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Afghan exiles speak out for women
11/30/2001
By SHANNON McCAFFREY WASHINGTON — Women must have a role in Afghanistan's next government if their
rights are to be protected, four Afghan women who left their country after the
Taliban took power told senators Thursday. ``Women have to be a very vital part of this future government,'' Mary Chopan
Alamshahi said. ``Their rights were taken away. They have to be decision-makers
again.'' Secretary of State Colin Powell has said the rights of women in a new
government are ``non-negotiable.'' First lady Laura Bush used a recent weekly
presidential radio address to discuss women's rights in Afghanistan and had the
four Afghan women to the White House. Under the Taliban regime, women had to wear burqas cloaking them from head
toe. They could not work or attend school, and could be stoned to death for
disobeying the strict Taliban edicts. The Afghan women said Afghanistan needs money to rebuild schools and
hospitals, and to set up vocational training for women so they begin working
again. They told senators that the United States should not leave the country
after its military goals have been achieved. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., have
introduced legislation authorizing the president to provide education and health
care assistance to women and children in Afghanistan and refugees in neighboring
countries. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who led the hearing, said she is concerned that
the U.S.-supported northern alliance opposition has its own track record of
abusing women. ``We have to assure, first and foremost, the safety of women,'' said Clinton,
D-N.Y. She said the best way to do that was to give women a voice in the new
government.
Associated Press Writer