'We've experienced just crimes, just blackness, just sorrow in
our country'
A phone interview from Islamabad with 'Fatima', a
26-year-old woman who fights for human rights in
Afghanistan
Janelle Brown
Monday October 8, 2001
The Guardian
What is your life story, and what do you do for the Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (Rawa)?
I'm from Kabul. I started to work with Rawa when I was 19 years
old and I am now a member of its political committee. There has
been a war in our country for more than 23 years. My generation
was born with war; we've experienced just crimes, just
blackness, just sorrow in our country. We have never seen
happiness or democracy. I lived in shock, because every day
there were tragic stories happening all around me.
When I was young I decided to do something about this. A lot of
young girls commit suicide because they are helpless and
hopeless. But some, like me, choose the way of struggle. When
I was 20 years old, I left Afghanistan; my job for Rawa was to
come here to Pakistan and work in the refugee camps. I had to
cross the border often and go back into Afghanistan to organise
women for demonstrations, and to bring Rawa's publications into
Afghanistan. We would go secretly and without documents - no
one asks you for them because you are a woman. I wear the
burka then, because this is the only visa required for women to
enter Afghanistan. When I cross the border, no one can know
that I am in Rawa.
Why do you use the pseudonym "Fatima"?
We all use different names all the time, because we have a lot of
security problems. Our leader Meena and her bodyguards were
assassinated in Pakistan in 1987 by the Islamic fundamentalists
and the KGB. Our members are always attacked and injured -
we receive death threats by email and letters and telephone. So
we are working clandestinely in Afghanistan, and in Pakistan we
are half-secret.
Have you ever been personally attacked by the Taliban?
I was flogged three times in the streets, for stupid reasons. They
will flog women that don't have the veil on, or aren't with their
male relative, or are talking to a male shopkeeper, or are out on
the streets during the evening. There are always people sobbing
in the streets because they are being beaten. This is normal.
In Pakistan in 1999, I was injured at a Rawa demonstration.
Pakistan is one of the countries that officially recognises the
Taliban government; so when we take our anti-Taliban slogans
into the streets, they try to stop us. During the demonstration,
we were fighting - we wanted to go in front of the UN building,
but the Pakistani police wanted to stop us. They beat me and
broke my hand.
What has been Rawa's most crucial activity in
Afghanistan?
We teach hundreds of women and children in the underground
schools in Afghanistan. For children, we teach mathematics,
physics, chemistry, Persian, science, social studies and the
history of Afghanistan; also, the geography of the world. For
women, we just teach them two main subjects - mathematics
and Persian. When our women go to the shops, they don't know
how to pay the shopkeeper and get change, because they
haven't had an education.
We also bring in video cameras to expose the crimes of the
Taliban. We make a hole in the burka and film through it. It's
risky work. We have filmed the execution of women that has
been broadcast in the UK. Also, we've filmed hangings in Kabul
and several other cities, taken pictures of Afghans who have had
their hands cut off for stealing, or their necks cut. There are
photos on our website.
What are you doing in the refugee camps in Pakistan? We
have schools for girls in the fugitive camps; but in some we have
problems because of the influence of the fundamentalists. We
have handicraft projects for women; we run chicken farms, a
jam-making business and carpet-weaving projects. We also
have mobile medical teams that go in to the camps one or two
days a week to give free medicine. We had a hospital called
Malalai, but it closed because of our financial problems; one of
our very urgent projects is to reopen it.
What are your feelings about the attack on America?
We are so sorry for the victims of this terrorist attack. We want
to shower them with deep solidarity. We can understand their
sorrow because we also suffered this terrorism for more than 23
years. We were already victims of this tragedy.
On the other hand, unfortunately, we warned the United States
government about this many, many times; as well as the other
countries that are supporting and creating the fundamentalist
parties. They helped create these terrorists during the cold war;
they supported Osama bin Laden [during the Russian
occupation of Afghanistan]. Fundamentalism is equal to
terrorism. We said, this germ won't just be in Afghanistan, it will
spread out all over the world.
Today we can see this with our own eyes. We warned them but
they never listened to our cry.
How is the crisis in America affecting your work at Rawa?
Thousands of families are escaping from Afghanistan, leaving
everything behind because they are afraid of war. Thousands of
others that are living in Afghanistan don't have the possibility to
immigrate here; and now, even the borders are closed. That
means our people have to burn in the flame of war and all the
doors are closed.
In fugitive camps it's really hard to work, especially hard
because millions of fugitives have just arrived. They are in shock,
and have nothing but themselves and the clothes on their backs.
I met a family yesterday that wanted help from Rawa; they cried
and said they'd walked through the mountains because the
border was closed. Their child fell down the mountain and died,
but they couldn't stop because they had to escape.
Our people escape from Afghanistan because of the fear of
killing and rape and torture, but they will die in the refugee
camps because of lack of food, jobs and healthcare. Even here
the situation is not good. We are in a crisis in the camps.These
people need everything, and we have no money. Also we are so
worried about our members inside Afghanistan, about their lives.
We are condemning an attack by the US on Afghanistan,
because it won't be the Taliban but our people who will be the
victims. The US should decry these terrorist groups in
Afghanistan; but not through an attack. Maybe through
commando attacks, though. We do want the United Nations to
be more active - their rule is very important in this moment.
We also want to convey a message to the American people that
there's a difference between the people of Afghanistan and the
criminal government of Afghanistan. There is a river of blood
between them.
Do you support the Northern Alliance?
We condemn the cooperation of the United States with the
Northern Alliance. This is another nightmare for our people - the
Northern Alliance are the second Taliban. The Northern Alliance
are hypocrites: they say they are for democracy and human
rights, but we can't forget the black experience we had with
them. Seventy-year-old grandmothers were raped during their
rule; thousands of girls were raped; thousands were killed and
tortured. They are the first government that started this tragedy
in Afghanistan.
What government do you support, then?
We are ready to support the former king. It doesn't mean that
the king is a very ideal person for us. But in comparison to the
fundamentalist parties, we prefer him. The only condition we
have for the king is that he must not cooperate with the Northern
Alliance.
What does Rawa need right now?
We are in a very bad financial condition. We need anything we
can get - for our mobile team, for medicine, for our schools.
Maybe $1 is nothing for them, but for us it means a lot. To run
our struggle with empty hands is impossible for us.
Do you want to go back to Afghanistan?
I miss Afghanistan very much; it's my country. I love my city and
my country a lot. I am a fugitive here. Whenever there is peace
in Afghanistan we will never go to another country - we will go
back to rebuild Afghanistan and experience good days, I hope.
• This interview, conducted by Janelle Brown, was first published
by salon.com. To learn more about Rawa, or to donate, visit
www.rawa.org
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