Target: Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, President of European Commission
Goal: Focus any talks with Taliban around end of Afghan women’s rights abuses.
Since the Taliban re-seized control of Afghanistan, women have been banned from most aspects of professional and educational life. Crimes against women are becoming normalized and legally enabled. And when Afghans dare to speak up, they are imprisoned and killed. A recent street protest ended with the deaths of two people, including a child. The restrictions and oppression will likely only grow, as evidenced by a recently announced ban on smartphones that advocates fear will soon cover the entire population.
The rest of the world has essentially turned a blind eye and helped continue these abuses by indifference and inaction. U.S. leaders have decided that Afghans who helped American forces during the U.S. occupation are on their own. The administration announced plans to send stranded refugees awaiting American assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo: current site of a major Ebola outbreak. And the European Union (EU) will soon host talks with Taliban leaders on European soil, but not to discuss or even acknowledge the growing human rights crisis. Instead, the meeting will center on forcing Afghan refugees to return to the dangerous conditions from which they fled.
Sign the petition below to demand the European Commission stand by its values and stand against rampant gender apartheid.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President von der Leyen,
“Seeing the Taliban welcomed on European soil feels like a devastating betrayal … of every Afghan woman and girl who has fought, suffered and resisted.” A former deputy parliamentary speaker – a woman who claims her family has been imprisoned and targeted as punishment for her advocacy – had these strong and stirring words for the European Commission’s decision to host the Taliban in Brussels. Europe as a whole has refused to acknowledge the Taliban’s rule, but this declaration feels like an empty directive when Europe’s leaders have decided that bartering and negotiating with oppressors is an acceptable concession.
Taliban officials have been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Will you simply let these individuals pass right through so you can claim a hardline stance on migration? Will you acknowledge and codify a legal condemnation of gender apartheid, with real and binding ramifications? Will you even speak of the ever-accumulating list of oppressions and atrocities reportedly committed by the men you’ll entertain?
You cannot and must not give legitimacy to this regime. If a meeting must take place, make it for the right reasons: the support and defense of women in Afghanistan and worldwide.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Pixabay
