by Malalai Joya

The following is a transcript of the speech given by Malalai Joya, member of the Afghan Parliament, given at the University of Los Angeles on Tuesday April, 10th:

In the name of Democracy and Peace -

Dear friends, first of all I extend my deep regards and thanks to the friends in the
University of California to provide the opportunity for me to be here and share my point
of view with you and inform you about the ongoing tragedy in my crying Afghanistan.

While the pro-democracy and anti-fundamentalists groups and individuals of Afghanistan are
being marginalized, suppressed and silenced, you give a helping hand to me as a small
voice of my suffering people to speak about the crisis in Afghanistan and terrible
conditions of its people. You in fact play your role in raising awareness on what is going
on in my devastated country.

Respected friends, over five years passed since the US-led attack on Afghanistan. Probably
many of you are not well aware of the current conditions of my country and expect me to
list the positive outcomes of the past years since the US invasion. But I am sorry to tell
you that Afghanistan is still chained in the fetters of the fundamentalist warlords and is
like an unconscious body taking its last breath.

The US government removed the ultra-reactionary and brutal regime of Taliban, but instead
of relying on Afghan people, pushed us from the frying pan into the fire and selected its
friends from among the most dirty and infamous criminals of the "Northern Alliance", which
is made up of the sworn enemies of democracy and human rights, and are as dark-minded,
evil, and cruel as the Taliban.

The Western media talks about democracy and the liberation of Afghanistan, but the US and
its allies are engaged in the warlordization, criminalization and drug-lordization of our
wounded land.

Today the Northern alliance leaders are the key power holders and our people are hostage
in the hands of these ruthless gangs of killers. Many of them are responsible for
butchering tens of thousands of innocent people in the past 2 decades but are in power and
hold key positions in the government.

Let me list few of the key power-holders of Afghanistan:

- Karim Khalili, the vice-president, is leader of a pro-Iran party called Wahdat,
responsible for killing thousands of innocent people, and named by Human Rights Watch as a
war criminal.

- Ismael Khan, another killer warlord and lackey of the Iranian regime is the minister of
water and power.

- Izzatullah Wasifi, Afghanistan's anti-corruption chief has been a convicted drug
trafficker who has spent around 4 years in a Nevada state prison in the US.

- General Mohammed Daoud, Afghanistan's deputy interior minister in charge of the
anti-drug effort, is a former warlord and famous drug-trafficker.

- Rashid Dostum, the chief of staff of the Afghan army, is a heartless killer and warlord,
named by Human Rights Watch as a war criminal.

- Qasim Fahim, former defense minister and now a Senator and adviser to Mr. Karzai is the
most powerful warlord of the Northern Alliance, and accused of war crimes.

And this list has hundreds of men on it, including Sayyaf, Ulomi, Golabzoi, Rabbani,
Qanooni, Mohaqiq, Mullah Rocketi, etc. They should all be removed from power and put on
trial for war crimes. In fact all the major institutions in Afghanistan are occupied by
warlords and drug-lords. How can we talk about democracy when our legislative, judicial
and executive bodies are infected with the viruses of fundamentalism and drug mafia?

Many freedom-loving individuals and groups in Afghanistan had long ago warned that
bringing the criminal "Northern Alliance" back into power by the US government will pose a
danger to Afghanistan. But today, most governments and world institutions accept that
Afghanistan is a failed state which is heading toward disaster.

Afghans are deeply fed-up with the current situation and every day that passes they turn
against the government, the foreign troops and the warlords. And the Taliban make use of
it to increase their influence and acts of terror. Countries like Pakistan, Iran, Russia
etc. are also meddling in Afghanistan for their own interests.

The U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a recent report:
"...Afghans are frustrated with their economic situation... They suffer from unsteady
employment and economic insecurity, and are turning to illicit and illegal activity, such
as corruption and opium production...the Taliban has become an alternative source of
employment, recruiting the jobless as foot soldiers in the insurgency."

In such a situation when a bunch of killers are in power, life cannot be easy for our
unfortunate people. I would like to describe the tip of the iceberg on the reality of life
in my bleeding Afghanistan:

Seven hundred children and 50-70 women die on a daily basis because of a lack of health
services. Infant and maternal mortality rates are still very high - 1,600 to 1,900 women
among each 100,000 die during childbirth. Life expectancy is less than 45 years.

The number of suicide cases by Afghan women was never as high as it is today: A month ago
eighteen year old Samiya, hung herself by a rope because she was to be sold to a sixty
year old man. Another woman called Bibi Gul locked herself up in the animals' stable and
burned herself to death. Later her family found nothing except her bones.

The study by the governmental agency Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission shows
a marked increase in reported cases: Two years ago in Farah province, there were 15 cases
of women burning themselves reported, but the number jumped to 36 in the first six months
of 2006. Kandahar province had 74 cases two years ago and 77 cases in the first six months
of the past year. But the real numbers are much higher.

According to a UNIFEM survey, 65% of the 50,000 widows in Kabul see suicide as the only
option to get rid of their misery. UNIFEM estimates that at least one out of three Afghan
women has been beaten, forced into sex or otherwise abused.

The gang-rape of young girls and women by warlords belonging to the "Northern Alliance"
still continues especially in the northern provinces of Afghanistan. People have staged
mass protests a number of times but no one cares about their sorrow and tears. Only a few
of the rape cases find their way into the media. One shocking case was that of 11 year old
Sanobar, the only daughter of an unfortunate widow who was abducted, raped and then
exchanged for a dog by a warlord. In a land where human dignity has no price, the vicious
rapist of a poor girl still acts as district chief.

The Taliban continue their fascism in the eastern parts of Afghanistan where the
government has no control. They carry out public executions and kidnappings. When some
days ago an Italian journalist and his Afghan translator and driver were kidnapped, the
Afghan government made a deal with them and released five Taliban leaders from prison so
the Italian journalist was freed. But no one cared for the fate of the two innocent
Afghans and both of them were beheaded by the Taliban.

A report by Human Rights Watch about war criminals in Afghanistan and the hanging of
Saddam Hussein scared many Afghan criminals and now they are trying to block any efforts
for their prosecution. Last month the warlord MPs, under the name of "national
reconciliation" passed a bill in the parliament based on which no one can file a case or
prosecute anyone for committing war crimes in the past 25 years.

I and a few other MPs raised our voices against it but as the fundamentalist warlords hold
over 80% of the seats, the bill was easily approved. This bill will now provide amnesty to
all criminals.

But Afghan people who have suffered terribly in the past 3 decades consider this bill an
abuse against them. According to a survey conducted by the Afghanistan Independent Human
Rights Commission over 80% of Afghan people want to prosecute those responsible for past
crimes and brutalities and see it as the only way to experience a bright future in
Afghanistan.

Even Mr. Karzai signed this disgusting bill which is regarded as a joke and abuse to the
millions of Afghans who have suffered and lost their loved ones and were waiting for the
day of justice. Meanwhile the killers forgave their own crimes and live without fear. Such
bills officially sanction further brutalities and human rights violations against our
defenseless people.

The story of Afghanistan's reconstruction is painful: After 5 years you cannot see any
serious reconstruction projects. Billions of dollars of aid has been looted by the
warlords, corrupt NGOs, the UN and government officials. Afghanistan still stands 175th
out of 177 countries in the UN Human Development Index and the rate of unemployment is
over 40%.

The so-called "freedom of speech" in Afghanistan is another joke with our people. Let me
describe my own recent experience: In early February this year, during the passage of the
infamous bill of amnesty for war criminals in the parliament, I had an interview with a
local TV channel; they had interviewed some other people including Sayyaf, who is a wanted
criminal and member of the parliament.

The TV station broadcast an advertisement for the program a number of times in which they
showed some parts of my interview. After this Sayyaf himself called the TV station and
threatened them that if Joya's interview was broadcast the consequences would be dangerous
for the director. So they resorted to censorship and excluded me from the program. And
this is not the first time that I have been censored in the media. Many journalists are
too afraid to report my comments.

Last year the UN announced that Afghanistan under US troops could become a narco-state but
today no one has any doubt that it has been changed into a mafia-state when Afghanistan
produces 92 per cent of the world's supply of opium. High-ranking officials like ministers
and deputy ministers etc. have links to the drugs mafia. And all of it happens under the
very noses of the thousands of foreign troops.

A mafia system is in place in Afghanistan. The US backed president Karzai and his
westernized intellectuals have joined hands with fundamentalists of all brands to impose
this mafia system on our people. This is the main reason for today's problems in the
deadlocked Afghanistan. Those who speak for justice are threatened with death.

My voice is always being silenced even inside the parliament and once I was physically
attacked by pro-warlord and drug-lord MPs in the parliament just for speaking the truth.
One of them even shouted "prostitute, take her and rape her!" Despite hating guns, I need
to live under the protection of armed bodyguards to survive.

President Hamid Karzai, instead of relying on people to bring the criminal warlords to
trial, appoints these criminals to higher posts. Due to his criminal-fostering policies,
the people of Afghanistan hate him as someone equally responsible for the current
catastrophe. Even the CIA admitted in its report recently that he has lost the people's
support and has no control outside of Kabul.

The Afghan government is the most corrupt and unpopular in the world. In a March 2007
survey conducted by Integrity Watch Afghanistan, it was revealed that about 60 percent of
Afghans think the current administration is more corrupt than any other in the past two
decades.

It is due to this tragic situation that returning to Afghanistan is still an unattractive
option for the 4 million Afghan refugees living in Iran and Pakistan and many more still
trying to flee the country.

Dear friends, in 2001 the US government announced that it has learned from its past
mistakes of supporting the fundamentalists in Afghanistan and will not repeat them. But
the agonizing truth is that the US is committing the same mistakes. It is generously
supporting the fundamentalists more than ever.

Besides supporting the bands of the Northern Alliance, underground efforts are going on to
include some elements of the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the government.
The US included Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on its list of most wanted terrorists, yet his party
was allowed to have 34 members in the Afghan parliament, which was elected in an
un-democratic and fraudulent election. I have announced a number of times that the US
administration has no problem working with pro-American terrorists, but oppose only
anti-American terrorists. This is the reason that our people make a mockery of the "war on
terror".

I fully agree with Kathy Gannon, an expert in Afghanistan, that "the US is not interested
in peace in Afghanistan. The people who killed thousands, who patronized the drug business
are in charge of the country."

Dear friends, the US is not concerned with the suffering and disastrous conditions of our
people; it is in the US's strategic and economic interests to put our people in danger as
long as its own regional interests are met. That is why our people do not consider the US
a "liberator" of our country. The US invaded Afghanistan under the name of human rights
and democracy but today we are as far from these values as were 5 years ago. However,
since 2001 the death toll of innocent civilians as a result of the so-called "war on
terror" is five times the number killed in the 9/11 tragedy.

I hope you have realized from the small taste of the problems that I just shared, that my
country is still in the chains of bloody and terrorist fundamentalists. The situation in
Afghanistan and the conditions of its ill-fated women will never change positively, as
long as the warlords are not disarmed and both the pro-US and anti-US terrorists are not
removed from the political scene of Afghanistan.

It is a clear and proven fact that no nation can donate liberation to another nation.
Liberation is not money to be donated; it should be achieved in a country by the people
themselves. The ongoing developments in Afghanistan and Iraq prove this claim. People of
other countries only can give us a helping hand and support.

I think that the people of the US can play a great role to put pressure on their
policy-makers to stop its wrong policies in Afghanistan and value the wishes of our
people. I should say that unlike its government, the people of the US are great, caring
and peace-loving, so the democratic-minded elements of Afghanistan can count on your
support and solidarity.

The people of the US must help poor Afghan people and its democratic-minded individuals
and groups, who are currently defeated and under much pressure. This is the only correct
policy that can help Afghan people and guarantee a bright future for us. Unlike the US
administration, the true friends of Afghan people must care about the voices of our men
and women for justice; they should realize that the existence of fundamentalist groups of
any brand as political and military forces, is the main cause of all the problems in
Afghanistan. They should know that bringing the Northern Alliance to power was the key to
all the disasters that we are experiencing today.

I am well aware of the hardships, challenges, and prospects of death from anti-democratic
forces. But I trust my people and enjoy their full support and encouragement. The enemies
of my people have weapons, political power and the support of the US government to
suppress me. But they can never silence my voice and hide the truth. I am proud to be a
beacon of hope for my people and enjoy strong support from them in my mission for
democracy and freedom.

Your show of solidarity and support gives me more power and determination to fight the
enemies of democracy and humanity in my devastated Afghanistan. You can give me a helping
hand by providing moral support and your generous donations so that I can continue and
expand my work for the benefit of the desperate and sorrowful women of Afghanistan.

The fundamentalists are counting their days to kill me, but I believe in and follow the
noble saying of the freedom-loving Iranian writer Samad Behrangi:

"Death could very easily come now, but I should not be the one to seek it. Of course if I
should meet it and that is inevitable, it would not matter. What matters is whether my
living or dying has had any effect on the lives of others..."

Thank you.

Malalai Joya is Afghanistan's youngest and most out-spoken parliamentarian. She has openly
criticized the US-backed warlords that dominate the Afghan parliament. In return, she has
received a continuous stream of death threats. At the age of 28, Malalai has survived 4
assassination attempts. Recently a documentary profiling her, Enemies of Happiness, won
the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Malalai Joya is on a brief US
speaking tour. For more information about Malalai Joya, please visit www.malalaijoya.com [1].

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