WRITTEN QUESTION E-2819/96 by María Sornosa Martínez (GUE/NGL) to the Council (23 October 1996)

Subject: Violation of women's rights in Afghanistan

The Taliban militia, which has already overrun two-thirds of Afghanistan and has initiated the administrative and economic reconstruction of the territory under its control, is now imposing complete Islamization on society: capital punishment has become the penalty for those who commit adultery or consume alcohol, whilst women have been banned from working and girls from attending school.

On 29 September 1996 the first women who, according to the ultra-fundamentalist militia, went out in public 'incorrectly dressed' were flogged and sent back to their homes.

Does the Council not consider that the EU Member States should take action in response to these events?

Would the Council consider the possibility of making any future political dialogue between the Member States and Afghanistan conditional on respect by the country's authorities for human rights, the rights of women and the rights of young girls?

Would the Council be prepared to arrange for the promotion in the Member States of public-awareness campaigns to highlight the political, social and educational inequalities suffered by women in certain countries such as Afghanistan?

Answer (13 February 1997)

On 28 October 1996, the EU published a declaration on Afghanistan stating its concern at the intensification of armed hostilities and urging all parties to seek a peaceful settlement through negotiation that would ultimately result in a political solution bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.

In that context, the EU reiterated its support for the UN special mission to Afghanistan.

The EU expressed its particular concern about the widespread violation of Human Rights, highlighting the discrimination against women and girls and recalling resolution 1076/1996 of the UN Security Council which denounced such discrimination as well as other Human Rights violations in Afghanistan. The EU appealed urgently to the leaders of the various factions in Afghanistan to respect and act in accordance with the prinicples laid down in the universal declaration of Human Rights and the UN Charter, as well as all the other conventions on Human Rights to which Afghanistan is a signatory.

In concrete terms, the EU, as one of the leading contributors of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, stated its concern about the possible repercussions of Human Rights violations on the beneficiaries of EU relief programmes and expressed its desire to have a dialogue with all the parties concerned on cooperation modalities with the aim to ensure the delivery of aid whilst maintaining the quality of support already provided to the people of Afghanistan, irrespective of their gender and ethnic background.

The condition of women and the unequal role they are assigned to in the political, social and educational framework of certain countries are a constant concern for the EU in its institutionalized dealings with such countries. In the particular case of Afghanistan, there is no institutionalized political dialogue between the EU and Kabul. The highly volatile and shifting political situation in Afghanistan has furthermore prevented the EU to have any political exchanges with Afghan authorities over a long period of time. The EU has nevertheless strongly voiced its concern about the plight of women in the Taliban controlled territories and in Afghanistan in general at the UN in New York, as well as at the Teheran Conference on Afghanistan on 29/30 October, most recently, during the EU-Pakistan political dialogue meeting on 4 November in Dublin.

The EU will continue to voice its concern regarding this matter in all the fora dealing with the Afghan issue and is examining how to contribute concretely in changing the deplorable situation of women in Afghanistan, in particular through the modalities of delivery of humanitarian aid.