Tuesday, August 18, 2009

President Karzai has made an unthinkable deal to sell Afghan women out in return for the support of fundamentalists in this week's August 20 election. He has approved an article which critics have said could be used to justify marital rape, and which provoked an outcry from Afghanistan's human rights groups, and international community.
Karzai 'sells out Afghan women' over law
Source: www.canada.com
KABUL - A leading rights group accused President Hamid Karzai on Friday of selling out Afghan women by ratifying a Shiite law, which has drawn wide condemnation over its harsh provisions on women, before next week's election.

Come on President Obama, Sec of State Clinton, Prime Minister Brown and Foreign Secretary Milliband - what are you going to do about it? We want deeds not words. In current peace processes the peace is not for the people, it is for the male power groups. This is the wrong focus. Indeed, the art of peace-building is far more subtle than the practice of warfare (in which men in power have had centuries of experience). It requires almost opposite characteristics: among them patience, creative dialogue, imagination, empathy, attention to the critical minutiae, and avoidance of grandstanding. UN Resolution 1325 - passed unanimously on 31 October 2000 - calls on all United Nations member-states to ensure the full participation of women and the integration of a gender perspective in peace and security, policy-making, conflict management and peace-building. There is a vast credibillity gap between Resolution 1325's words and the reality of the deeds of our governments in the UN Member States.

No comments: