan
among the warring political and military factions has created
an environment where the rights of women and girls are
routinely violated;
Whereas the Afghan forces led by Burhanuddin Rabbani and
Abdul Rashid Dostum are responsible for numerous abhorrent
human rights abuses, including the rape, sexual abuse,
torture, abduction, and persecution of women and girls;
Whereas Congress is disturbed by the upsurge of reported
human rights abuses, including extreme restrictions placed on
women and girls, since the Taliban coalition seized the
capital city of Kabul;
Whereas Afghanistan is a sovereign nation and must work to
solve its internal disputes; and
Whereas Afghanistan and the United States recognize
international human rights conventions, such as the
International Convenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural
Rights, which espouse respect for basic human rights of all
individuals without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, or
gender: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That (a) Congress hereby--
(1) deplores the violations of international humanitarian
law by the Taliban coalition in Afghanistan and raises
concern over the reported cases of stoning, public
executions, and street beatings;
(2) condemns the Taliban's targeted discrimination against
women and girls and expresses deep concern regarding the
prohibition of employment and education for women and girls;
and
(3) takes note of the recent armed conflict in Kabul,
affirms the need for peace negotiations and expresses hope
that the Afghan parties will agree to a cease-fire throughout
the country.
(b) It is the sense of Congress that the President should--
(1) continue to monitor the human rights situation in
Afghanistan and should call for an end to discrimination
against women and girls in Afghanistan and for adherence by
all factions in Afghanistan to international humanitarian
law;
(2) review United States policy with respect to Afghanistan
if the Taliban coalition and others do not cease immediately
the harassment and other discriminatory practices against
women and girls;
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(3) encourage efforts to procure a durable peace in
Afghanistan and should support the United Nation Special
Mission to Afghanistan led by Norbert Holl to assist in
brokering a peaceful resolution to years of conflict;
(4) call upon the Government of Pakistan to use its good
offices with the Taliban to reverse the Taliban's restrictive
and discriminatory policies against women and girls; and
(5) call upon other nations to cease providing financial
assistance, arms, and other kinds of support to the
militaries or political organizations of any of the warring
factions in Afghanistan.
Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy
of this concurrent resolution to the President with the
request that he further transmit such copy to the United
Nations and relevant parties in Afghanistan.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, as a matter of cold war aggression, Soviet
troops invaded, as we all remember, Afghanistan in December of 1979.
After years of harsh struggle for independence, the Afghan people
finally achieved that goal of independence in 1992. No sooner, however,
had the Soviet threat been lifted than a new destabilizing force
emerged in that region. Then, instead of fighting outside aggressors,
the Afghans started fighting among themselves.
Today, Afghan civilians continue to live in constant fear: fear of
being embroiled in armed conflict; fear of being abducted by one
militia group or another; fear of persecution and torture; fear of rape
and sexual harassment; and, finally, fear of dying an early and
senseless death.
Amnesty International has done an excellent job of monitoring and
reporting on the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a factsheet prepared by
Amnesty International be printed at the end of these remarks.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, the conflict in Afghanistan has changed
dramatically in recent months. In September 1996, the Taliban coalition
seized the capital city of Kabul, thereby securing control of two-
thirds of the territory of Afghanistan.
The Taliban, many of whom grew up and were educated in the refugee
camps in Pakistan during the war years of the 1980's, see themselves as
the guardians of Afghan security and stability. Unfortunately, this
guardianship has had very harsh consequences for the women and young
girls of Afghanistan. Moreover, in an effort to solidify total control
over Afghanistan, they continue to engage militarily with the other
factions led by various leaders of that country. Today, the Taliban
controls three-quarters of the nation.
Mr. President, my concern here is that we have had significant
reports of terrible abuse of the young women of Afghanistan by the
Taliban, including denying them even the basic opportunities to work.
Many of the teachers in Afghanistan were women. They have been denied
entirely the right to work, to teach.
Internal tensions have been exacerbated by players who have
encouraged the various factions to continue the armed conflict in order
to advance their own selfish economic and security interests. Outside
assistance in the form of arms transfer, military training, and
financial aid seriously undermined international efforts to broker a
political solution to the conflict.
With respect to humanitarian issues, the fact of the matter is that
none of the parties involved in the civil conflict are innocent. All
have contributed to the extraordinary human rights crisis.
While all these human rights abuses concern me, today I want to call
specific attention to the deteriorating human rights practices as they
relate to the rights and treatment against Afghan women and girls--much
of these at the hands of the Taliban. I am deeply disturbed by the
Taliban's discriminatory treatment of women and girls. Some of the most
objectionable features of the Taliban's discriminatory policies include
barring women from employment, prohibiting girls from attending
schools, restricting the times when women and girls may leave their
homes, and mandating a restrictive dress code for females. Moreover,
the Taliban has reacted to women and girls who stray from these
restrictive policies with public rebukes in the form of street beatings
and stonings.
I believe, and imagine most of my colleagues would agree that: Women
should have the right to work--to earn a living for their families
using their knowledge, expertise, and skills; girls and women must be
given access to basic education; and both women and men must be
afforded a basic sense of humanity and respect. Street beatings,
amputations, and other forms of summary justice for alleged crimes are
unacceptable.
The United States cannot stand idly by in the face of unconscionable
violations of basic human rights and needless killings. We certainly
cannot condone, by our silence, the plainly discriminatory practices
which severely handicap women and girls.
I believe that the resolution I have introduced today will call
public attention to the serious situation in Afghanistan. I urge my
colleagues to join me in reaffirming the need for a peaceful settlement
for a country that has been plagued by the brutality of war for too
many years; in urging all the factions in Afghanistan to adhere to
internationally recognized principles of human rights; and in calling
an end to the Taliban's discriminatory policies toward women and girls.
I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting the enactment of this
resolution at the appropriate time.
I am going to, Mr. President, send this resolution to the desk. And I
urge my colleagues to take a look at it, along with a report from
Amnesty International, and urge that they join with me in our
condemnation of these events as they are occurring today.
Hopefully, we can consider this resolution at some appropriate time
on the floor of the U.S. Senate and adopt it and send a clear message
that those of us in this body--while there are many issues we deal with
at home--that an issue such as this basic fundamental denial of human
rights should not go unrecognized as an institution here that cares so
deeply about it in a bipartisan way as we have talked about so
frequently. I urge they give their support to this resolution. I just
send it to the desk, Mr. President.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will be received.
Exhibit 1
afghanistan: amnesty international brief, January 24, 1997
Summary
For years Amnesty International has consistently decried
the shocking human rights abuses committed by all sides of
the conflict in Afghanistan. Due to the last twelve years of
civil war, 400,000 children have been killed, five million
people, one-third of the population, have been made refugees,
Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world,
women have been treated as spoils of war.
Since the emergence of the Taliban as a major political and
military force in 1994 and the takeover of Kabul on September
27, 1996, a new chapter has opened in the long history of
human rights abuses in Afghanistan. The Taliban's strict
interpretation of Islamic law have led them to severely
restrict public freedom, especially with regards to women.
The Taliban
The Taliban, (literally ``religious students''), were
trained and organized in Islamic schools in Pakistan. They
now control approximately three-fourths of the country, with
other factions controlling the rest. When the Taliban first
took over Kabul, it seemed that perhaps the death and
destruction of the previous years of fighting could finally
be replaced by some semblance of stability. However, it soon
became apparent that the price of this stability would be
human rights, and its primary victims would be women.
Abuses against women
Women have suffered tremendously over the years of conflict
in Afghanistan as rape victims, casualties of war, refugees,
and mothers, sisters, and wives of the dead. However, since
the Taliban's rise, their strict policies towards women's
behavior have been of particular concern. These policies not
only violate internationally recognized standards of human
rights but do so solely based on their gender.
All schools for girls have been closed and women forbidden
from attending universities.
Women are not allowed to work outside the home or leave the
house without being covered from head to toe.
Women have been beaten for allowing their head covering to
slip or showing a few inches of ankle.
Appearing in public without ``proper'' reason is punished
by severe beating. One woman received bullet wounds for
leaving her home in order to take her child to the doctor.
By forbidding women to work outside the home, the Taliban
have severely limited
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many families' incomes. Especially hard hit are some 30,000
widows who were the primary providers for their families and
now have no means to support them.
Women's medical care has suffered, as women are not allowed
to be treated by male doctors, and the female doctors are now
forbidden to work.
Other concerns
Amnesty International is also concerned with several other
forms of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Taliban.
These include:
Deliberate and arbitrary killings: These include civilians
killed in retribution, for being suspected anti-Taliban
sympathizers, and captured soldiers.
Political prisoners: The Taliban have detained hundreds,
possibly more than a thousand, civilians for their ethnic
origin, political affiliation, or refusing to obey the
Taliban's religious edicts.
Torture and Ill-treatment: Beatings have become a common
form of punishment, and prisoners are often used for life-
threatening work such as clearing minefields.
Unfair trials and cruel or inhumane punishments: Courts of
law in Taliban-controlled areas are presided over by
``Islamic'' judges who sentence such punishments as stonings
and amputations.
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