[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 43 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S2974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE TALIBAN'S ABUSE OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, yesterday, Senator Brownback and I 
introduced a resolution, S. Res. 68, condemning the treatment of Afghan 
women and girls by the Taliban. I hope my colleagues will join us in 
condemning the systematic human rights violations that are being 
committed against women and girls in that war-torn nation.
  The Taliban militia seized control of most of Afghanistan in 1996 and 
now control about 90 percent of the country, including the capital, 
Kabul. This group imposes an extreme interpretation of Islam practiced 
no where else in the world on all individuals. It is especially 
repressive on women.
  Before the Taliban assumed control of much of Afghanistan, women were 
highly involved in public life. They held positions in the government 
and worked as doctors, lawyers, nurses, and teachers. The picture could 
not be more different today. Today, under Taliban rule women in 
Afghanistan are denied even the most basic human rights: they cannot 
work outside the home, attend school, or even wear shoes that make 
noise when they walk. They must wear a head-to-toe covering called a 
burqa, which allows only a tiny opening to see and breathe through. 
Parents cannot teach their daughters to read, or take their little 
girls to be treated by male doctors. Mr. President, women have been 
stoned to death, beaten, and otherwise abused for ``breaking'' these 
harsh laws.
  The Physicians for Human Rights recently conducted a study of 160 
women in Afghanistan and their findings are horrific. One of those 
women, a 20 year-old woman interviewed in Kabul had the following 
story:

       Eight months ago, my two-and-a-half year old daughter died 
     from diarrhea. She was refused treatment by the first 
     hospital that we took her to. The second hospital mistreated 
     her [they refused to provide intravenous fluids and 
     antibiotics because of their Hazara ethnicity, according to 
     the respondent]. Her body was handed to me and her father in 
     the middle of the night. With her body in my arms, we left 
     the hospital. It was curfew time and we had a long way to get 
     home. We had to spend the night inside a destroyed house 
     among the rubble. In the morning we took my dead baby home 
     but we had no money for her funeral.

  The study found that 77 percent of women had poor access to health 
care in Kabul, while another 20 percent reported no access at all. Of 
those surveyed, 71 percent reported a decline in their physical 
condition over the last two years. In addition, there was also a 
significant decline in the mental health of the women surveyed. Of the 
participants, 81 percent reported a decline in their mental condition; 
97 percent met the diagnostic criteria for depression; 86 percent 
showed symptoms of anxiety; 42 percent met the diagnostic criteria for 
post-traumatic stress disorder; and 21 percent reported having suicidal 
thoughts ``extremely often'' or ``quite often.'' In addition, 53 
percent of women described occasions in which they were seriously ill 
and unable to seek medical care. 28 percent of the Afghan women 
reported inadequate control over their own reproduction.
  S. Res. 68 calls on the President of the United States to prevent a 
Taliban-led government of Afghanistan from taking a seat in the United 
Nations General Assembly, so long as these gross violations of human 
rights persist.
  Our resolution also urges the Administration not to recognize any 
government in Afghanistan which does not take actions to achieve the 
following goals: effective participation of women in all civil, 
economic, and social life; the right of women to work; 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; the 
freedom of movement of women and girls; equal access of women and girls 
to health care; equal access of women and girls to humanitarian aid.
  Mr. President, I am shocked that women and girls in Afghanistan are 
suffering under these conditions as we approach the 21st Century. The 
United States has an obligation to take the lead in condemning these 
abuses.
  I want to thank Senator Brownback for joining me in introducing this 
legislation. He has been a strong voice for human rights and I know 
that he shares my passion for seeing an end to these abuses in 
Afghanistan.

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