Statement by Global Exchange Women's Delegation to the Region
by Medea Benjamin

The following is a first-hand account of current conditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan from human rights organization Global Exchange, which recently completed a two-week fact-finding trip is presenting their report and recommendations in Washington this week.

Introduction:

A four-person women's delegation, organized by Global Exchange and led by Medea Benjamin, traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan from November 20 to December 3. The purpose of the trip was to investigate the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and among the refugee population, to assess the consequences of US bombing, and totalk to women1s groups about what role they would like to play in atransition government.

The group traveled to Islamabad and Peshawar in Pakistan, refugee campsalong the border, and Jalalabad and Kabul in Afghanistan. Our group met with a widerange of women1s organizations involved in activities such as educatingAfghan youth, providing economic alternatives for street children andbeggars, running clinics and health care centers, assisting refugees,educating women about their rights, and promoting the legal rights of womenin a post-Taliban government. These groups include the Afghan Women1sCouncil, the Afghan Women's Network, Women's Commission for Peace, theAfghan Women's Resource Center, Afghan Women Skills and Development Center,Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, theRevolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), and the International Human Rights Law Group.

The conclusions and recommendations of the delegation are outlined below.The first section addresses how to get assistance to the millions of Afghanssuffering absolute deprivation. The second examines how to best assistAfghans in their effort to rebuild their devastated country. And the thirdlooks at how to ensure that women play a substantial role in a post-Talibangovernment.

Emergency Assistance to Those in Need, Both Inside and OutsideAfghanistan

We are gravely concerned about the situation of the refugees, the internallydisplaced people, and the needy population in general. The fighting that hasensued in the wake of the September 11 events has displaced hundreds ofthousands of Afghans. The recent US military actions have created a wholenew class of refugees. Many of these people‹predominantly women andchildren‹are receiving little or no assistance. Many are alreadymalnourished and face starvation with the onset of winter.

Reaching the needy inside Afghanistan: The populations facing the greatestdisaster are those who remain inside Afghanistan in refugee camps, in theareas where fighting continues, or in areas where access to humanitarian aidis blocked by fighting and/or looting. Aid workers spoke to us of extrememisery in the internal refugee camps, where there is an alarmingly highincidence of malaria, malnutrition and dysentery. There is a shortage offood, blankets and tents; many of the children have no warm clothing, oreven shoes and socks. With no toilets and no clean drinking water, hygieneis abysmal. People are dying every day from cold and starvation.

"My little sister died from the cold when we were refugees in Afghanistan, "an 11-year-old boy named Hamasa who made it to a camp in Pakistan told us."There we went days without food, we slept on the cold ground with noblankets. Many people died."

Many of the refugees are from rural areas already devastated by a three-yeardrought. The international aid they had been relying on for food stoppedwith the US airstrikes, when most relief agencies closed their offices.While relief workers are restarting their efforts, they are overwhelmed bythe need and the inaccessibility of the refugees.

It is the "wild west" along some of the roads, with trucks looted,provisions diverted, and truck drivers putting their lives at risk todeliver aid. Looting and sudden eruptions of violence are makinghumanitarian deliveries difficult and dangerous in areas around Kunduz,Kandahar, Herat, Kabul, Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif. The refugee campsthemselves are also plagued by violence. Women are especially vulnerable,and face rape and other abuse.

"I came here with 8 children from Kabul, but two died along the way," said awoman in a refugee camp outside Jalalabad who did not want to give her name."I was forced to accept food from men in the camp to feed my children. Theywould come to my tent at night, then leave me some bread."

The US airlifts of food are not an adequate way to reach the needy. The foodand supplies are often commandeered by those with guns, and either taken tofeed troops or sold on the market. There are also reports of food landing infields laced with land mines, making the gathering of rations a riskyaffair.

Recommendation: Given that the humanitarian crisis has been greatlyexacerbated by the US bombing campaign, the US has a grave responsibility tohelp. The air drops of food are inappropriate, dangerous, and should bediscontinued. There should be a halt to the US bombing and an immediatedeployment of a UN security force to ensure the safe distribution of foodand supplies. As the cold intensifies, so does the horrific humanitariancrisis. This is why time is of the essence.

It is unconscionable for the US to focus solely on the destruction of theTaliban regime and the Al Qaeda network. The vast majority of the Afghanpeople have nothing to do with Osama bin Laden or the Al Qaeda network. Theyare now innocent victims of this war. It is our responsibility to help staveoff mass starvation and help rebuild the country. This is not only the rightthing to do for the Afghan people, it is also in our self interest. If theUS contributes to the starvation of thousands of people, it will feed thecynicism and anger that people in the region feel toward the US, settingback the larger campaign against terrorism.

External refugees: The refugees who have migrated to Pakistan sinceSeptember 11 are in a precarious situation. The Pakistani government hasbeen reluctant to accept new refugees, insisting it was already overburdenedwith nearly 3 million Afghans who had fled over the past 23 years offighting. Thousands were turned back or walked for days in the mountains toenter through unpatrolled border areas. Those who have managed to cross theborder are not given refugee status and therefore have not been receiving UNassistance. The UNHCR estimates 135,000-200,000 Afghans have crossed intoPakistan since September 11, most of them "illegally."

Some refugees have entered already-existing refugee camps such as Shamshatooand Jalozai, moving in with relatives who must then share their meagerrations with the "illegal" newcomers. The overcrowding and inadequacy of theaid in several of the camps has led to a hostile atmosphere that negativelyimpacts the refugees, particularly the newcomers. Those who have not enteredthe camps have melted in with the general population, but without money andfew possessions, they are barely surviving. Children as young as five areworking as carpet weavers, maids or street vendors to supplement thefamilies1 meager income. Hundreds of women, mostly widows trying to raisetheir children, beg in the streets. The new camps that the UNHCR isorganizing in the tribal areas along the Afghan border are better organizedand provide rations to all, whether they entered legally or not. However,they are located in Pashtun areas that support the Taliban. The locals havethreatened to attack non-Pashtun refugees, leading the UNHCR to excludenon-Pashtuns from these camps for the time being.

Recommendations: The refugees must all be given legal status and registeredwith the United Nations so that they may receive aid. Non-Pashtuns must begiven special attention and relocated to areas where their security can beguaranteed. The level of aid in the camps, particularly the quality andvariety of food, must be improved.

As more Afghans flee from Kunduz, Kandahar and other front lines, it is morevital than ever that Afghanistan1s neighbors allow refugees to cross theirborders, without the threat of involuntary return, and with properassistance and security in those neighboring countries. Donor governmentsmust urgently provide the cash, not just the pledges, so that thissubstantial burden does not fall on Pakistan and Iran in particular, whichalready host so many Afghan refugees.

Direct victims of US bombing

Everywhere we went, both in Afghanistan and in the external refugee camps, we met people who lost loved ones or were injured by US bombs.

"We lived in Kabul near one of the Taliban military bases, where my fatherhad a small grocery store," explained 12-year-old Haziza. "One day I was outwith my father, when we heard planes roaring overhead and scary, loud soundslike thunder. When we returned home, we found my mother and younger brotherlying dead in a pile of rubble that was once our house. My father went intoshock and lost his mind. Now I'm the one in charge of our household, takingcare of my five brothers and sisters. We have no money and it1s hard for meto find them enough food to eat."

Children are traumatized by the loss of their parents and are left with nosource of sustenance. Parents are traumatized by the loss of their children.We heard of several cases where the deadly cluster bombs, which break upinto hundreds of bright yellow bomblets, were picked up by curiouschildren‹and then exploded. Once injured, there is a severe lack of medicalcare.

Rasmir, a 24 year-old mother from Kabul that the delegation met in Peshawar,told of how on October 11 a bomb landed on a park in the capital'sMakrorayan neighborhood, killing three children and injuring others. "Allthe mothers were screaming, 'where's my child?' After that all the kids stayat home because everyone is too afraid to go out," Rasmir said. "Now my fiveyear-old has mental problems from the shock."

Little is known about the actual numbers of innocent civilians killed. TheUS says the casualties are few. Aghans we spoke with said there are probablythousands of dead.

Recommendations: We must conduct a serious investigation of the innocentvictims of the bombing. And just as we have made a strong commitment to helpthe families of those innocent civilians who died or were hurt in theSeptember 11 attacks, so we must make a similar commitment to help theinnocent Afghan civilians injured by US bombs.

Moreover, we must stop the loss of further innocent lives. The US must putan immediate end to the use of cluster bombs, which have been denounced bythe human rights community. But we must put an end to the entire bombingcampaign. Too many innocent people have been killed, maimed and displaced tojustify a continuation of the bombing.Reconstructing Afghanistan

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth. Infant mortality isone of the highest in the world at around 165 per 1,000 live births. Lifeexpectancy at birth is an abysmal 41 years of age. Due to decades of war,Afghanistan has the world1s largest population of disabled.

The nation's economy is in a state of collapse, crippled by the three-yeardrought, two decades of war and the present bombing campaign. Socialservices such as schools and health care facilities are non-existent orwoefully inadequate.Basic infrastructure‹roads, bridges, irrigation, canals,telecommunications, electricity, markets‹have been destroyed. In thecountryside, crop production has plummeted and livestock herds heavilydepleted. Drug production is one of the only cash crops, making Afghanistanthe largest opium producer in the world.

A massive reconstruction and development program is needed and will requirea significant investment of funds. The World Bank estimates that merely theclearance of landmines from all mine-contaminated areas in Afghanistan couldcost as much as $500 million. Total reconstruction and development costs maytotal $30 billion.

During our visit, we encountered much skepticism about America's long-termcommitment to Afghanistan. People wondered if the US would even repair thedamage of the bombing campaign. Some said that once the US finds Osama binLaden, it will simply abandon this poor nation. Others expressed the viewthat the US simply wanted to use Afghanistan to extract natural resourcesand as a conduit for the vast oil and natural gas reserves in Central Asia.They speculated that reconstruction would put Afghanistan on a debttreadmill and leave the country indefinitely beholden to the West.

"I don1t know if the US is a friend or foe. That remains to be seen," saidOrzala Ashraf of the Humanitarian Assistance for Women and Children ofAfghanistan. "The proof will be whether or not the US sticks with us notonly to oust the Taliban, but to ensure that we are not oppressed by anothergroup of thugs‹the Northern Alliance‹and that we can feed, house and findwork for our people."

Recommendations: The US must show a long-term commitment to rebuilding, anddemonstrate that its support for reconstruction is not tied to its ownnarrow economic interests. The model of development we promote should not bein the interests of oil companies such as UNOCAL, a company that has longbeen anxious to build a major pipeline through Afghanistan, but in theinterests of the people. It should not be a top-down, centralized model,with huge projects controlled by government that would just lead tocorruption. Financing micro projects and giving micro credit will be thebest development path, especially for revitalizing the critical rural sectorthat has been so devastated by drought and providing farmers with analternative to growing opium poppies.

To show the goodwill of the international community, the World Bank, theAsian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund should cancel thedebts Afghanistan owes them. (The World Bank/ADB debt is $38.7 million, andthe IMF debt is $9.6 million, for a total of $48.3 million.)

Security conditions permitting, Global Exchange and other groups plan tosponsor a sustainable development summit in Kabul in the spring that wouldbring to Afghanistan some of the best examples of locally-based, bottom-updevelopment that reaches those in most need. These would include the GrameenBank model of micro loans, agricultural cooperatives, village-based healthcare that combines western and local medicine, decentralized energygeneration from clean sources such as solar and wind.

Also, redevelopment must help the most oppressed and depressed sector ofsociety, i.e. women. Respect for women's rights should be a pre-conditionfor funding. Just as the US and the international community threatened towithhold reconstruction funding if the Northern Alliance did not accept abroad-based interim government, so they should use their financial muscle toensure gender equity. Moreover, women should be major beneficiaries of theaid money, particularly the hundreds of thousands of widows who must supporttheir children. Micro loans should be targeted to women, women's groupsshould receive significant resources, and activities such as women1seducation and health care should be top priority.

If Afghanistan is to emerge from the nightmare of 23 years of war and massdestruction, and cease to be a safe haven for terrorists and a majorproducer of drugs, there must be a serious commitment of funds from theinternational community. The US is willing to spend over one billion dollarsa month on its military campaign in Afghanistan; it must also be willing tospend billions on rebuilding. This will not only be good for the people ofAfghanistan, but it will show the entire Muslim world that we are theirfriends and that we do, indeed, care about the well-being of the Afghanpeople.

Ensuring a Significant Role for Women in the Future Government ofAfghanistan

While it is a positive development that several women were asked toparticipate in the Bonn talks on the transition government, the women wereselected by the male delegates in a completely undemocratic fashion. We metmany women who felt that several of the women delegates were selectedprimarily due to family connections. Women1s group that have been on theforefront of defending women1s rights under the reign of the Taliban werenot invited. Moreover, out of a delegation of 57, only five were women.

A larger number of women were invited to participate in a separate meetingof civil society groups taking place in Bonn as well. However, those womenwere also chosen in a top-down manner (in this case by the UN), according tomany of the women we spoke with. They also complained that the civil societymeeting was not given nearly the weight of the political meeting. Womeninsisted that civil society groups should not get just a backseat role. Infact, several women said that the only way to build a stable governmentwould be to give less importance to the "guys with guns" and a more criticalrole to those with the skills and commitment to rebuild the country.

Women were also concerned that the US was giving far too much power to theNorthern Alliance, a group they greatly distrust given their past record ofbrutal killings, rape and looting when they were in power from 1992-1996.

One of the women1s groups, the Revolutionary Association of the Women ofAfghanistan (RAWA) is vehemently against the Northern Alliance, saying thatmany of the leaders should be prosecuted for the war crimes they committed.They are afraid that as soon as the journalists leave and the internationalattention is shifted from Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance will revert totheir old ways. There are already allegations that Northern Alliancesoldiers have mistreated women.

"Before the Taliban there was the mujahadeen, who kidnapped and rapedwomen," Zarlasht Waziry told us. "Being from a family of five sisters, myfather was afraid to let us leave the house. Then when the Taliban came,women were imprisoned in their homes. And now the mujahadeen leaders areback as part of the Northern Alliance, and women are once again afraid toleave the house. We don1t trust them."

Recommendations: There are hundreds of distinguished Afghan women, bothinside Afghanistan and in exile, who have done incredible work opposing theTaliban and providing basic services. These women are the real buildingblocks of a democratic, peaceful society. They must be represented, insignificant numbers, in all phases of the post-Taliban government, and theymust be equal participants. Some women have suggested a quota system toguarantee significant representation by women. We strongly support thissuggestion. We also recommend that a women1s forum be convened as soon aspossible in Kabul itself, composed of women inside the country and abroadwho have a proven commitment to women1s rights, peace and sustainabledevelopment. The purpose of this forum would be for the women themselves tochoose their own representatives in the transition government.

For more information on this report, contact Global Exchange at www.globalexchange.org or call Jason Mark at (415) 255-7296 ext 230.

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