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http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/global-news/asia/afghanistan/4877-farkhundeh
The case of Farkhunda’s brutal killing is now closed. Was Justice served in the case of Farkhunda? Was this case a “turning point “for women’s rights in Afghanistan? Is it true that the incidences of violence against women are on rise? Was there any political motivation for handling such publicized case swiftly?
Afghanistan - Farkhundeh - Explosion of a Deferred Dream
Screen capture of a video showing the
murder of Farkhunda by a mob in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 19 March 2015. Image
source: Wikipedia | ATN NewsATN News
By Elahe Amani*
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
By Langston Hughes
1902–1967
The case of Farkhunda’s brutal killing
is now closed. Thousands came to the streets of Kabul and around the world to
demand justice for horrendous and vicious crime of misogyny against Farkhunda.
The justice system of Afghanistan swiftly prosecuted the civilian and the
police andnow, we know the result. Forty-nine people were brought to trial.
Twenty-seven were found not guilty eighteen civilians and nine police officers.
Twelve convictions have been handed down to civilians, eight guilty of violence
against women and four sentenced to death for mob killing. Ten police officers have been convicted
for their failure in protecting Farkhunda and dereliction of duty after failing
to stop the public lynching. The brutal killing of Farkhunda, the height of the
anger and violence perpetuated by a group of men in the capital city of Kabul
stroked a cord in the heart and mind of Afghan people particularly women and
they protested the injustice from Kabul
to Hamburg
to the Afghan community of Fremont
in California.
Was Justice served in the case of
Farkhunda? Was this case a “turning point “for women’s rights in Afghanistan?
Is it true that the incidences of violence against women are on rise? Was there
any political motivation for handling such a publicized case swiftly?
On March 19th, two days
before the Afghan New Year, a 27 year-old woman, named Farkhunda, was brutally
killed by a mob of angry men for allegedly burning a copy of Qur’an in Kabul,
the capital City of Afghanistan. The violence sent shock waves to the world as
investigations revealed that Farkhunda had not burned the Qur’an and in fact
she worked as a religious teacher. The intensity of violence that was
perpetuated against Farkhunda was shocking.
Farkhunda was beaten to death, then her
body was ran over by a car and then burned, all in presence of police officers
who did not take any action when she was asking for help with her last breath.
This cruel and inhuman incident ignited explosion of the “deferred dream” of
Afghan women for security and protection from violence. Afghan women and men
came to the streets in Kabul to protest this crime and demand justice.
The investigation revealed that
Farkhunda got into an argument in front of the mosque where she worked with a
mullah selling charms. The wicked and evil hearted mullah accused Farkhunda to
get even with her. According to CBC news
on March 22nd, “The mob of men beat 27-year-old Farkhunda before
throwing her body off a roof, running over it with a car, setting it on fire
and throwing it into a river near a well-known mosque. According to an
eyewitness, protesters were chanting anti-American and anti-democracy slogans
while beating the woman.”
Farkhunda’s mob killing exploded the
anger of Afghan women, human rights community and women activists and raised
many questions as the incidences of violence against women is on rise. Most
recently on Dec. 30, 2014 Tolo News
reported about the rape of a twelve-year-old girl by the Afghan Local Police
(ALP) forces in Nijrab district of north-eastern Kapisa. Many other such
incidences of violence against women and girls are happening on daily basis,
often not event reported.
The global as well as Afghan media
captured the sentiments of people and outburst of their anger to what happened
to Farkhunda by many news articles, opinion and editorial pieces, press
releases and petitions to bring justice to the men who perpetuated this gross
violence on Farkhunda. As the story unfolded about the detail of what happened
and how it happened and why Farkhunda was murdered by the mob of angry men, it
was revealed that Farkhunda was neither mentally ill nor disturbed rather this
cover was used initially by the family to hide the shame and dishonored of
allegedly burning Quran .
Many women activists were skeptical
about the “mental illness” and had an educated guess that since Farkhunda’s behavior
was a disgrace and shameful, perhaps, her father said so to save face. Although
being mentally ill is also considered shameful in many countries including west
and south Asia, it is considered less shameful than blasphemy. Burning Qur’an
is considered such as ‘despicable’ crime to a Muslim that most sane persons
would not commit this.
On March 22nd, Mirwais
Harooni in a report for Reuters
wrote: “Farkhunda was a teacher of Islamic studies, according to her
brother, who denied media reports that she had been mentally ill. He said this
was a made-up defense by their father, who wanted to protect the family after
police told them to leave the city for their own safety.”... 'My father was
frightened and made the false statement to calm people down,' said
Najibullah, who is changing his second name to Farkhunda in memory of his
sister.
UN officials in Afghanistan strongly
condemned the brutal killing but picked up on the “mental illness” and stated
that “We are particularly worried by reports that the woman had suffered from
mental illness for many years,” but, later Mark Bowden, acting head of the UN
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said “The brutal murder of this woman is
an unspeakably horrendous act that should result in those responsible being
prosecuted, to the fullest extent possible, under Afghan law”.
In the aftermath of this crime, contrary
to the Islamic tradition, Farkhunda’s casket was carried by a dozen women to
the gravesite in north Kabul’s Khair Khana neighborhood while public outpoured
grief and demanded that the perpetrators were brought to justice. Violence
against women is major barrier to human rights and dignity and despite the fact
that the Elimination of Violence against Women Act (EVAW) was passed in 2009
during the era of Hamid Karzai Ex Afghan President, the rampart violence
against women in public and private spheres are a major concern. Indeed Afghan
women security and human rights is at a critical juncture.
The Elimination of Violence against
Women Act (EVAW) criminalizes twenty two offences, starting from forced
prostitution to denying women their inheritance, the law prescribes punishments
for offenders and summarize a number of state responsibilities. Most
particularly, Article 6 enshrines seven victims’ rights, including the right of
prosecution, legal representation and compensation. While the 2009 Act marked a
major turning point in the legal status of Afghan women. But, passing a law in
the absence of political will to implement it will not curtail the rampart
violence against women. Afghanistan is also signatory to numerous
international rights treaties and obliged under international law to respond to
reports of violence against women. According to UN statistics, out of 650
reported cases between October 2012 and September 2013, the law was applied in
a mere 109 cases. On average, over the past three years, the EVAW act has only
been applied to between 15 and 17 percent of reported cases.
The Independent Human Rights Commission
of Afghanistan (AIHRC) in a report
published in Dec 2013 stated that:
“During the first half of the current
year, 4154 cases of violence against women have been registered by 1179
complainants referred to different office of the AIHRC. Therefore, 1179 women
have suffered from one or other forms of violence against women during the
first six months in 1392. Usually the victims are faced with more than one form
of violence at the same time. For this reason the number of violations is
higher than the number of complainants.
The above-mentioned figure shows about a
25 percent increase in the number of cases of violence against women that were
registered in different offices of the AIHRC during the first half of the last
year. This figure indicates that the situation of in the country is terrible.
The increased number of such cases registered in different offices of the AIHRC
can imply several meanings. It may mean a high level of public trust on the
Commission or it can be interpreted as weak rule of law and corruption in the justice
and judicial system or limited access of women to justice. Anyway, the high
level of violence against women indicates an appalling and shocking condition
of in the country."
On 12 November 2014 in the finalized
Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida
Manjoo, asked for sustainable measures to address the causes and consequences
of violence against women, including at the individual, institutional and
structural level.
At the end of a nine-day mission to
Kabul, Jalalabad and Herat regions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan she
stated,
“I have been mandated by the Human
Rights Council to seek and receive information on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, and to recommend measures to eliminate all forms of
violence against women. Violence against women and girls is a widespread and
systemic problem that has an impact throughout the lifecycle of women and
girls, whether it occurs in the public or private spheres. It precludes the
realization of civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and development
rights, and is a barrier to the effective exercise of citizenship by women and
girls.”
Manjoo’s sentiment is also shared by
Rona Popal, Executive Director of the United States based Afghan Coalition. In
her interview statements with me she spoke of the brutal killing of Farkhunda:
“What happened in Kabul Afghanistan is
all due to 35 years of wars in Afghanistan. Wars completely destroyed our
religion and culture of Afghanistan. More than 80 % of Afghans have mental
problems. They see every day people are being killed in front of them in pieces
so people have no feeling toward each other and to their community,” outlined Popal.
Rona’s comment about the decades of war
in Afghanistan and the region’s insensitivity to violence is also shared by the
UN Special Rapporteur Rashida Manjoo. “The four decades of prolonged armed
conflict across the country has contributed to significant levels of
instability, insecurity, violence, rule of law challenges, and poverty and
underdevelopment, which have obstructed the effective realization and enjoyment
of human rights for people of Afghanistan. It must be stressed that the
insecurity, pervasive levels of gender-based violence and an ever-present
climate of fear has had a disproportionate impact on the promotion, protection
and fulfillment of human rights of women and girls,” said the Special
Rapporteur.
In response to the question I asked Rona
if she is concern about women safety in today's Afghanistan and why? She responded:
“I am very much concern about safety of
women in Afghanistan. They are not safe even from their families. I always
think they have to be trained how to take care of themselves. “
The fact that most of the young men
participated in Farkhunda’s killing were “city boys” reminds us that not only
these young men in their twenties but perhaps their fathers lived through the
three decade of war. The culture of violence, the unprocessed anger instilled
over 3 decades, continues to be passed on to the young generation.
After Farkhunda’s brutal murder, a dozen
of men suspected to be involved were arrested and few police officers were
removed from their position. Rona believes that “Afghanistan government
want to do something to stop people's anger but they cannot do that much. To
change people bring their trust back to government. The government has to bring
a system, rules and regulation that be acceptable by people. Also culturally
competent sociologists and psychologists need to be at work to heal the psychological
effects of the long lasting decades of war of various communities. “
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor released its Report on the
Taliban's War Against Women on November 17, 2001. The report concluded “The
Afghan people want, and the U.S. Government supports, a broad-based
representative government, which includes women, in post-Taliban
Afghanistan............ Only Afghans can determine the future government of
their country. And Afghan women should have the right to choose their role in
that future. “
The report included the transcript of
the radio address delivered by first lady Laura Bush and she concluded that
because of the military occupation of Afghanistan “women are no longer
imprisoned in their homes.“ But this was a premature
declaration of victory!
Ending the atrocities of the Taliban and
ensuring that women’s rights and freedom are being honored was one of the prime
justifications for U.S. intervention. But after 14 years which costs U.S.
taxpayers nearly $1tn, the country still lacks the basic infrastructure to
protect the safety of women under the rule of law.
“Many activists are concerned that the
transition for the withdrawal will increase the incidences of violence against
women. Particularly contextualizing the fact that women were pushed to the
sideline and neither US not Afghan Governments did not honor Security Council
Resolution 1325 which calls for presence of women at peace negotiations,” says Sima Samar
Chair of the Afghanistan Independent
Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), told Reuters In January of 2014 that as the
withdrawal deadline draws near for international troops, women in tribal areas
are less protected, leaving them vulnerable to violent assaults.
"The presence of the international
community and provincial reconstruction teams in most of the provinces was
giving people confidence,"
Samar said. "There were people there trying to protect women. And that
is not there anymore, unfortunately."
She also noted that poor economic
conditions and the lack of security are also contributing factor to the rise of
incidents.
"Killing women in Afghanistan is an
easy thing. There's no punishment," Suraya Pakzad, who runs women's shelters in several
provinces, told Reuters.
According to UN Women Chief Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcukain January 2014 violence against women in Afghanistan is
“pandemic,” with 87.2 percent of women experiencing some form of physical,
psychological, sexual, economic or social violence.
In my interview with Rona Popal I asked
her in what ways Afghan community outside Afghanistan and other global women
activists who care for respect, dignity and safety of Afghan women can help so
we don't have another Farkhunda?
“We need the world to listen to
Afghan women. We’ve had a bad experience after 9/11. The world came to help but
it backfired on Afghan women: for example women are right not to take the veil
off from women. After 9/11 in our trip to Kabul we did talk to lots of women
and we asked them why they wear the burqa? They said because of security if
these warlords see that I am young or beautiful, they will kidnap me or my daughters.
So they can help but they should be sensitive to the people believes. Let the
people decide what is good for them,“ outlined Popal.
The deferred dream of Afghan women for
peace and security in public and private spheres of their lives exploded with the
manifestation of deep rooted misogyny in lynching Farkhunda. Many women
activists, those who painted their face to resemble the atrocities inflicted on
Farkhunda and participated in widespread demonstrations, those who broke the
patriarchal traditions of only men carrying the casket and took Farkhunda on
their shoulders to the cemetery, the journalists who penned their anger and
frustration and demand justice, the community that raised the hope that
Farkhunda case be a turning point and the beginning of an end to the deep
rooted gender injustice in Afghanistan demanded justice for Farkhunda.
The case is now closed and many
activists and Farkhunda’s family are questioning if the justice was served?
Faridullah Hussain Khail in an article on Tolo News
reported that Kabul Primary Court Judge Safiullah Mujadidi sentences “evoked
fierce criticism among some people in Kabul with one MP claiming the judge’s
decision had been politically motivated.“ I am very sorry that political
compromises have been seen in the court. The Kabul Police chief has close ties
with the president and the crime investigation chief has close ties with the
CEO,” said Farkhunda Zahra Nadiri MP. Another critic was the mother
of Sharaf Baghlani who was sentenced to death. She asked why the driver of the
car that ran over Farkhunda and the person who set Farkhunda on fire were not
sentenced to death.
While efficiency of court proceedings is
a desirable quality, but efficiency should not compromise serving justice to
the case and due process for the defendants. It took only less than
two months for the judicial system of Afghanistan to arrest, investigate and
put on trial 49 men accused of being engaged at different stages of this
horrendous crime and handing down sentences from one year to death sentences.
The response of the judicial system was prompt as many demanded, but was it
thorough? Some argue that it was not and the case was wrapped up quickly for
political consideration and in response to the public pressure. Ahmad Shuja, an
Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch was quoted in an article published
on May 20th in Foreign Policy that
“We now see what has become a pattern in highly publicized cases.” He
continues, “The government tries to expedite the proceedings to put the
issue behind it. That not only adversely impacts due process rights but also
demonstrates the lack of seriousness with which the government approaches cases
of violence against women.”
The view expressed by many human rights
activists also indicates that the hearings lasted only three days, and
defendants were given few minutes and no opportunity for their defendants to
introduce their own witnesses and even more serious fraudulent and misconduct
aspect of this trail was that some defendants, including one ultimately
sentenced to death, did not had a defense lawyer at trial.
Kimberley Motley, the American attorney
who represented the family of Farkhunda, in an article published by The Telegraph
on May 20th, stated, “There can be little doubt that this case was a
defining moment for Afghanistan, women’s rights“. She
continues, “How it (this case ) has been prosecuted will show the world what
Afghanistan is really made of and what the legacy of billions of dollars
investment - and a 13 year international intervention that recently came to an
end - has resulted in.” The above unfounded optimism assessment of the
importance of the case and particularly highlighting the “legacy of billions
of dollars investment “ by Kimberley Motley would be better understood in
the context of the history of her presence and her legal capacity in
Afghanistan. As stated on Motley Legal
she “worked as a Justice Advisor with US Department of State funded project
in Afghanistan. In this capacity she was given the remit to raise the capacity
of Afghan Defense Attorneys and has trained of hundreds of Afghan Attorneys
throughout the country.”
The reality is that while many cases of
violence against women go unreported or being ignored Farkhunda was killed in
public, forcing Afghans as a whole to confront their society’s brutal realities,
especially as the lynching was filmed on mobile phones, the footage widely
shared on social media and shown in court. Farkhunda lynching “exploded” as the
women’s rights activist who endured the bleak years of Taliban, who endured the
military occupation of US for the last thirteen years are holding the
government of Afghanistan accountable to respect them as equal citizens as
reflected in the constitution of Afghanistan that “the citizens of
Afghanistan – whether man or woman – have equal rights and duties before the
law”. Afghan women are inspired by the global movement to end violence
against women and striving to make their deferred dream of peace and security
at home and in society a reality.
When I asked Rona Popal about the result
of this case she stated:
“I am very upset to see all the
injustices in everyday life of Afghan women. Abuse of women is part of
the culture in Afghanistan. Women are invisible in the
society. Women still being discriminated abused and persecuted.
There is more work need to be done before we reach equality and respect for
women's rights. The everyday reality of Afghan women is that the
political instability pushes back all the reforms. Khaled Hosseini was
right when he wrote in his novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, “Like a compass
facing north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.” Afghan
women need more support to bring justice.”
The reality is that despite close to
fifteen years presence of US military forces in Afghanistan and donor driven
projects of “ empowerment “ of women, both the United State and Afghan
governments did not kept their promises to Afghan women.
I recall when I was leaving Kabul to
return back to U.S. in May 2003. I asked a group of women working in NGOs in
Kabul if they have a message for their sisters in U.S. and they said. ‘Elahe,
tell them not to forget about us”. Let us stay committed to the cause of
safety and security of Afghan women. The global women’s movement needs to
listen to Afghan women.
*Elahe Amani - Peace activist and WNN – Women News
Network special reporter on Iran, Elahe Amani, works with immigrant
women who are part of the South Asian, Iranian and the Middle Eastern ethnic
communities in Southern California to help women from these communities build
peace at home and in society.