The Lovers

by Rod Nordland

  See also New York Times, Times Video, To Kill a Sparrow, www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/world/asia/times-video-presents-to-kill-a-sparrow.html.

  EPILOGUE

  1.The Persian year 1394 began on March 21, 2015.

  THE JIHAD AGAINST WOMEN

  1.Every important local official in the country, from the governors of the more than three hundred districts to the police chiefs in rural provinces, was appointed in Kabul and still is.

  2.Amanullah Khan’s reign is discussed in more detail in chapter 7. See also Abdullah Qazi, Afghanistan Online, Apr. 24, 2011, “Plight of the Afghan Woman, Afghan Women’s History,” www.afghan-web.com/woman/afghanwomenhistory.html.

  3.Afghan airlines now use mostly foreign women or men as flight attendants.

  4.George Crile, Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003). Reissued as Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times (New York: Grove Press, 2007).

  5.See the website of Afghanistan National Institute of Music at www.afghanistannationalinstituteofmusic.org.

  6.See the website of Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation, “Women and Girls in Afghanistan,” at https://raziasrayofhope.org/women-and-girls-in-afghanistan.html. The World Bank’s website, at http://datatopics.world bank.org/gender/country/afghanistan, says that 17.8 percent of workers in nonagricultural sectors are women, but that is based on statistics from the 1990s, and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of the Afghan government says it does not have current data for female nonagricultural employment, which seems implausible. More than three-fourths of women are agricultural laborers, nearly all of them unpaid, whereas among men half of those who work on farms receive pay for doing so, according to World Bank and UN data. My own impression from regularly seeing workers heading out of their workplaces in Kabul, where working women are more numerous than elsewhere, is that fewer than 10 percent of urban workers are female, even in the capital. See also Ministry of Women’s Affairs and United Nations Development Program monograph, “Women and Men in Afghanistan, Baseline Statistics on Gender,” 2008, p. 32, www.refworld.org/pdfid/4a7959272.pdf.

  7.In December 2014 a suicide bomber struck a concert that Dr. Sarmast’s students were staging at the French Institute in Kabul; the Taliban later announced that he had been the target. The concert had been called “Heart-beat: Silence after the Explosion” and was intended to be a condemnation of suicide bombing. One person was killed, a German in the audience. Dr. Sarmast’s hearing was damaged in the blast, but he went back to teaching and running the music institute, in between surgeries on his ears. See BBC News online, Dec. 11, 2014, “Kabul suicide bomber attacks French school during show,” www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30431830. See also Sune Engel Rasmussen, Guardian, May 25, 2015, “He was the saviour of Afghan music. Then a Taliban bomb took his hearing,” www.the guardian.com/world/2015/may/25/he-was-the-saviour-ofafghan-music-then-a-taliban-bomb-took-his-hearing.

  8.Sergey, the Russian POW, human mine detector, and mujahideen rape victim, was seriously wounded in the blast but not killed; the bomb he tripped was intended to maim. Mines that kill remove one person from the battlefield; those that maim remove three, the victim and two people to carry him out. The maimed victims are also a demoralizing advertisement to their comrades.

  To their credit, the muj did evacuate Sergey for medical treatment that saved his life. They said he deserved as much for having told them the truth, that he had not known where the mines had been put.

  9.Global Rights, Mar. 2008, “Living with Violence: A National Report on Domestic Abuse in Afghanistan.” This large-scale survey of Afghan women, mostly married women, the most comprehensive ever carried out, revealed that 11.2 percent of them had been raped, 17.2 percent had suffered sexual violence, 39.3 percent had been beaten by their husbands within the previous year, 58.8 percent were in forced marriages (arranged marriages to which they objected or that took place when they were underage), 73.9 percent had suffered psychological abuse from their spouse, and 87.2 percent had been subjected to either physical, sexual, or psychological abuse. See www.globalrights.org/Library/Women%27s%20rights/Living%20with%20Violence%20Afghan.pdf.

  10.Ibid., p. 17.

  11.U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Female Victims of Sexual Violence, 1994–2010, Special Report,” Mar. 2013, www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvsv9410.pdf.

  12.United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, report of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Apr. 2015, “Justice Through the Eyes of Afghan Women,” https://goo.gl/RhsrTS. See also Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghanistan, Mar. 2014, “First Report on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law in Afghanistan,” http://goo.gl/DgrYPb.

  13.United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences,” May 23, 2012, pp. 73–75, www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/A.HRC.20.16_En.pdf.

  14.Office of the President, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Press Release, May 30, 2015, “President Ghani: Women’s Rights Shall Not Be Compromised for Peace,” http://president.gov.af/en/news/47135. See also Sune Engel Rasmussen, Guardian, Nov. 6, 2014, “Rula Ghani, the Woman Making Waves as Afghanistan’s New First Lady,” www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/06/rula-ghani-afghan-first-lady.

  15.Afghanistan during the two Karzai administrations had only three other women cabinet ministers: Husn Banu Ghazanfar, women’s-affairs minister, who was unmarried; Soraya Dalil, public-health minister; and Amina Afzali, youth minister.

  16.Margherita Stancati, Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2013, online, “Afghan Women Fear Rights Slipping Away,” www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324853704578587491774651104.

  17.Dr. Massouda Jalal, Asia Society, “Women’s Leadership in Afghanistan’s Reconstruction,” Sept. 8, 2005, http://asiasociety.org/womens-leadership-afghanistans-reconstruction.

  18.The Afghan EVAW law is detailed in the English-language brochure Know Your Rights and Duties: The Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, Aug. 1, 2009, www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/Know%20Your%20Rights%20and%20Duties%20-%20The%20Law%20on%20Elimination%20of%20Violence%20 Against%20Women%20(English),%20IDLO.pdf.

  19.The same year that the EVAW law was enacted, Mr. Karzai also enacted a law limiting the rights of Shia women. See Human Rights Watch, “Law Curbing Women’s Rights Takes Effect,” Aug. 13, 2009, www.hrw.org/news/2009/08/13/afghanistan-law-curbing-women-s-rights-takes-effect.

  20.See also the discussion of Article 398 of the Afghan Penal Code in chapter 5.

  21.Relief Web, Oct. 21, 2002, IRIN, “Afghanistan: Focus on the Plight of Widows,” http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-focus-plight-widows.

  22.John F. Burns, New York Times, Oct. 4, 1996, “Walled In, Shrouded and Angry in Afghanistan,” www.nytimes.com/1996/10/04/world/walled-in-shrouded-and-angry-in-afghanistan.html.

  23.Jason Burke, London Review of Books, vol. 23, no. 6, Mar. 22, 2001, “Diary,” www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n06/jason-burke/diary.

  24.Video of Zarmeena’s execution can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4l267pCGdA or on the RAWA website at www.rawa.org/temp/runews., with the actual execution video at http://www.rawa.org/zarmeena.htm.

  25.Barbara Crossette, New York Times, Dec. 2, 2001, “Afghanistan’s Women: Hope for the Future, Blunted by a Hard Past,” www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/weekinreview/the-world-afghanistans-women-hope-for-the-future-blunted-by-a-hard-past.html.

  26.Oxfam, Briefing Paper, “Behind Closed Doors,” Nov. 24, 2014, www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/behind-closed-doors-afghanistan-oxfam.pdf.

  27.BBC News online, Jan. 4, 2004, “Afghans endorse new constitution,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3366455.stm.

  28.BBC News online, Dec. 18, 2003, “UN guarding loya jirga del
egate,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3331751.stm.

  29.New York Times, July 23, 2012, p. A1, “Key Afghans Tied to ’90s Carnage,” www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/world/asia/key-afghans-tied-to-mass-killings-in-90s-civil-war.html.

  30.See the website of the Defense Committee for Malalai Joya at www.malalaijoya.com. See also Malalai Joya, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice (New York: Scribner, 2009).

  31.New York Times, July 21, 2013, p. A1, “Despite Education Advances, a Host of Afghan School Woes,” www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/world/asia/despite-education-advances-a-host-of-afghan-school-woes.html.

  32.Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Report, “Violence Against Women in Afghanistan 1392 (2013–2014),” http://goo.gl/yydQ7U.

  33.Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghanistan, “First Report on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law in Afghanistan,” Mar. 2014, http://goog.gl/8EvrQk.

  34.See also this UN study, which found that even in the 10 out of 110 EVAW cases that resulted in convictions, penalties were nearly all minor, often below the minimum mandated by law. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, “Justice Through the Eyes of Afghan Women,” Apr. 2015, https://goog.gl/RhsrTS.

  35.AIHRC Report, “Violence Against Women.” See note 32.

  36.Gulnaz’s case is discussed further in chapter 7.

  37.Of the 176 prisoners in Badam Bagh Prison in November 2014, according to Qazi Parveen of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, 75 to 85 percent of them were convicted of or charged with moral crimes. Of the prisoners in Ms. Parveen’s tally, 7 were pregnant, 3 had given birth since their incarceration, and forty children were living with their mothers in the prison (the children are not included in the tally of 176). When I visited Badam Bagh on November 14, 2014, the population on that day, according to inmate rolls provided by officials on duty, included seventy-six adultery cases, twenty-two cases of runaways, seven cases of alcohol consumption, five cases of attempted adultery—or about 65 percent moral cases. Note the runaway charges, despite the abolition of the charge of running away from home in the EVAW law of 2009.

  38.See the website of the Research Institute for Women, Peace & Security at www.riwps-afghanistan.org.

  39.The website of the Afghan Women’s Network’s is at www.awn-af.net.

  40.Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, Mar. 2, 2015, p. A1, “Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against Culture,” www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world/asia/afghan-policewomen-struggle-against-culture.html.

  41.Lal Bibi is discussed in detail in chapter 4.

  42.Soheila’s case is discussed further in chapter 14.

  43.Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, Mar. 3, 2014, p. A1, “A Thin Line of Defense against Honor Killings,” www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/world/asia/afghanistan-a-thin-line-of-defense-against-honor-killings.html.

  44.United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, Jan. 29, 2014, “Co-Chairs’ Statement, Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework,” http://unama.unmissions.org/Portals/UNAMA/Press%20Statements/JCMB-29Jan2014-joint-communique.pdf.

  45.United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kabul, Dec. 2013, “A Way to Go: An Update on Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan,” http://goo.gl/nmdz3x.

  46.Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghanistan, Mar. 2014, “First Report on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law in Afghanistan,” http://goo.gl/8EvrQk.

  47.Owen Bowcott, Guardian, June 14, 2011, “Afghanistan worst place in world for women, but India in top five.” The article cites a survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation’s TrustLaw Woman website, about comparative conditions for women. See www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/15/worst-place-women-afghanistan-india.

  48.United Nations Development Program, Human Development Index, on-line comparative tool, at http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-develop ment-index-hdi.

  49.For more on the international impact of Afghanistan’s women’s-rights efforts, see chapter 7.

  50.See Nasrine Gross’s remarks on this subject in chapter 7, p. 125: “Afghanistan is still the great battleground of women’s rights in the twenty-first century.”

  51.New York Times, May 20, 2013, p. A8, “Effort to Strengthen an Afghan Law on Women May Backfire,” www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/world/asia/efforts-to-strengthen-afghan-law-on-women-may-backfire.html.

  52.Women News Network, online news site, May 20, 2013, “Law to protect women and girls in Afghanistan stalled in parliament,” http://women newsnetwork.net/2013/05/20/law-to-protect-women-girls-afghani stan-stalled-in-parliament.

  53.Ali M. Latifi, Al Jazeera English, online news site, May 30, 2013, “Afghan women in fight over rights,” www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/201352711108360922.html.

  54.Qazi, meaning an Islamic-law judge, is often transliterated as Qadi in English.

  55.The term of that Afghan parliament expired June 21, 2015, but it was extended possibly indefinitely due to an impasse over electing a new one. See Mujib Mashal, New York Times, June 20, 2015, p. A6, “Afghan Parliament’s Term is Extended,” www.nytimes.com/2015/06/20/world/asia/afghan-parliaments-term-is-extended-after-squabbles-delay-elec tions.html.

  56.Embassy of the United States, Kabul, State Department Press Release no. 2010/612, May 13, 2010, http://kabul.usembassy.gov/remarks_130510 _2.html.

  57.Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, July 31, 2010, p. A1, “Afghan Women Fear Loss of Modest Gains,” www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/world/asia/31women.html.

  58.United States Department of State, Archive, “U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council,” Jan. 20, 2001, to Jan. 20, 2009. The entry on the council notes that “content in this archive site is NOT UPDATED, and external links may not function.”

  59.Facebook, “U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council,” www.facebook.com/US AfghanWC.

  60.Feminist Majority Foundation, http://feministmajority.org. When checked in 2015, the foundation’s website had no press releases concerning Afghanistan that were dated more recently than 2013, with most even older.

  61.See the website of Equality for Peace and Democracy at www.epd-afg.org.

  62.See the website of Empowerment Center for Women at http://ecw.org.af/empowerment-center-for-women.

  63.Joseph Goldstein, New York Times, Dec. 17, 2014, p. A16, “E.U. Confirms Wide Fraud in Afghan Presidential Runoff Election,” www.ny times.com/2014/12/17/world/asia/afghan-voting-fraud-detailed-in-new-report.html.

  64.New York Times, Sept. 22, 2014, p. A1, “After Rancor, Afghans Agree to Share Power,” www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/world/asia/afghan-presidential-election.html.

  65.New York Times, July 2, 2013, p. A4, “Critics Question Karzai Choices for Human Rights Panel,” www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/world/asia/karzai-choices-forafghan-human-rights-panel-raise-questions.html.

  66.The periodic production of such documents has been required by law by the U.S. Congress, the United Nations and some of its agencies, and by the European Union.

  67.Breshna’s case is discussed in detail beginning on p. 287

  68.Human Rights Watch, “Afghanistan: Reject Proposal to Restore Stoning,” Nov. 25, 2013, www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/25/afghanistanreject-proposal-restore-stoning.

  69.Margherita Stancati, Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2013, online, “Afghan Women Fear Rights Slipping Away,” www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142 4127887324853704578587491774651104.

  70.Soheila’s case is discussed in more detail in chapter 14.

  71.See the website of the International Development Law Organization at www.idlo.int/where-we-work/asia/afghanistan.

  72.I refused to accept the condition that IDLO would speak to me about Zakia and Ali only on guarantee of anonymity of the organization and those I interviewed in it. I currently have a Freedom of Information Act request pending to find out how much IDLO was paid by the U.S. government for work on the couples’ case, what if anything it did (on only one known instance did IDLO,
through one of its Afghan employees, interview the couple, according to Zakia and Ali), and how much it has been paid for other EVAW-law-related projects, such as its strongly criticized program to train Afghan judges in application of that law. See also John F. Sopko, special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, July 22, 2013, available online at www.sigar.mil/pdf/alerts/SIGAR-Alert-13-6%20IDLO.pdf. The letter questions IDLO’s capacity to handle a $50-million rule-of-law training program through a subcontractor and complained that the group had failed to respond to the inspector general’s concerns that it had accomplished little of value. IDLO replied, according to a press release dated July 25, 2013 (available at www.idlo.int/news/highlights/sigars-letter-secretary-john-kerry-incorrect) that SIGAR’s criticisms were based on “incorrect or incomplete information” and cited two cases, one an IDLO-trained lawyer who won an acquittal of a woman charged with running away and the other an IDLO-trained judge who sentenced a wife-beater to prison. No names, dates, or other details were given to verify those cases.

  73.See the website of the United States Department of State, “2009 International Women of Courage Award,” www.state.gov/s/gwi/programs/iwoc/2009/index.htm.

  74.General Allen was replaced in Afghanistan after he became embroiled in a scandal over the large numbers of allegedly salacious e-mails he sent to a Florida socialite in the middle of running the American war in Afghanistan, although the Pentagon’s investigation absolved him of wrongdoing. In 2015 he was appointed by President Obama to coordinate the international coalition fighting against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Thom Shanker, New York Times, Jan. 23, 2013, p. A13, “Pentagon Clears Commander Over Emails,” www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/us/pentagon-clears-general-allen-over-e-mails-with-socialite.html.

  75.The statistics on which General Allen based the assertion of a 4-percent incidence of abusive behavior by American-trained Afghan Local Police units have never been publicly released in any detail and are thus unverifiable. Anecdotally, abusive conduct by Afghan Local Police units, most of them trained by American Special Forces or other coalition special-operations units, appears unchecked and endemic.