[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 20, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4775-S4776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of Senate 
Concurrent Resolution 6, a resolution expressing concern over the 
continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in Afghanistan 
and calling on the United States and the international community to 
redouble efforts to bring peace to that war-torn land.
  Indeed, with yesterday's announcement that the Taliban militia have 
apparently seized power in the northwestern province of Faryab, it is 
especially fitting that we consider this resolution today.
  I am particularly concerned about the situation in Afghanistan 
because, with the seizure of power by the Taliban militia, it appears 
that another tragic chapter in the story of the suppression of women's 
rights is being written. Worse still, this situation has unfolded with 
scant international attention, let alone condemnation.
  Afghanistan has been embroiled in an almost constant state of war for 
close to two decades.
  From 1979 to 1989 the Mujahedeen fought and finally outlasted the 
invading army of the Soviet Union. Then the Muslim warriors turned on 
each other. Since 1979 more than 1 million of Afghanistan's 16 million 
inhabitants have been killed, and millions more have become refugees. 
The capitol city of Kabul has been obliterated by the factional 
fighting, with over 45,000 civilians killed, and almost every prominent 
building damaged or destroyed.
  In the last 2 years of the seemingly endless Afghan civil war the 
Taliban--who grew from a movement of former religious students and 
Islamic clerics along the Afghan-Pakistani border --have emerged as the 
strongest of the five major factions. After beating back its rivals, 
the Taliban movement now control more than two-thirds of Afghanistan, 
including Kabul, which they captured last September.
  With the ascendency of the Taliban, Afghanistan is experiencing a new 
conflict: What some warriors call true Islam, others, including the 
U.N. General Assembly, say is an abuse of human rights.
  Although the peculiar version of Islamic religious Sharia law 
espoused by the Taliban has fallen harshly on many in Afghanistan--in 
Kandahar this past July a man and woman accused of adultery were stoned 
in public, men have been forced to grow beards, and Taliban militia 
members harass men in the streets if they do not rush to the mosques 
for prayers--women, in particular, have come to feel the full brunt of 
the new extremism.
  Afghani women have been banned from work.
  Women have been banished from school.
  Reportedly, Taliban soldiers have been so threatening that some women 
have not left their homes for months.
  But there is nothing in Afghan tradition that can account for the 
Taliban phenomenon. The type of secret-police state that they are 
fostering and the widespread denial of women's basic human rights has 
little precedent in Afghan culture or history.
  The new brand of extremism fostered by the Taliban and their gross 
violations of women's basic human rights have pushed an already war-
torn and war-weary Afghanistan to the brink of disaster.
  It is estimated, for example, that close to 500,000 to 800,000 war 
widows have been forced out of their jobs and have no opportunity to 
earn money for food, clothing, or shelter for either themselves or 
their children. In Kabul's stark ruins hordes of children--12,000 
according to one estimate--paw each day through the shattered bricks 
and masonry in search of scrap metal that can be sold. And their 
mothers, many who previously worked in professional jobs, have been 
reduced to begging in the hopes of being able to feed their children.
  The ban on women in the workplace has also compounded the already 
precarious food situation. With the war having killed more than 9 
million head of cattle and sheep and destroyed much of Afghanistan's 
croplands, irrigation systems, and roads, the average Afghan has a 
caloric intake equal to less than a pound of bread a day. Relief needs 
are so critical that the United Nations expects to have to feed one in 
five Kabul residents this year.
  Ironically, many of the relief and other local humanitarian agencies 
find that they can no longer hire local women--many of whom are highly 
skilled. An orphanage in Kabul has reportedly lost all but 100 of its 
450 employees, decimating its ability to provide food, education, and 
medical care to thousands of children. In fact, in light of the 
continuing conflict, U.N. development agencies in Afghanistan have 
recently put operations on hold until an assessment of the situation is 
complete.
  It is little surprise that a recent U.N. report on human rights in 
Afghanistan concluded that ``deprivation of basic rights and freedoms'' 
are coupled with ``newly emerging threats to basic rights,'' especially 
women's.
  The silence from the world's capitols in light of these systematic 
abuses has been deafening. Former U.N. Secretary General Boutros 
Boutros-Ghali warned the Taliban that the United Nations objects to the 
extreme discrimination practiced against women. The European Union's 
Minister to the U.N. Food Conference expressed ``deep concern'' over 
the situation. Theresa Loar, the State Department's senior coordinator 
for women's issues has assured us that the situation in Afghanistan is 
``very high on the United States agenda.''
  In the nuanced language of diplomacy, these milquetoast statements 
are the equivalent of an international shrug of the shoulders.
  Where is the world's outrage? Fully half of Afghanistan's population 
cannot work for a living or be educated. The world has responded by 
issuing mild denunciations and turning away. This is unacceptable.
  In calling for the President to monitor the human rights situation in 
Afghanistan, and the situation of women in particular, this resolution 
calls on the United States to play a leading role in the international 
community in raising the salience of respect for women's rights.
  For too long and in too many other tragic circumstances we have 
remained silent, placing women's rights on a second tier of concerns in 
our conduct of international affairs. Other Muslim nations with which 
the United States enjoys good relations and which respect women's 
rights, such as Turkey and Indonesia, can provide much needed 
leadership in this area, and assist the United States in our diplomatic 
efforts. It is incumbent upon us to call upon the nations of the 
international community --regardless of religious persuasion or 
cultural heritage--to take a strong stand in recognition of fundamental 
rights of women.

  Because the United States lacks significant influence in Afghanistan, 
this resolution calls on the administration to urge the other states in 
the region

[[Page S4776]]

who do have influence to bring pressure to bear on the Taliban. In 
particular Pakistan--which has both elected the first female Prime 
Minister in the Islamic world and provided assistance to the Taliban--
should cease to provide patronage to the Taliban and take a position at 
the forefront of international efforts to provide humanitarian 
assistance to Afghanistan.
  This resolution also recognizes that the only long-term solution to 
the plight of the Afghani people is to help bring an end to the 
conflict that has created the Taliban, and to begin the long process of 
rebuilding a stable and prosperous Afghanistan. Food security, let 
alone the sort of long-term economic redevelopment that will be 
necessary to repair Afghanistan's battered infrastructure will not be 
possible unless both men and women are able to take up gainful 
employment and have equal access to educational opportunities.
  To this end, this resolution calls for the members of the 
international community to cease activities, such as supplying weapons 
or financial assistance, to any of the warring factions in Afghanistan 
and encourages international efforts, especially that of the U.N. 
Special Mission, in procuring a durable and lasting peace in 
Afghanistan.
  The treatment of Afghanistan's women should not be ignored. To 
continue to do so will send a dangerous message to others around the 
world who might violate the human rights of ethnic or religious 
minorities, or their own female populations.
  I urge my colleagues to support Senate Concurrent Resolution 6, and 
send an important message to the Taliban and the entire international 
community regarding women's rights.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee amendment be agreed to, the resolution be agreed to, the 
amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the 
motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements 
relating to the resolution be placed at the appropriate place in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 6), as amended, was agreed 
to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.

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