No Subject

["Peter Sep" <uitgeverij.sep@balie.nl>]

Daphne Meijer wrote:

> 
> Please consider signing this petition - so easy to 
express one's support
> 
> with email really.
> 
> Subject: Women in Afghanistan
> 
> The government of Afghanistan is waging a war 
upon women. Since the
> Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to 
wear burqua and have
> been beaten and stoned in public for not having 
the proper attire, even
> if this means simply not having the mesh covering 
in front of their
> eyes.
> 
> One woman was beaten to DEATH by an angry 
mob of fundamentalists for
> accidentally exposing her arm while she was 
driving. Another was
> stoned to death for trying to leave the country with 
a man that was not
> a relative. Women are not allowed to work or even 
go out in public
> without a male relative; professional women such 
as professors,
> translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and writers 
have been forced from
> 
> their jobs
> and stuffed into their homes, so that depression is 
becoming so
> widespread
> that it
> has reached emergency levels.  There no way in 
such an extreme Islamic
> society to know the suicide rate with certainty, but 
relief workers are
> estimating
> that the suicide rate among women, who cannot 
find proper medication
> and treatment for severe depression and would 
rather
> take their lives than live in such conditions, has 
increased
> significantly.
> >>
> Homes where a woman is present must have their 
windows painted so
> that she can never be seen by outsiders. They 
must wear silent shoes so
> that they are never heard.  Women live in fear of 
their lives for the
> slightest misbehavior. Because they cannot work, 
those without male
> relatives or husbands are either starving to death 
or begging on the
> street, even if they hold Ph.D.'s.  There are almost 
no medical
> facilities available for women, and relief workers, in 
protest, have
> mostly left the country, taking medicine and 
psychologists and other
> things
> necessary to treat the sky-rocketing level of 
depression among women. At
> one
> of the
> rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, 
nearly lifeless bodies
> 
> lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their 
burqua, unwilling to
> speak, eat, or do anything, but slowly wasting 
away. Others have gone
> mad
> and
> were seen crouched in corners, perpetually 
rocking or crying, most of
> them
> in
> fear. One doctor is considering, when what little 
medication that is
> left finally runs out, leaving these women in front of 
the president's
> residence as a form of peaceful protest. It is at the 
point where the
> term
> 'human
> rights violations' has become an understatement.  
Husbands have the
> power of life and death over their women relatives, 
especially their
> wives,
> but
> an angry mob has just as much right to stone or 
beat a woman, often to
> death, for exposing an inch of flesh or offending 
them in the slightest
> way.
> Women
> enjoyed relative freedom, to work, dress generally 
as they wanted, and
> drive and appear in public alone until only 1996. 
The rapidity of this
> transition is the main reason for the depression 
and suicide; women who
> were once educators or doctors or simply used to 
basic human freedoms
> are
> now
> severely restricted and treated as sub-human in 
the name of
> right-wing fundamentalist Islam. It is not their 
tradition or 'culture',
> 
> but is alien to them, and it is extreme even for 
those cultures where
> fundamentalism is the rule. Everyone has a right 
to a tolerable human
> existence, even if they are women in a Muslim 
country. If we can
> threaten military force in Kosovo in the name of 
human rights for the
> sake of ethnic Albanians, citizens of the world can 
certainly express
> peaceful
> outrage at the oppression, murder and injustice 
committed against women
> by
> the
> Taliban.
> >>
> STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the 
current treatment of
> women in Afghanistan is completely 
UNACCEPTABLE and deserves support
> and action by the United Nations and that the 
current situation overseas
> 
> will not be tolerated. Women's Rights is not a 
small issue anywhere
> and it is UNACCEPTABLE for women in 1999 to 
be treated as sub-human and
> so much as property. Equality and human 
decency is a RIGHT not a
> freedom, whether one lives in Afghanistan or 
elsewhere.
> 
> 1) Suzanne Dathe, Grenoble, France
> >> 2) Laurence COMPARAT, Grenoble,France
> >> 3) Philippe MOTTE, Grenoble, France
> >> 4) Jok FERRAND, Mont St Martin, France
> >> 5) Emmanuelle PIGNOL, St Martin d'Heres, 
FRANCE
> >> 6) Marie GAUTHIER, Grenoble, FRANCE
> >> 7) Laurent VESCALO, Grenoble,FRANCE
> >> 8) Mathieu MOY, St Egreve, FRANCE
> >> 9) Bernard BLANCHET, Mont St Martin, 
FRANCE
> >> 10) Tassadite FAVRIE, Grenoble, FRANCE
> >> 11) Loic GODARD, St Ismier, FRANCE
> >> 12) Benedicte PASCAL, Grenoble, FRANCE
> >> 13) Khedaidja BENATIA, Grenoble, FRANCE
> >> 14) Marie-Therese LLORET, Grenoble,FRANCE
> >> 15) Benoit THEAU, Poitiers, FRANCE
> >> 16) Bruno CONSTANTIN, Poitiers, FRANCE
> >> 17) Christian COGNARD, Poitiers, FRANCE
> >> 18) Robert GARDETTE, Paris, FRANCE
> >> 19) Claude CHEVILLARD, Montpellier, 
FRANCE
> >> 20) gilles FREISS, Montpellier, FRANCE
> >> 21) Patrick AUGEREAU, Montpellier, FRANCE.
> >> 22) Jean IMBERT, Marseille, FRANCE
> >> 23) Jean-Claude MURAT, Toulouse, France
> >> 24) Anna BASSOLS, Barcelona, Spain
> >> 25) Mireia DUNACH, Barcelona, Spain
> >> 26) Michel VILLAZ, Grenoble, France
> >> 27) Pages Frederique, Dijon, France
> >> 28) Rodolphe FISCHMEISTER, Chatenay-
Malabry,France
> >> 29) Francois BOUTEAU, Paris, France
> >> 30) Patrick PETER, Paris, France
> >> 31) Lorenza RADICI, Paris, France
> >> 32) Monika Siegenthaler, Bern, Switzerland
> >> 33) Mark Philp, Glasgow, Scotland
> >> 34) Tomas Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 35) Jonas Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 36) Karin Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 37) Ake Ljung, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 38) Carina Sedlmayer, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 39) Rebecca Uddman, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 40) Lena Skog, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 41) Micael Folke, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 42) Britt-Marie Folke, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 43) Birgitta Schuberth, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 44) Lena Dahl, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 45) Ebba Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 46) Jessica Carlsson, Vaxjo, Sweden
> >> 47) Sara Blomquist, Vaxjo, Sweden
> >> 48) Magdalena Fosseus, Vaxjo, Sweden
> >> 49) Charlotta Langner, Goteborg, Sweden
> >> 50) Andrea Egedal, Goteborg, Sweden
> >> 51) Lena Persson, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 52) Magnus Linder, Umea ,Sweden
> >> 53) Petra Olofsson, Umea, Sweden
> >> 54) Caroline Evenbom, Vaxjo, Sweden
> >> 55) Asa Pettersson, Grimsas, Sweden
> >> 56) Jessica Bjork, Grimsas, Sweden
> >> 57) Linda Ahlbom Goteborg, Sweden
> >> 58) Jenny Forsman, Boras, Sweden
> >> 59) Nina Gunnarson, Kinna, Sweden
> >> 60) Andrew Harrison, New Zealand
> >> 61) Bryre Murphy, New Zealand
> >> 62) Claire Lugton, New Zealand
> >> 63) Sarah Thornton, New Zealand
> >> 64) Rachel Eade, New Zealand
> >> 65) Magnus Hjert, London, UK
> >> 67) Madeleine Stamvik, Hurley, UK
> >> 68) Susanne Nowlan, Vermont, USA
> >> 69) Lotta Svenby, Malmoe, Sweden
> >> 70) Adina Giselsson, Malmoe, Sweden
> >> 71) Anders Kullman, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 72) Rebecka Swane, Stockholm,Sweden
> >> 73) Jens Venge, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 74) Catharina Ekdahl, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 75) Nina Fylkegard, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 76) Therese Stedman, Malmoe, Sweden
> >> 77) Jannica Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 78) Douglas Bratt
> >> 79) Mats Lofstrom, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 80) Li Lindstrom, Sweden
> >> 81) Ursula Mueller, Sweden
> >> 82) Marianne Komstadius, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 83) Peter Thyselius, Stockholm, Sweden
> >> 84) Gonzalo Oviedo, Quito, Ecuador
> >> 85) Amalia Romeo, Gland, Switzerland
> >> 86) Margarita Restrepo, Gland, Switzerland
> >> 87) Eliane Ruster, Crans p.C., Switzerland
> >> 88) Jennifer Bischoff-Elder, Hong Kong
> >> 89) Azita Lashgari, Beirut, Lebanon
> >> 90) Khashayar Ostovany, New York, USA
> >> 91) Lisa L Miller, Reno NV
> >> 92) Danielle Avazian, Los Angeles, CA
> >> 93) Sara Risher, Los Angeles, Ca.
> >> 94) Melanie London, New York, NY
> >> 95) Susan Brownstein , Los Angeles, CA
> >> 96) Steven Raspa, San Francisco, CA
> >> 97) Margot Duane, Ross, CA
> >> 98) Natasha Darnall, Los Angeles, CA
> >> 99) Candace Brower, Evanston, IL
> >> 100) James Kjelland, Evanston, IL
> >> 101) Michael Jampole, Beach Park, IL, USA
> >> 102)  Diane Willis, Wilmette, IL, USA
> >> 103) Sharri Russell, Roanoke, VA, USA
> >> 104) Faye Cooley, Roanoke, VA, USA
> >> 105) Natalie Edwards, Charlottesville VA USA
> >> 106) Cyndy Williams, Charlottesville, VA  USA
> >> 107) Donna Hall, Lynchburg, Va USA
> >> 108) Robin Hinkle, Lynchburg, VA USA
> >> 109) George Vass Venice, FL USA
> >> 110) Martha Ferris, Moncks Corner, SC USA
> >> 111) Teresa Smith, Charleston, SC, USA
> >> 112) Terry Longo, Orlando, FL, USA
> >> 113) Charlotte Downs, Orlando, FL, USA
> >> 114) Laura M. Connaughton, Orlando, FL USA
> >> 115) Ronit Doran, Tel Aviv, Israel
> >> 116) Iris Berenstein, Johannesburg, South 
Africa
> >> 117) Lynne Jeffreys, Johannesburg, South 
Africa
> >> 118) Sharon van Heerden, Johannesburg, 
South Africa
> >> 119) Lizelle Mc Mahon, Johannesburg, South 
Africa
> >> 120) Frik du Toit Suid Afrika
> >> 121) Glenda Warrin, Cape Town, South Africa
> >> 122) Andrew le Roux, Cape Town, South Africa
> >> 123) Nathea Beukes, Cape Town, South Africa
> >> 124) Johan Wiesner, Toowoomba, Australia
> >> 125) Retha Wiesner, Toowoomba, Australia
> >> 126) Leon de Villiers, Toowoomba, Australia
> >> 127) Leslie Willmers, Cape Town, South Africa
> >> 128) Wayne Jacobs, Cape Town, South Africa
> >> 129) Davlynne Lidbetter, Cape Town, South 
Africa
> >> 130) Gunnar Blondal, Oslo, Norway
> >> 131) Magn?s Bl?ndal, Reykjavik, Iceland
> >> 132) Alan Hughes, Manston,England
> >> 133) Claire Page, Rochester, England
> >> 134) Cathy Smith, London, England
> >> 135) Nim Singh, London, England
> >> 136) Serena Bentine, London, England
> >> 137) Clare Fisk, London, England
> >> 138) Alexander Robinson, London, England
> >> 139) Darren Savage, London, England
> >> 140) Victoria Malim, London, England
> >> 150) Dotun Olanipekun-Mohamed, England
> >> 151) Raymond Au-Yeung, England
> >> 152) Wouter Barendrecht, Hong Kong
> >> 153) Choi Kam Chuen Hong Kong
> >> 154) JOyce Emons, Taiwan
> >> 155) Wendela Elsen, Taiwan
> >> 156) Arthur van Benthem, Jakarta, Indonesia
> >> 157) Hans Janssen, Singapore
> >> 158) Barbara Martens, Australia
> >> 159) Reinier Evers, USA
> >> 160) Harriette van den Hoek, USA
> >> 161) Suzanne Karsters,USA
> >> 162) Niko Koot, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
> >> 163) Jorna Go, Ireland
> >> 164) Aukje Rypma, the Netherlands
> >> 165) Anne Schermer, the Netherlands
> >> 166) Marc Nelissen, the Netherlands
> >> 167) Justus van Oel, the Netherlands
> 168) Daphne Meijer, the Netherlands 
169) Peter Sep, The Netherlands
>  PLEASE COPY this email on to a new 
message,sign the bottom and forward
> it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you 
receive this list
> with more than 200 names on it, please e-mail a 
copy of it to :
> 
> sarabande@brandeis.edu < 
<mailto:sarabande@brandeis.edu>>
> < <mailto:sarabande@brandeis.edu>>
> Send after every 200 names.)
> Even if you decide not to sign, please be 
considerate and do not kill
> the petition. Thank you. It is  best to copy rather 
than forward the
> petition.
> Melissa Buckheit , Brandeis University
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