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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Activists
and organizers of the Green Party of the United States are demanding
that women be represented in international talks on the future of
Afghanistan beginning this week in Bonn, Germany. Party members were
angered to learn that the Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan (RAWA), which has worked to end the suppression of women's
rights and abuse of women in Afghanistan by both the Taliban and the
Northern Alliance, was not invited to join U.S. officials, United
Nations representatives, and five Afghan groups in the talks.
"This shows how women have been continually marginalized in the
peace process," said Annie Goeke, chair of the International
Committee and a Pennsylvania Green. "It is imperative that RAWA
takes part in this meeting as they clearly represent one of the most
significant voices of the Afghan society."
"These women have proved to the whole world their right through all
the work and risks they have done in their struggle to bring democracy,
freedom, human rights and women's rights to the Afghan society. They
have been able to develop a network of human and political relationships
with the Western world. And they have an important role in creating the
hope in the future Afghanistan by knowing how to manage to spread the
knowledge of health and education among the women."
RAWA has issued an urgent request for international action to secure an
invitation to the meeting which may otherwise place control of
Afghanistan into the hands of two alleged Afghan war criminals,
Burhanuddin Rabbani and General Dostrum of the Northern Alliance. Not a
single woman was invited to join 1,200 representatives of various
Afghan ethnicities, religious groups, and political factions at a peace
and unity conference in Peshawar last month.
Resolution 1325, which calls for the involvement of women in all of the
implementation mechanisms of conflict resolution, was unanimously
adopted by the U.N. Security Council last year.
The current exclusion of Afghan women bodes ill for the future of women
and women's rights in post-war Afghanistan, regardless of the outcome of
the Bonn talks, and calls into question President Bush's respect for
women's rights in the U.S. Greens call upon the Bush Administration to
ensure that any new government in Afghanistan provide equal rights to
women, including direct representation of women's groups.
"The Bush administration must end the terrorism inflicted upon
women in Afghanistan and elsewhere on a daily basis," said Mark
Dunlea, Vice-Chair of the Green Party of New York State. "The U.S.
should not provide financial or political support to any country that
does not guarantee full rights to women. It is very troublesome that the
Northern Alliance, with its long history of abusing and oppressing
women, has been given such a dominant political role as the result of
America's military intervention."
"RAWA has struggled for freedom of Afghanistan and they belong to
the civil Afghan society, and therefore have the right to represent
their country and their gender," added Annie Goeke.
Ms. Goeke and two other officers of the Green Party of the United States
are currently in Europe for meetings with international Green
organizations. Dean Myerson, the party's Political Coordinator, is in
Paris to meet with Les Verts, the French Green Party; Steering Committee
member Tom Sevigny is going to Budapest for a meeting of the Council of
the European Federation of Green Parties.
Myerson, Sevigny, and Goeke will also attend two days of meetings,
beginning Tuesday, November 27, in Brussels with Green members of
European parliaments and other Green officials. International action in
support of peace and democracy in Afghanistan will be among the major
topics at these meetings.
More Information:
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan http://www.rawa.org
European Federation of Green Parties http://www.europeangreens.org
The Green Party of the United States Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com
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