Thank you, Madam Chair.
Some of our colleagues went to Cape Town a few weeks ago with a parliamentary mission. While they were there, they met some of the Afghan parliamentarians who had come to visit us here—you will recall, Madam Chair—to speak to us about the progress of Afghan women.
During that meeting, the women parliamentarians told our colleagues very clearly that they had been forced to make those statements, that they had been coerced into giving that testimony, which was not true and which did not reflect the current situation in Afghanistan with respect to women parliamentarians and women in general in Afghanistan.
I don't know what we can do. I don't think we can serve as a sounding board for people who come here to take advantage of the Status of Women Committee and to provide false information. These women were very angry and they were threatened with dire consequences if they spoke out.
I personally intend on contacting Amnesty International and other organizations to tell them this. This is a very unhealthy situation. We will have to be cautious in the future when we meet with delegations, we will have to make sure that these individuals are free to tell us the truth about what is happening in their country, that they are free to speak.