Afghanistan:

1. Afghanistan: Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism

2. History of Afghanistan Key Events

3. Afghanistan and the Cold War -The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 in order to support the Communist Party’s push for power in the Country. -The opposing side was an Islamic Fundamentalist, Osama Bin Laden being one of them, group that was supported by the United States and Western Allies. -In 1989, the Soviet finally withdrew from Afghanistan.

4. Afghanistan: History • The Soviet Union sent troops to Afghanistan to help the communist government there in a civil war.

5. Russian Invasion • Then the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to set up a pro-Moscow government. • For the next 9 years, a civil war broke out with different tribes of Afghanistan against and with the Soviet forces. • The Soviets pulled out in 1989, but they left a pro-Moscow government who fell with the Soviet Union in 1992. • Over 1 million Afghans were killed. 5 million Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran. • Another 2 million Afghans were displaced within the country. • In the 1980s, one out of two refugees in the world was an Afghan • Vital parts of the Afghan economy were destroyed including Irrigations systems to provide water for farming

6. Afghanistan: History • This led to a long war between Soviet troops and Afghan rebels (Mujahedeen). • The United States was supporting the Afghan rebels. • In 1989, an alliance of Afghan rebel groups took power and the Soviet troops left.

7. United States Invasion • The Taliban’s primary opposition was called the Northern Alliance, and by 2001, the Northern Alliance had been pushed back to only 10% of Afghanistan to the north. • Then, as we all know, the events of September 11th, 2001. • The United States knew that Osama Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, and that we were going to go in there and get him. • In October of 2001, the United States invaded, and in a short time, by December of 2001, swept through and took control of the major cities and pushed the Taliban and Al Qaeda to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and we helped to establish a new government that is in place today.

8. On your Left Side: • Compare and contrast the Russian and United States invasions. • Do in a T-Chart or a Venn Diagram.

9. Late 1970s-2004 • In 1979, Afghanistan was invaded and eventually controlled by the Soviet Union. • In 1989, Afghanistan and the Soviet Union signed a peace agreement. • In 1995, the Taliban, promising traditional, Islamic values came into power, imposing strict Islamic law, including revoking many women’s rights. • In 2001, American troops force the Taliban from power. • In 2004, Hamid Karzai became the first elected Afghan president.

10. Taliban Rule

11. Who is the Taliban? • Gained strength in 1995 • Formed by Sunni Muslim Pashtun students, intellectuals and disaffected Mujaheddin (holy warriors) • Trained in Pakistan • fundamentalists, committed to ‘Sharia Law’ (the traditional Islamic law and moral code that prescribes how Muslims should best conduct their lives).

12. The Taliban (Talib is Arabic for ‘Islamic student’) • Under the Taliban’s rule, human rights and civil liberties were slowly peeled away. • The Taliban instituted cruel and inhumane treatment of those who opposed them in order to solidify their power over Afghanistan’s citizens.

13. Afghanistan: History • Turmoil in Afghanistan continued and in the mid-1990’s a radical Muslim group called the Taliban arose. • The Taliban took over most of Afghanistan and ruled strictly. • The Taliban forced women to wear veils and stop working outside the home.

14. Burka Fashion!

15. Afghanistan Map of Afghanistan in 1996 showing the amount of Taliban territory captured at that time (yellow). The Afghan Civil War commenced between 1996-2001 before coalition forces headed by the United States began air strikes against the Taliban. • Taliban came to power in most Afghanistan by 1996. • Osama bin Laden moved his terrorist activities there. • Used mountain hideouts as a base of operations for his terrorist network called al-Qaeda.

16. The Taliban Prior to 2001, the Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, ruled Afghanistan under Islamic law. During this time, women had virtually no rights and received no education. Watching television and listening to music were forbidden, as were playing games and sports. The United States entered Afghanistan in October 2001 and replaced the Taliban with an elected president. While the Taliban lost some power and the people regained some rights, the Taliban has not gone away. Instead, it has worked to regain power by promising to help Afghanistan’s poorest people and aligning itself with warlords, al-Qaida, and other militant groups to gain financial support and recruit new fighters. Taliban Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar

17. Examples of abuses: three men accused of a crime had been sentenced to death by being partially buried in the ground and then having a wall pushed over on them by a bulldozer, a bizarre and labor-intensive form of execution dreamed up by the supreme leader of the Taliban.

18. Abuses of Power • After another accused criminal was hanged, his corpse was driven around the city, swinging from a crane. • A young woman caught trying to flee Afghanistan with a man who was not her relative was stoned to death. • On another occasion, it was announced over the airwaves that 225 women had been rounded up and sentenced to a lashing for violating the dress code. • When the Taliban castrated and then hanged the former communist president and his brother in 1996, they left their bloodied bodies dangling from lampposts in busy downtown Kabul for three days. • Photographs of the corpses appeared in news magazines and newspapers around the world.

19. Taliban brought order and fundamental Islam at a price! • The Taliban imposed their harsh brand of Islamic law in the 90 percent of Afghanistan under their control. • The Taliban say their version of Islam is a pure one that follows a literal interpretation of the Muslim holy book, The Koran. • Under Taliban laws, murderers were publicly executed by the relatives of their victims. • Adulterers are stoned to death and the limbs of thieves were amputated. • Lesser crimes were punished by public beatings.

20. Executions by the Taliban • Taliban executing a rebel on the spot • Dead bodies left in the street to rot by Taliban in Heart. People forbidden to bury the bodies.

21. Public amputations & executions • There were almost weekly executions or amputations of criminals in the Kabul stadium before November 1999, when a woman was killed for hacking to death her abusive husband. • The hiatus in public executions after that was attributed to a decline in crime in the capital.

22. Rules for Everyone

23. Rules for Everyone • No television. • No music. • No movies • No picnics • No wedding parties • No New Year celebrations • No kind of mixed-sex gathering • No children's toys, including dolls and kites • No card and board games • No cameras • No photographs and paintings of people and animals • No pet parakeets • No cigarettes and alcohol • No magazines and newspapers, and most books. • They even forbade applause -- a moot point, since there was nothing left to applaud. • The only books available must be approved by the Taliban. • Enemies of the Taliban are put in jail. • Protesting is not permitted. • All windows must be painted black so that no-one is able to see inside. • Photographs are illegal.

24. Taliban intolerant destruction of Historic Buddhist Religious Art • Bamyan Buddha before (left) • After the explosion (right)

25. Taliban Draws World Attention • In 2001, blew up ancient Buddhist statues (1,500 years old) near city of Bamiyan • Allowed al-Qaeda & Osama bin Laden to operate within the country To give one an idea of scale, note the two individuals sitting here. http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/archaeology/2001-03-22-afghan-buddhas.htm

26. 1,500 year old Buddha statues March 2001

27. Treatment of Women under Taliban Rule

28. February 27, 1998 --Thirty-thousand men and boys poured into the sports stadium in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. Nuts, biscuits and tea were sold to the waiting crowd. • The scheduled entertainment? They were there to see a young woman receive 100 lashes, and to watch two thieves have their right hands amputated. The woman had been arrested walking with a man who was not a relative, a sufficient crime for her to be found guilty of adultery. Since she was single, it was punishable by flogging; had she been married, she would have been publicly stoned to death.

29. As the young woman, completely covered in the shroud-like burqa veil, was forced to kneel and then whipped, Taliban "cheerleaders" had the stadium ringing with the chants of onlookers. • Among those present there were just three women: the young Afghan, and two female relatives who had accompanied her.

30. The crowd fell silent only when the thieves were driven into the arena and pushed to the ground. • Physicians using surgical scalpels promptly carried out the amputations. Holding the severed hands aloft by the index fingers, a grinning Taliban fighter warned the huge crowd, "These are the chopped-off hands of thieves, the punishment for any of you caught stealing.“ • Then, to restore the party atmosphere, the thieves were driven in a jeep once around the stadium, a flourish that brought the crowd to their feet, as was intended.

31. It would probably be quicker to list what the Taliban hadn't banned. The regime even outlawed paper bags. Like many of their laws, this would be laughable if the penalties weren't so severe. • Break the Taliban's law and you risked imprisonment, flogging, or worse.

32. Women in the 21st Century are thought to have: Freedom from Fear Freedom of Speech Freedom to Vote Freedom from Torture Freedom of Choice Freedom from enslavement Freedom of Religion

33. Unfortunately... Many women are still stripped of their BASIC rights Yes, in the 21st Century

34. Taliban Rules for Women • Must wear the long veil (burqa/burka) which covers them from head to toe. • If found guilty of adultery, will be publically stoned to death. • May not laugh loudly – no stranger should hear a woman’s voice. • May not wear high heels – no man should hear a woman’s footsteps. • May not work outside the home. • May not participate in any activity outside the home unless accompanied by her husband or male relative (no shopping, walking…) • May not be treated by male doctor. • May not study at any institutions, including schools and universities.

35. Closer Case Study: The situation in Afghanistan before, during and after the Taliban *Taliban was overthrown in 2001 *Women carried out businesses transactions *Taliban took over in the 1990’s *Restricted and violated women’s right on education, work and freedom of movement *Over one million girls are attending school * Education for women and their right to vote was introduced to the constitution in 1964 *Access to health care services *Strict dress code *Job positions held by women: - 70% teachers - 50% civil servants - 40% doctors *Afghan government and NGO has set up programs to improve women’s status and public participations. *Imposed harsh penalties on women for breaking such rules. E.g.: public lashings *Restricted access to health care services

36. Prior To the Taliban • Women were educated & employed. 50% of students 70% of teachers 50% government workers 40% of doctors

37. Life for Women Before Taliban • Before the Taliban took over, women had the right to education, were represented in government and worked in offices. Forty percent of the country's doctors were women.

38. No Rights At All: Discrimination Against Afghanistan Women In Afganistan, the year 1996, the Tailbanian took over and began their enforcement of laws, mostly against women. Some laws include: • Girls over 12 must wear a burqa • Girls over 12 are forbidden to leave the home without a male relative and cannot go to WORK or SCHOOL • No white socks • No video cassettes, music, cameras • In every house where a women lives the windows must be painted black

39. Treatment of Women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan • Taliban rules: Women • Must always be escorted in public by male relative and wearing burqa. • Must not wear high heeled shoes (sound of women’s footsteps excite men). • Cannot speak in public • Women cannot be seen from street—all ground and first floor windows must be painted over. • No photography of women • Place names not to be women’s • May not appear on balconies • May not appear in the media Above, a Taliban religious policeman beats a woman in for being in public without a male relative. Left, Afghan women are dressed in the burqa

40. Must wear a burqa outside their home. • Must wear a burqa inside if a male is present.

41. In public, women must be covered from head to toe by a burqa, an oppressive garment that has only a tiny mesh opening over the eyes.

42. Through the burga the woman is unable to breath or see properly. She is unable to feel the sunshine or receive beneficial vitamin C from the sun.

43. View Through the Burka • View through a veil, or burka, which all Afghan women are required to wear outside the home. • Restricted vision has reportedly caused numerous accidents involving vehicles and women pedestrians.

45. Since enforced veiling, a growing number of women have been hit by vehicles because the burqa leaves them unable to walk fast, or see where they are going. • Once a Taliban tank rolled right over a veiled woman. • Fortunately, she fell between the tracks. • Instead of being crushed to death, she was not seriously hurt, but was severely traumatized.

46. Laws under the Taliban It's now illegal to wear makeup, nail polish, jewelry, pluck your eyebrows, cut your hair short, wear colorful or stylish clothes, sheer stockings, white socks and shoes, high heel shoes, walk loudly, talk loudly, laugh in public or to participate in sports.

47. One woman had the top of her thumb amputated for the crime of wearing nail polish.

48. Female education, from kindergarten through graduate school, banned. • Must do all of the household chores. • Must not travel on a bus without a man or note authorizing permission. • Employment for women, banned

50. In fact, the government didn't believe women should go out at all: "Women, you should not step outside your residence" read one of the Taliban dictates.