ISLAMABAD: Some 300 Afghan women protestors here on April 27 urged President Hamid Karzai not to rely on warlords, with notorious records of human rights abuses, for rebuilding the war-ravaged country.

“Compromising and dealing with the (anti-Taliban) Northern Alliance is not going to bear any fruit for anyone, including Karzai,” the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women (RAWA) said in a statement. Northern Alliance commanders dominated the post-Taliban administration headed by Karzai. The protestors gathered outside United Nations offices in Islamabad to mark the twin anniversaries of the 1978 communist coup in Afghanistan and the 1992 capture of Kabul by anti-communist forces. The women’s group said the current regime supported figures who committed past abuses against women. “On the one hand different countries of the world is promising to give eight billion dollars in aid, and on the other hand Karzai is considering the appointment of the dirtiest elements… to important government posts,” it said.

In its statement, RAWA accused Governor of Herat province Ismail Khan of “insulting and humiliating” women by making them undergo hospital examinations “to see if they have recently had sexual intercourse.”
Source: The News
Date:4/28/2004