LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Taliban: Women
built 646 days ago
Upon seizing power, the Taliban instituted a system of gender apartheid effectively thrusting the women of Afghanistan into a state of virtual house arrest. Under Taliban rule women have been stripped of their visibility, voice, and mobility. When they took control in 1996, the Taliban initially imposed strict edicts that:
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The Taliban has imposed Shari'a (Islamic law) in the areas it controls. The imposition means offenses are punished by public executions and amputations. The Taliban have made it illegal to educate women or for women to work outside the home. It is illegal to watch any television program not cleared by the Taliban or to own any videocassettes that are not religion-oriented. The Taliban has ... outlawed the Internet.
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Despite the receipt of UN and NGO aid, the Taliban's attitude toward the UN and NGOs was often one of suspicion, not gratitude or even tolerance. The UN operates on the basis of international law, not Islamic Sharia, and the UN did not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Additionally, most of the foreign donors and aid workers, who had tried to persuade the Taliban to change its strict policies and allow women more freedom, were non-Muslims.
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The Clinton administration of the United States was criticized for overlooking the human rights abuses by the Taliban because they were more willing to cooperate in talks, and take action against drugs, than previous Afghan regimes. This accusation was made in particular by Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican congressman from California, who said in 1999: "I believe the administration has maintained this covert goal and kept Congress in the dark about its policy of supporting the Taliban, the most anti-Western, anti-female, anti-human rights regime in the world. It doesn't take a genius to understand that this policy would outrage the American people, especially America's women." These charges were denied by the administration.
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Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, told Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, the women had been freed and were expected to arrive in Ghazni soon. The Taliban said it would free the two as a gesture of good will at the beginning of face-to-face negotiations with South Korean diplomats.
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The Taliban asserts that the prohibitions for women and girls are religious and protective in nature. Yet it is known that many Taliban break their own rules and send their daughters to school in other countries. Since the Taliban took control of much of Afghanistan, the production and export of opium poppies (used to make heroin) has increased 25 percent, making Afghanistan, with 40 percent of the world's growth, the number one opium producer on the planet. The Taliban, which forbids drug use, does collect a 20 percent tax from the opium farmers.
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