Aware of the harsh Afghan winter rapidly approaching and pre-famine conditions, the Bush administration announced today $100 million in new Afghan relief aid. However, this is only a fraction of the $538 million requested by U.N. agencies to provide emergency assistance for Afghan refugees. To meet the U.N. appeal to donor nations, some 40% must come from the U.S. Currently, there are roughly over 7 million Afghan refugees – 3.5 million in Pakistan, 1.5 million in Iran, and 1 million in other neighboring countries, along with millions more who are displaced within Afghanistan and are likely to attempt to flee. Seventy-five percent of refugees are women and children. U.S. officials are also looking at ways to airlift food and supplies into some of the most remote areas of Afghanistan where it is estimated that millions do not have enough food to last through the winter. Humanitarian aid is essential to save lives, prevent destabilization of Pakistan, and to cause defection from the Taliban.
The Feminist Majority is conducting a massive campaign urging more humanitarian aid, the restoration of women’s rights, and the establishment of democracy as a part of any long-range solution to terrorism. “Remember the young boys and men refugees are supplying the Taliban with soldiers,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority. “Desperate conditions breed extremism. Humanitarian aid is needed for people to survive and to stop terrorism.”
To learn more about the Feminist Majority’s Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan and find out how you can help, visit www.HelpAfghanWomen.com.
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
