Former Afghan MP Denounces NATO Support for Karzai Government Special

In Vancouver on a speaking tour to promote her new auto-biography, former Afghan Member of Parliament Malalai Joya took the opportunity to speak out against what she calls the corrupt regime of Hamid Karzai, and NATO intervention in her home country.

The cold and rain failed to keep several hundred people from attending Joya's speech in a downtown Vancouver church on November 14. The event was partially intended to promote her new book, A Woman Among Warlords, co-written by Vancouver activist Derrick O'Keefe. However, Joya, a persistent critic of the Karzai government, spent most of the evening speaking out on the state of affairs in Afghanistan. The event was hosted by StopWar, a Vancouver activist group. "The US pushed us from the frying-pan into the fire," Joya told her audience. "Today, the situation of women is as catastrophic as under the Taliban." Joya claimed that as a result of NATO alliances with Afghan warlords, amnesty laws passed to protect such warlords, and government corruption, life under the current regime is as misogynistic and violent towards women as it was before the American invasion in 2001. She pointed to increasing abuse against women such as rape, kidnappings and domestic abuse as proof. The government has also passed a number of controversial laws stripping women of rights such as being able to leave the home without male permission. Joya herself has been the target of death threats and assassination attempts. "The only difference between the Taliban (and the current government) is that they are making their crimes legal," Joya claimed. Joya has been heavily involved in Afghan politics, having been elected to the Loya Jirga which ratified the Afghan Constitution, and subsequently was elected to the Parliament in 2005. While serving, she was fiercely critical of the presence of former warlords in Parliament and Karzai's government. Eventually this led to her suspension from Parliament, when members voted that she had broken a rule requiring members to refrain from open criticism of each other - a decision criticised by Human Rights Watch. Since then, Joya has worked with organizations promoting human rights and medical care in Afghanistan, and toured many countries on speaking engagements. In her speech, Joya called on Canadians to help fight for a withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan. Joya criticised the many civilian casualties caused by NATO bombing campaigns in an operation she believes supports a regime that is stifling democracy in Afghanistan. And she criticised the policies of US President Barack Obama, stating that his stance on Afghanistan varies only slightly from that of former President George W. Bush. Rather than through NATO intervention, she expressed her belief that the Afghan people themselves must be the route to peace and democracy. "We must end this occupation..." Joya said. "The silence of good people is worse than the actions of bad people."