WUNRN
https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/04/afghanistan-women-human-rights-defenders/
AFGHANISTAN – AMNESTY SAYS GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROTECT
FEMALE ACTIVISTS, HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS – REPORT
To Read Full 89-Page AI Report, Click on Link, Scroll Down & Click on PDF:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa11/1279/2015/en/
Afghan women demonstrate in Kabul last month against the
killing of Farkhunda, who was accused by a mob of burning a Koran.
April 7, 2015 - Amnesty International (AI) says the
Afghan government has failed to protect female activists, leaving them
vulnerable to threats, sexual assault, and assassination.
In a report released on April 7, the London-based rights
watchdog said most of the threats come from the Taliban and armed opposition
groups but that government officers and warlords also commit abuses against
female activists.
AI said the report, Their Lives On The Line, was based on
interviews with more than 50 female activists and their relatives all around
the country.
The rights group said that despite legal protections
Afghan women's rights workers who do report violence or attacks are put at
further risk simply for speaking out.
AI said it found that Afghan authorities consistently
failed to act on threats against women.
Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary-general,
said out of the 50 cases that AI examined, in only one instance was an arrest
made.
In all the other cases, complaints were neglected or
ignored by the authorities.
AI urged Afghan authorities to ensure that all
allegations of threats or attacks against women rights activists are fully and
impartially investigated and perpetrators held to account.
The report says the international community is
"doing far too little" to preserve hard-won gains Afghan women have
made in the past decade.
Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghan women have
made significant advances in rights, with millions of girls and women gaining
access to education, health care, and work.
President Ashraf Ghani, who took office in September
2014, has pledged to ensure that women's rights are respected.
But women in Afghanistan are still generally regarded as
inferior to men and treated as such.
Girls are still married off to older men and sold to
settle debts. In rural areas, women who work outside the home face threats
simply because they dare to work.
A 27-year-old woman was beaten to death by a mob in Kabul
on March 19 after she was falsely accused of burning a copy of the Koran.
Policemen in the area reportedly did nothing to stop the
attack.
In February, female politician Angiza Shinwari died
following a bomb attack on her vehicle in eastern Nangarhar Province.
Lawmaker and rights campaigner Shukriya Barekzai narrowly
survived a suicide attack in Kabul last year.