Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.
I am Sima Samar. I'm a medical doctor by training, but I spent all of my life defending human rights and fighting for equality for women in my country. Among my other responsibilities, I was the first Minister of Women's Affairs after the 2001 fall of the Taliban, and served as the chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission for 17 years.
Afghanistan has been at war for 44 years. It began with the coup by the pro-USSR Afghans, followed by the military invasion by the USSR in 1979, and the war continues with the Taliban military takeover of Afghanistan for the second time. Unfortunately, the western and Arab countries chose the most conservative group of Afghans to train, equip and support in the fight against communism.
Women became the main victims of war. Since they were not carrying a gun and were not an active element of the war, they were not seen as necessary to be included in decision-making, and they experienced restrictions on their freedoms and rights. We witnessed the killing of our loved ones, the destruction of our property and our social fabric, forced displacement, and the degradation of our position in society during the past years of conflict. However, we still stand for our rights and freedoms and struggle to protect our human dignity in these most difficult times.
You have all watched the scary scenes in Afghanistan, after the Taliban took over, in the media and on social media, but the situation is so much worse than what you see. Most of the time, I cannot find words to describe it. Imagine the level of desperation needed to sell your children or your organs to feed the rest of the family.
Afghanistan is a collective failure of Afghanistan, the Afghan government, the Afghan people and the international community. It has been a failure of accountability, the rule of law, justice and a commitment to human rights.
Twenty years of international community engagement gave some space for the improvement of human rights and women's rights, and a space to exercise basic democratic and political rights in Afghanistan. However, these advancements for women's rights and human rights were sacrificed for political advantage in Afghanistan and abroad.
History has shown that if you want to destroy a nation, you do three things.
First, you make half of the population inferior and second-class citizens. In this way, you start the mentality of male superiority, and the women are inferior in the family, which then transfers to the whole society, including the political leadership.
Second, you destroy the education system in the country. People who want to control the population, of course, can easily control the uneducated people.
The third action to destroy a nation is to devalue human rights and principles, equality and the rule of law. When there is no respect for human rights and the rule of law, then violations of human rights become a daily practice.
During this violent conflict, the people in my country have been caught between the extreme left, which is pro-USSR and communist, and the extreme right, which is the Taliban. Currently, the people who are in power practically ignore Afghanistan's obligation to the human rights conventions that were ratified by Afghanistan.
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is very serious. Many have been displaced. People cannot find food or shelter. Most have no income or access to job opportunities. The humanitarian crisis got worse with a governance and economic crisis, on top of the drought and the COVID pandemic, which had already devastated the people.
My recommendations are as follows.
First, humanitarian aid is a temporary solution to save lives, but there is a report of unequal distribution of the relief program. Some of the Hazara districts are receiving very little, as the Hazara-headed NGOs were not included in the distribution. There has been no transparent and equal distribution of relief to the people in need. There should be no tolerance for corruption or discrimination.
Second, women should be involved in all levels—on policy, on distribution and on receiving the aid—and also people with disabilities and people who are internally displaced.
Third, human rights values and principles should not be negotiated away under any circumstances. Respect for culture, religion and even sovereignty of the country should not be used as an excuse.
Fourth, accountability and justice should be part of the agenda pressed with the Taliban. One of the reasons for our collective failure is lack of attention to issues of accountability and justice for international crimes, which has promoted a culture of impunity—