No Subject

Please read the following and pass it on.  When
forwarding it, do not simply
  hit the "forward" option in your email program.
Kindly cut and paste it
  onto a new message so that the format is not
interrupted.  Thanks!

  I have received  several of these but NONE explaining
the whole truth.  I am
  usually passive but feel we should all get involved.
After you copy and
  paste you can add your name.. Please take the time to
do this it seems a
  small thing but like a mustard seed it can produce
good results..  Thanks
  -------------------
  Please spare a moment to read. Thanks.

  The government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon
women. The situation is
  getting so bad that one person in an editorial of the
Times compared It to
  pre-Holocaust Poland.  Since the Taliban took power in
1996, women have had
  to wear burqua And have been beaten and stoned in
public for not having the
  proper attire, even if this means simply not having
the mesh covering in
  front of their eyes.

      One woman was beaten to DEATH by an angry mob of
fundamentalists for
  accidentally exposing her arm while she was driving.
Another was stoned to
  death for trying to leave the country with a man that
was not a relative.
  Women are not allowed to work or even go out in public
without a Male
  relative; professional women such as professors,
translators, doctors,
  lawyers, artists and writers have been forced from
their jobs and stuffed
  into their homes, so that depression is becoming so
widespread that it has
  reached emergency levels. Suicide has increased
significantly. Homes where a
  woman is present Must have their windows painted so
that she can never be
  seen by outsiders. They must wear silent shoes so that
they are never
  heard.  Women live in fear of their lives for the
slightest misbehavior.
  Because they cannot work, those without male relatives
or husbands are
  either starving to death or begging on the street,
even if they hold
  Ph.D.'s.
      There are almost no medical facilities available
for women, and Relief
  workers, in protest, have mostly left the country,
taking Medicine and
  psychologists and other things necessary to treat the
sky-rocketing level of
  depression among women.  At one of the rare hospitals
for women, a reporter
  found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying motionless
on top of beds, wrapped
  in their burqua, unwilling to speak, eat, or do
anything, but slowly wasting
  away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in
corners, perpetually
  rocking or crying, most of them in fear. One doctor is
considering, when
  what little medication that is left finally runs out,
leaving these, women
  in front of the president's residence as a form of
peaceful protest. It is
  at the point where the term 'human rights violations'
has  become an
  understatement.
      Husbands have the power of life and death over
their women relatives,
  especially their wives, but an angry mob has just as
much right to stone or
  beat a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of
flesh or offending
  them in the slightest way. David Cornwell has said
that those in the West
  should not judge the Afghan people for such treatment
because it is a
  'cultural thing', but this is not even true. Women
enjoyed relative freedom,
  to work, dress generally as they wanted, and drive and
appear in public
  alone until only 1996.
      The rapidity of this transition is the main reason
for the depression
  and suicide; women who were once educators or doctors
or simply used to
  basic human freedoms are now severely restricted and
treated as sub-human in
  the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam. Everyone
has a right to a
  tolerable human existence.

  STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the current
treatment of women in
  Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves
support and action by
  the people of the United Nations and that the current
situation in
  Afghanistan will not be tolerated.  Women's Rights is
not a small issue
  anywhere and it is UNACCEPTABLE for women in 1999 to
be treated as sub-human
  and so much as property.  Equality and human decency
is a RIGHT not a
  freedom, whether one lives in Afghanistan or anywhere
else.

  **** Please sign to support, and include your town and
country.

  1  Carlo Heip, Yerseke, The Netherlands
  2. Anneliese Ernst, Yerseke, The Netherlands
  3. Erika Oberer-Bley, Konstanz, Germany
  4. Bernd Bukau, Freiburg, Germany
  5. Martina Buettner, Heidelberg, Germany
  6. Oliver Gruss, Heidelberg, Germany
  7.Christine Vagner,Toulouse,France
  8. Jean-Charles Faye, Toulouse, France
  9. Beatrix Bugler, Toulouse, France
  10. Malika Pares, Toulouse, France
  11. Emmanuel Courcelle, Toulouse, France
  12. Abdelmadjid Mesli, Strasbourg, France
  13. Thomas Heiser, Strasbourg, France
  14. Jelila Labed-Nachbrand, Strasbourg, France
  15.Francoise Brunette, Strasbourg, France
  16. Margaret Kruger, Strasbourg, France
  17. Helene Detemple, Strasbourg, France
  18. Valentine Thiebold, Strasbourg, France
  19. Olivier Guerrero, Montreal, Canada
  20. Lynn Palovits, Pierrefonds, Canada
  21. Michel Palovits, Montreal-North, Canada
  22. Michel Julien, Repentigny, Canada
  23. Marie Theberge, Uxbridge, Canada
  24. Jim Crane, Uxbridge, Canada
  25. Evelyn Benchimol, Dorval, Canada
  26. Coeli Smith, London, Canada
  27. Roberts C. Smith, Riverside, California, USA
  28. Robert V. Bird, Ontario, California, USA
  29. Michael Higgins, San Diego, California, U.S.A.
  30. Sharon Sample, Stillwater, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
  31.  Andy Novak, Fife, Washington, U.S.A.
  32. Catherine Barron, Fife, Washington, U.S.A.
  33. Sharon Carpenter, Holdenville, Oklahoma, U. S. A.
  34.  Teresa Rothrock, Holdenville, Oklahoma, U. S. A.
  35. Brandon S. Pasley, Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
  36. April D. Doshier, Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S.A
  37. Benjamin J. Thomas, Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S.A
  38. Scott M. Horn, Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S.A
  39. William J. Novotny, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
  40. Elson E. Boles, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

  Then copy and e-mail to as many people as possible. If
you receive this List
  with more than 50 names on it, please e-mail a copy of
it to:
  Mary Robinson,
  High Commissioner,
  UNHCHR,
  webadmin.hchr@unorg.ch

  and to:
  Angela King,
  Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement
of Women, UN,
  daw@undp.org (mailto:daw@undp.org)
  Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate
and do not kill
  the petition. Thank you. It is best to copy rather
than forward the
  petition.


  Valentine Thiebold
  e-mail  vthiebold@cus-strasbourg.net
     tel        03 88 43 62 46
     fax       03 88 60 95 22






Elson E. Boles
Assistant Professor, (Historical) Sociology
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
(405) 574-1243
facbolese@usao.edu