26 September 2006
United States Condemns Slaying of Afghan Women's Rights Advocate, September 25, 2006(President Bush calls "cold-blooded" murder of Safia Ama Jan "unacceptable")
By Lea Terhune
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The assassination of Afghan activist Safia Ama Jan “shows the nature of this enemy we face,” President Bush said. “They have no conscience. Their objective is to create fear and create enough violence so we withdraw and let them have their way. And that’s unacceptable.”
Safia Ama Jan, provincial director of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and a well-known women’s rights campaigner, was gunned down in front of her home in Kandahar as she left for work September 25. The gunmen fled the scene on motorcycles.
“She was a leader who wanted to give young girls an education in Afghanistan. She was a person who served her government. She was a person who cared deeply about the future of the country,” Bush said at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House September 26.
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush expressed “deepest sympathies” to the people of Afghanistan and the family of the assassinated activist.
“Ama Jan’s brutal killing is further evidence of the threat posed by terrorism -- and of how the struggle to end terrorism is also a struggle to preserve the fundamental rights and dignity of women,” Laura Bush said in a statement issued September 26.
“The oppression of women is central to the Taliban’s vision for Afghanistan,” she said, and women’s education is “vital to the success of Afghanistan’s democracy.
“Educated women are more likely to be active participants in their country’s political process, ensuring that Afghanistan’s elected officials will protect the rights and freedoms of all Afghan citizens. And by educating its women, Afghanistan will produce more inspiring leaders like Safia Ama Jan - women willing to risk everything to see their country peaceful and free,” Laura Bush said.
For more than three decades, Ama Jan was a teacher who fought for women’s rights. During the Taliban regime, she ran an underground school for girls at her home, which could have meant her imprisonment or death. Since the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001, she headed the women’s affairs department in the Kandahar province. She established vocational training schools for women and taught them to market their goods.
Karzai, who said he was deeply saddened by her death, stated from Washington, “The enemies of Afghanistan are trying to kill those people who are working for the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan.”
The Taliban is suspected in the slaying. A regional Taliban commander claimed responsibility in a phone call to the Associated Press, but the claim could not be verified. The Taliban has targeted Afghan government officials and employees in the past, and are opposed to the education of girls and women’s participation in politics, claiming it is un-Islamic. The southern province of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold before the group’s fall from power, has seen a resurgence of its activity in recent months.
The past five years have opened doors for Afghan women. They have been able to gain skills, set up businesses and run for political office. At Safia Ama Jan’s crowded funeral, Fariba Ahmedi, a member of parliament from Kandahar, told the Associated Press, “The enemy of Afghanistan killed her, but they should know it will not derail women from the path we are on. We will continue on our way.”
For additional information, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.
