* Declaration on Women's Rights in Afghanistan

More than two decades of the rule of Taliban and various Islamic
groups in Afghanistan has made the lives of women intolerable. Under
the yoke of reactionary, murderous Islamic gangs, women are denied
the most basic human rights and any attempt by them to improve their
lot has been crushed by torture, prison, execution, stoning, lashing,
rape and indescribable violence. To end this brutality, any
post-Taliban government must recognise the following minimum rights:

1. An end to Islamic rule and the establishment of a secular
government;
2. Complete and immediate abolishment of sexual apartheid;
3. The immediate abolishment of compulsory veiling. The recognition
of freedom of dress;
4. Prohibition of torture, execution, lashing, retribution and other
Islamic punishments;
5. Equality of men and women;
6. Recognition of women's civil liberties including the right to
work, education, travel and divorce;
7. Recognition of the freedom of activity of women's rights
organisations in Afghanistan.

Signed:
Name
Organisation (if any)
Date

Send the Declaration on Women's Rights in Afghanistan to the United
Nations: Kofi Annan, Secretary General, Fax: + 1 212 963-4879,
E-mail: ecu@un.org and Mary Robinson, the United Nations High
Commissioner on Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, Fax:
+41-22-9170123 with copies to the International Campaign in Defence
of Women's Rights in Iran, Fax: +49-201 248 8510; E-mail:
MinaAhadi@aol.com; ifir@ukonline.co.uk.