HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE U.S. STRATEGY: AFGHAN CIVIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 004146

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D COPY SIGNATURE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM AF
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE U.S. STRATEGY: AFGHAN CIVIL
SOCIETY INFERS DISINTEREST

Classified By: Political Counselor
Annie Pforzheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Since President Obama's December 1
strategy speech, members of Afghan civil society have
repeatedly voiced concern that the President's scant mention
of human rights signaled to the Afghan government that the
international community is no longer concerned with
protecting human rights, and in particular women's rights, in
Afghanistan. Afghan civil society representatives have more
recently expressed their disappointment in President Karzai's
failure to appoint more women ministers to the new cabinet he
named on December 19, and some link this to the U.S. policy's
perceived disinterest in women's rights. End Summary.

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The New U.S. Strategy: What about the Women?
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2. (C) In a series of separate meetings in the first weeks
of December, women civil society representatives, NGO
directors, and MPs have told Embassy officials they were
disappointed with the lack of emphasis on human rights, and
in particular, women's rights, in President Obama's December
1 strategy speech. At an Embassy-hosted reception in honor
of International Human Rights Day on December 10, Sima Samar,
chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights
Commission, lamented the rhetorical shift away from
protecting and advancing human and women's rights in
Afghanistan under the Obama administration. Speaking on
behalf of the assembled human rights activists, Samar said
she feared President Obama's failure to mention Afghan women
sent a signal to the Afghan government that Afghanistan no
longer needs to focus on protecting women's rights. Numerous
other guests, including MP Fawzia Koofi (Tajik, Badakhshan)
falsely asserted that President Obama had not mentioned human
rights at all in his December 1 speech. (Note: Embassy
Officials corrected this misconception and sent copies of the
December 1 speech to several guests.)


3. (C) As there is little support for women's rights among
Afghan male leaders, many civil society activists view
international support as crucial. During a meeting on
December 5, Manizha Naderi, the Afghan-American director of
the NGO Women for Afghan Women told Congresswoman Laura
Richardson that she was alarmed by the omission of women's
rights in President Obama's strategy speech. She told the
Congresswoman that without continued emphasis on the
importance of protecting women's basic rights in Afghanistan,
Afghan women would be in danger of losing the progress they
have made since 2001. Separately, MP Shinkai Karokhail
(Pashtun, Kabul),told us on December 16 that "President
Obama needs to mention women or the (Afghan) men will think
the United States has forgotten," and will no longer expend
any energy on protecting women's rights.

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New Cabinet; Same Token Woman
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4. (C) On December 20, one day after Karzai announced his
list of proposed ministers, a group of women's rights
activists held a press conference at Afghan Women's Network
to protest the male-dominated list Karzai sent to parliament.
Prominent activists, including Afghan Independent Human
Rights Commission Chairperson Sima Samar and Afghan Red
Crescent President Fatima Gailani, had spent several months
lobbying President Karzai to include competent women in his
cabinet. According to many women activists, Karzai had
promised he would appoint three to five women to ministerial
level positions. The activists were disappointed and angered
when President Karzai revealed his nearly-completed list of
proposed ministers, and Hosn Bano Ghazanfar, the incumbent
Minister of Women's Affairs whom most consider weak, was the
only woman on the list. (Comment: This reflects Karzai's
frequent inclination to speak positively to liberals but to
favor conservatives. The fact that his own wife is rarely
seen in public is seen here as further evidence of his true
personal convictions.)


5. (C) In private meetings with Charge Ricciardone on
December 20 and 21, both Sima Samar and Bamyan Governor
Habiba Sarobi told the Charge they were disappointed in
Karzai's nomination list. Samar elaborated on the December
20 press conference, and said the group of women had called
on both female and male MPs to tolerate the lack of women in
Karzai's proposed list of ministers. Sarobi questioned why
there had been more women in the transitional government than
there are in the current government. She specified the need
for women to be given leadership positions in strong
ministries, and told Ricciardone "we don't want just a piece
of cake, we want the whole cake," in reference to Karzai's

proposal to create a separate Ministry of Literacy headed by
a woman, carved out of the Ministry of Education.


6. (C) Following the December 20 press conference, Karzai
announced that he planned to appoint more women to his
cabinet. On December 23 he sent Wazhma Batur Hassan
Zurmati's name to Parliament as his proposal to lead the new
Ministry of Literacy.

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U.S. in the Lead on Women's Issues
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7. (C) Fairly or not, many Afghan women activists have
connected President Obama's omission of women's issues with
Karzai's initial failure to appoint more women to ministerial
level positions. Governor Sarobi told Charge Ricciardone
that "President Obama is making policy for the world... so
what will happen with human rights and women's rights if the
United States is not paying attention?" While Afghan civil
society continues to work hard on its own to promote human
rights and advance women's issues, they have repeatedly
stressed to us the important role that U.S. government plays
in supporting their causes.
EIKENBERRY