Human+Right+In+Afghanistan+(Period+1)+Website

=__Religious Fundamentalism in Afghanistan__= __**Religious fundamentalism**__ is the commitment to follow strict principles in order to maintain a traditional society. Religious fundamentalism plays a very important part in the way the Afghanistan society is shaped today. Religious Fundamentalism has many trait. Many religious fundamentalist are very closed minded and are culturally isolated. Idea's and beliefs that are foreign or that may question their traditions is prohibited. The Taliban wanted the Afghanistan society to exist as it was in the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. They feel that they must protect the old ways from the modernized world. Another trait is that these radical religious fundamentalist take every word written in the Qur'an literally. Freedom is threaten when religious fundamentalist rule.Because they try to conserve the old traditions and beliefs, they see educational opportunities as threatening, because it allows people to learn, think, and most importantly question. Religion and government are as one under the rule of religious fundamentalist. Laws and regulations are made based on beliefs but mainly on the scriptures of the Qu'ran. The people's natural rights are at risk when religion and government act as one. As a result, many Taliban have killed man and women whose actions have gone against the laws. Public executions have been made to show people what would happen if they attempt to go against the Taliban. Women have been raped, whipped, and tortured for breaking simple rules, such as exposing their ankles. Religious fundamentalism leads a country to lose it's freedom, a disruption of it's peace, and thousands of lives are lost __**The Taliban Government**__ gained control of Afghanistan soon after they ended the war with the Soviets. The Taliban are very well known for there "anti-modernism" attitude. They are very close minded and stick strictly to their Muslim beliefs. During the time that they controlled Afghanistan, they let terrorist organizations operate training camps on their land for a good seven years. The Taliban had a rivalry with the Northern Alliance (which controlled 5 percent of Afghanistan), and after the terrorist attacks on the two World Trade Center towers on September 11, the Northern alliance tried to seize the power of the Taliban. However when the Taliban did not tell the United States where Osama Bin Laden was hiding, many of the Taliban's military sites were bombed by the U.S. By December, much of the Taliban where eliminated because of the bombings. __**Gender Violations**__ The Taliban were infamous for they way they treated their women. When the Taliban rose to power, women and girls were raped, tortured, and killed. The had no rights and had to follow strict rules such as cover their body from head to toe. Women were banned from working outside of their homes, and even from driving. At all times they must be accompanied by a male, even going to the store. During the Taliban ruling, very few women got the chance to go to school. __**Rules Regarding Women**__
 * 1) Females may not work outside of their homes, including teachers engineers and doctors.
 * 2) Females may not participate in any activity outside of the home unless accompanied by a close male relative.
 * 3) Females may not deal with male shop keepers
 * 4) Females may not be treated by male doctors
 * 5) Females may not study at schools, universities or any other educational institution.
 * 6) Females must wear a long veil which covers them from head to toe.
 * 7) Females who do not wear the veil will be whipped, beaten, or verbally abused publicly.
 * 8) Females whose ankles are visible will be whipped in public.
 * 9) Females found guilty of adultery will be publicly stoned to death.
 * 10) Females may not use cosmetics.
 * 11) Females may not talk to or shake hands with males that are not in their family.
 * 12) Females may not laugh loudly- no stranger should hear a women voice.
 * 13) Females may not wear high heel shoes.Men must never hear a women footsteps.
 * 14) Females may not take a taxi without a male member of her family.
 * 15) Females may not appear on radio, television, or public gatherings of any kind.
 * 16) Females may not play sports or enter a sports center or club.
 * 17) Females may not ride bicycles or motorcycles.
 * 18) Females may not wear brightly colored clothes that can be considered "sexually attractive colors"
 * 19) Females may not gather for festive occasions such as EID or for any recreational purpose.
 * 20) Females may not wash clothes next to rivers or in a public place.
 * 21) Modification of all place names including the word "females".
 * 22) Females may not appear on the balconies of their apartments or houses.
 * 23) All home windows must be painted so females cannot be seen from outside their homes.
 * 24) Male tailors may not take a female's measurement or sew a female's clothes.
 * 25) Females and men not travel on the same bus.
 * 26) Females may not wear flared or wide-leg pants even under a veil.
 * 27) Females may not be filmed or photographed.
 * 28) Females pictures may not appear in newspapers and books, or hung on walls of houses or shops.

__**Punishments:**__ Women would be publicly executed if any law if broken. Women would be stoned to death in public if found guilty of adultery. Women would be whipped if they were disobedient. Male tailors taking women measurements would face long jail time.

__**Stories of Taliban victims:**__ Layla was an Afghan women who lived in Kabul. She was about five months pregnant and on May. 29,1997, Layla was on her way to her monthly doctor check- up. One of the laws mentioned that women had to be covered from head to toe. On her way to the doctors Layla was suffocating underneath the veil and removed it to catch her breathe. However when doing so, there was a Taliban solider nearby and so that Layla had broken a law. So he whipped her for disobeying the laws. Layla barely made it to the clinic, where she passed out. When she woke up, the doctors informed her the horrible news that she had lost her baby. Because her abdomen was very damaged she needed surgery right away but needed permission from the Taliban to do so. She died even before medics could inform the Taliban.