Amnesty

Today i went to out of boredom to Parramatta City Hall to listen to a panel discussing women in Afghanistan and how Australias goverment and its people could help, hosted by Amnesty International. There were 4 speakers.

- Wazhma Frogh: On a special trip to Australia, Ms Frogh is co-founder of Afghanistan's first Research Institute focused on women, peace and security, former Afghanistan Country Director of Global Rights and recipient of the 2009 International Woman of Courage Award.

- James Brown: Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy focused on defence policy and former officer in the Australian Army attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan.

- Jennifer Jamieson: Doctor and emergency medicine specialist who worked with Medicins Sans Frontieres in Afghanistan. She is the co-founder of Global Health Gateway, an organisation dedicated to engaging young health professionals in global health.

- Dallas Mazoori: Former member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission’s Transitional Justice Unit who specialises in conflict mapping, mobilisation of victims and civil society for justice.


Issues that were discussed included Islamic traditions such as honour killings, public raping and beatings, a lack of resource avaliability. The large distinction between city and urban communities, with the latter having less knowledge of their basic human rights and legal protections. The education of young women, accentuated by the girl Malala Yousafzai who last year was shot at the age of 14 by the Taliban for campaigning for education.

 Attention was drawn to the unnecessary elbowing and nosing in of Iran and Pakistan and a lack of a national army capable of defending its people instead of being trained solely to be dealt with Taliban insurgents

Violence agaisnt women and the importance of creating proper means of communication between foreign prescences and women, such as the forming of more units that specialised in direct communication with communities and their women and teaching them basic living skills. 

The influence of the Taliban was a heavy topic and how the international communitys failure to respond accordingly had led to the Taliban insurgents to slowly retake power dispute their overthrow in 2001. Concern was raised over the influnece of local gangs and warlords who after 11 years of conflict had resulted in a country that had a ratio of 3:1 weapons accounted for. Many worried about the painful obvious corruption of those of resided in the palaces, the current presidents and politicians of the country.

Perhaps the greatest fear of the panel and the audience members who asked questions was the fear that after 11 years of greater rights for women (e.g. in the past they would be beaten if they went outside unaccompanied by their male counterparts or smashed for showing any skin from their ankles upwards), was the fear that once the Australian troops left all the progress would be void and leave Afghanistan in a state of political anarchy.

Wazhma was optimistic about the future of Afghanistan and its women although she did take great care to stress the importance of continued communication with the people through journalism, a notion that was supported by the other panelists, with James reassuring that dispute the troops pulling out, eyes would be kept on the high ranking officials of the country.

Dallas was more pessimistic citing the disproportionate amount of corruption, the lack of prosecuting power and police presence and national guard incapable of defending its own countrymen and the impending legal vaccum present from the lack public understanding of basic human rights and public education. She was adamant in her exclamation that upon the withdrawal of troops by 2014, Afghanistan would no doubt sink back into a cesspool of human rights violations, excessive physical violence influenced by religious traditions and customs aided by an overload of unaccounted firearms, corrupt trials and back to no education for women.

Jenna the doctor didnt have much to say about the political side of things but did share a few anecdotes with female patients who confided in her about their fears, mainly fears that if the foreigners left they would be left alone and all the progress over the last 11 years would be eroded. But most importantly the women knew that for peace to be achieved, it had to start from the home, no more practising men and boys of Islam being taught to view their mothers and sisters and women in general as nothing more than objects and inferior beings. Only from peace within households could peace spread to the community and thus the nation.

I left the panel with some lights snacks and a new badge that says I LOVE HUMAN RIGHTS which now adornes my bag. I had known for a long time about the mistreatment of women in Islamic Middle Eastern cultures but i dont regret travelling to listen to the more personal stories and the political side of things instead of just the bullshit that is the Islamic religion. While i sat there in the audience i was genuinely moved and engaged in the atmosphere. I guess if i hear these things first hand i might actually care but if i just hear the general side of things its safe to safe i couldn't care less.

I hope there are more of these free panel events i can just drop in and listen to and maybe learn about something new.