DOIW Statement on Afghanistan
In August, the Democratic Organisation of Iranian Women sent the following message to the comrades of the Women’s International Democratic Federation and its member organisations.
‘The Democratic Organisation of Iranian Women, while conveying to you its warmest greetings, would like to draw your attention to the dire situation of the women and children of Afghanistan and the killing of innocent people as the reactionary Taliban advance in the country which was occupied for more than 20 years by US imperialism and its Western allies under the pretext of driving out the Taliban and bringing democracy to the country. In fact, the aim of the occupation was nothing but the promotion of US imperialism’s strategic interests in the region and its outcome has been nothing but war, bloodshed, and the further destruction of this long-suffering land. In holding peace talks with the Taliban group, without the involvement even of its own puppet government of Karzai, or any representative of Afghan civil society, they have shown clearly that they have been only pursuing their imperialist interests at the cost of destroying Afghanistan and shedding the blood of many more in this country.
The Taliban group has declared that women are not to leave the house without hejab and a male guardian. Girls do not have the right to go to school or to university. They do not have the right to seek consult health services without the presence of a male guardian. The have no right to speak to any man. The people of different neighbourhoods have been asked to hand over the names of their daughters and any widows, apparently to have them claimed as sex slaves by the misogynistic Taliban fighters.
Ms Sahra Karimi, the well-known Afghan film-maker, pleaded to the international community, film-makers and the media: ‘Help us! Be our voice outside the borders of Afghanistan. If the Taliban take Kabul, we may no longer have access to the internet or any means of communication. Please ask your filmmakers and artists to support us, to be our voice. This is not a civil war, this is a proxy war, and it is the result of a US agreement with the Taliban. Please disseminate this in your media and write about us in social media as much as you can”.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General also states that the reports from Afghanistan, especially those relating to denying women and girls the rights for which they fought so hard, are heart-breaking and horrifying. According to reports received by the UN, the Taliban actions in Afghanistan have been described as war crimes, and the UN Secretary-General has declared the attacks on civilians as a gross violation of international human rights standards (Deutsche Welle).
We, the people of Iran and Afghanistan, in addition to sharing a common language, culture and border, both carry the wounds inflicted on us by political Islam, with backwardness and misogyny as its main characteristics.
We condemn Taliban’s organised violence against women, their war crimes such as killing civilians, sequestering property, looting, rape, forced marriages, sexual and gender-based violence, and call on WIDF and its member organisations to reflect the voice of the women of Afghanistan and to condemn Taliban’s bloody war on Afghanistan, and with it the true instigators of this crime against humanity, imperialism, and its allies. Enough of war and destruction. The suffering people of Afghanistan want peace.
Democratic Organisation of Iranian Women
15th August 2021′
