Warlord's men commit rape in revenge against Taliban

[Justin]

I apologize for posting a potentially controversial article that talks about a very distasteful and brutal subject, but there is a point.

Warlord's men commit rape in revenge against Taliban

BALKH, Afghanistan - In a country where women have long lived in the shadows, rape is an especially potent political weapon. To this, the women of northern Afghanistan can attest - at least those who dare speak publicly.


The ouster of the Taliban by the US-backed Northern Alliance did not stop the use of rape as a way to demoralize and dominate. But what has changed since the fall is the identity of the victims, now mostly Pashtun families and displaced people living in camps, the losers following the defeat of the Pashtun-dominated Taliban.

The crime is perpetrated, say victims and aid workers, by the men who answer to warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, a Northern Alliance commander whose 3,000-man army, Junbish-e-Millie, now rules much of the country's north.

Most women are too afraid and ashamed to talk about being raped. But, Nazu, a Pashtun mother of 10, was willing to describe what happened to her, and to her girls.

It was, she said, a little over a month ago. She had put her children to bed when five heavily armed Junbish soldiers burst into their modest compound in Balkh, 12 miles west of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Over the next eight hours, she said, one soldier held her crippled husband, Jamaludin, at gunpoint as the others took her three oldest girls into the room and raped them repeatedly - first Fatima, 14, then Bibi Aisha, 12, and then Bibi Amena, 10. Then they came for Nazu.

''The soldier pointed a gun at me. He told me I was a Pashtun,'' Nazu, 40, said as she and her daughters crouched against the dusty wall of their home, faces partially hidden behind scarves, their eyes lowered.

''I was afraid. I could not resist. I am a woman, and they had guns. I could not stop them.''

Officials deny attacks;

local police powerless

Pashtun leaders and foreign aid workers say the assault on Nazu and her daughters is only one example in a horrifying trend.

Pashtuns, an ethnic group that made up the bulk of the Taliban, say Junbish soldiers have committed rape as part of their reprisals against the people they blame for the regime's oppressive rule.

Pashtun families in Balkh have not been the only victims. Three weeks ago, Junbish soldiers, who rule much of northern Afghanistan, rampaged through the outskirts of Dawlatabad, 20 miles north of Mazar-e-Sharif. Nur Mohammad, a local Pashtun leader, said 30 houses were attacked.

''Women were assaulted, but none of them will talk to you,'' he said.

At the Sakhi camp for displaced people outside Mazar-e-Sharif, armed Junbish have raped dozens of women since the Taliban left last November, local and foreign aid workers say.

''This is a problem that needs to be investigated,'' said one, on the condition he not be named.

The trouble is that foreign aid agencies depend on the local commanders - Dostum, ethnic Hazara leader Mohammad Mohaqiq, and ethnic Tajik leader Ustad Atta Mohammad - to do their jobs. Borders, roads, warehouses, even the buildings foreign organizations rent, are all under the control of the warlords.

Dostum's security officers routinely harass anyone who appears to be asking too many of the wrong questions.

Meanwhile, General Shakh Zoda, a Dostum aide, denied that Junbish soldiers had assaulted civilians. Mohammad Isa Eftekhari, the government-appointed police chief for Mazar-e-Sharif and the surrounding area, also told the Globe he had no knowledge of any attacks on civilians.

In this atmosphere of denial, local police are powerless to do anything. The police force in the town of Balkh numbers 110 men; the Junbish have more than 700 armed men in the town.

''If someone told you about a terrible crime the Junbish committed, what guarantees of protection could you give them?'' asked one Afghan who works for a foreign aid organization. ''We can't do anything because we have no power.''

Amir Hamza, the ethnic Tajik police chief of Balkh, agreed.

''Junbish commanders protect their soldiers from us,'' he said.

He said it was likely that many more Pashtun women had been raped, but they were afraid to tell anyone. ''It is also possible that some women do not want to discuss this crime with anyone. They are ashamed.''

Threatened and ashamed,

victims remain silent


Rape has been used as a weapon of terror in other wars throughout history, most recently in the Balkans. In Kosovo, ethnic Albanian women who were raped by Serb soldiers were evicted when their families found out.

One of the bloodiest and most violent chapters in recent Afghan history occurred when Taliban fighters captured Mazar-e-Sharif in August 1998. In a few days more civilians were killed, and murdered and raped, than at any time in the previous 20 years of war in Afghanistan.

Now, like then, women who are victims of assault are pressured to be silent. Even with the liberation of Afghanistan from Taliban rule, the culture of oppression is slow to change. Especially in the north, women are expected to stay at home and never speak to strangers.

''Many times the Junbish committed these crimes, but Pashtun women have pride and they cannot tell people,'' said one villager.

Pashtun families make easy targets because the Junbish disarmed many of them when Dostum's troops, assisted by US special forces who continue to accompany the warlord everywhere, drove out the Taliban.

''The Junbish see a home, and they know there are Pashtuns living there, and they go inside and rape the women and threaten the men not to talk about it,'' said Amir Jan, the leader of the Pashtun community in the Balkh area. ''They know no one can do anything about it.''

Nazu was also afraid to speak out, and for good reason. The day after the soldiers assaulted her and her daughters, the soldiers came back and told the terror-stricken family that if they repeated this story to anyone, they would die. Jamaludin went to the police anyway, but he was told that they could not do anything.

It was Nazu's neighbor Safi Nubi who tried to get the police to investigate the assault on Nazu and her daughters. They arrested one man but set him free soon after. One of the assailants on Jamaludin's family lives nearby and still roams freely with the Junbish. Also because of this, Nubi said, many more women who have been raped are afraid to come forward.

''If Junbish soldiers commit a crime, the Junbish is very strong,'' Nubi said as tears welled in his eyes. ''The police cannot do anything. These people are afraid. They think that the Junbish will kill them.''

Jamaludin said he was too ashamed to take his wife and children to the hospital after the assault. When the government in Kabul sent a woman doctor to Balkh 20 days ago, he considered taking them, but he did not have any money; the soldiers had stolen it.

''We aren't feeling very well,'' said Nazu as she nursed her infant girl. ''It is shameful for us to explain.''

Her daughters looked on. It was hard to say whether the 10-year-old, Bibi Amena, understood what had happened to her. It was Fatima, 14, who spoke, revealing a young face covered in scars.

''Please help us,'' Fatima said, ''and take care of us.''



This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 2/24/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
______________________________________



I find it sad that in order to depose one group of despots, we simply support another.

[C.R.Sam]

A major can of worms, as those who have gone before us have learned.

Sam

[Indy_SIG]

I have to offer a bit of a caution when you see these stories in the liberal media....always consider what the motive of the story is.

These rapes and other crimes may be happening. It is also very possible that it is an attempt to gather money. Those offering "foreign aid" are very clever in their means to bolster their pockets. Creating such a story is a common ploy to get financing.

You must be very, very careful when you read or hear something from the liberal media. Figure out what the liberals are trying to accomplish by running the story. It usually leads to how credible the story really is.

[WyldOne]

Indy_SIG,

I didn't see any reference to giving money to anyone in this article.

Rape is a weapon of war in many many areas (Bosnia comes to mind). Reporting on the use of rape to torment women is necessary in order to bring "evil" (that's what our "war" is against, right?) to light.

[AC's & 45's]

BASTARDS!
It is sub human to rape !
It is nothing less than evil to rape children. :barf:

[ahenry]

As repugnant as these actions are we still have to tread a fine line. First, I agree with Indy_sig’s caution. I don’t doubt that rape is happening over there, and I wouldn’t be shocked at all to find that this new dude is supporting it. But one should always view the intended goals of an author of an article to help understand the validity.

However, be that as it may and all that, we can (and should) use some political pressure to do our best to curb actions like the ones mentioned, but we can’t go overboard. We did not go to war to “stop evil”, we went to war to stop terrorists from attacking us. As a nation we should only send people to die when there is a vital national interest at stake (it should also be easily definable) such as the lives of thousands of Americans. Bin Laden and his ilk had been escalating their attacks on us for many years (as an aside Clinton should have handled this a long time ago), and if we didn’t take the appropriate steps to rid ourselves of this menace we can be sure that he would have escalated the level of attacks, just as he has done from the beginning. The actions taken by another nation fall under the domain of diplomacy, and given our recent military dominance there we have a considerable amount of diplomatic pull, which should be taken advantage of. However, we cannot and should not pick and choose who will lead other nations. That is their business.

[rock_jock]

I hate to agree with sentiments like ahenry's because I would like to think we have the ability to stop this kind of thing. It is defeatist to simply give up on a situation like this. But he is right. We have limited power in Afghanistan and we should focus on our mission. Throwing our weight around too much at this point will only alienate the new thugs on the throne. Not to say we can't use political pressure, because we should. But the root of these problems is in a total lack of moral infrastructure with this type of tribal culture (I know that sounds un-PC) that values neither human life nor dignity, but only power. Our govt can't change that. Look at every place we have been fighting "little wars" in the past 10 years. Most of these were the same after we left as when we arrived. Sad, but true.

[ahenry]

I hate to agree with sentiments like ahenry's because I would like to think we have the ability to stop this kind of thing.

Let me clarify so I don’t misrepresent myself. I think we do have lots of ability to influence improper actions like the ones mentioned. Moreover, I think we should do all we can. However, like you said, we have to recognize our limitations as a third party. Getting more involved than we should be has contributed a lot to some “anti-America” sentiment in the world. Like the presidents ability to use the “bully-pulpit”, as a superpower we have a huge voice that should make known any atrocities like this. I would wager that a significant amount of outcry on our part (or the removal of financial support) could work wonders. Beyond that though, are hands are somewhat tied.

[jwise]

It sickens me that our boys 'might' have had any part in disarming these people (women and men), leaving them at the mercy of thugs.

My solution: arm the women. Teach them what REAL "empowerment" truly is.

[Marko Kloos]

Moved to Legal & Political.

[D.W. Drang]

My solution: arm the women. Teach them what REAL "empowerment" truly is

Absolutely. I think the aid packages should include SKSs and Makarovs...

[CastleBravo]

I find it sad that in order to depose one group of despots, we simply support another.

I agree 100%. However, it is foolish for anyone to expect anything different to happen. People don't grasp that patterns of behavior ingrained over say 1,000 years of backwardness and degeneracy can't be fixed just because we decide that things like rape and female "circumcision" are almost unbearably horrible (which they are). Our impulse to "make things right" will always, past a certain point, become self-defeating because it will create resistance to us in direct proportion to how much we want to change the fundamental tenets of the society in question. Just because those tenets (e.g. women-as-property) are on the face of it immoral does not make them any less tenaciously guarded by the people who practice them... which, last I checked, was pretty much the entire population of Afghanistan.

It is, in the grand scheme of things, easy for us to overthrow governments. It is sometimes in our national interest to do so. On the other hand, changing the "culture" (or utter and barbaric lack thereof) is as a practical matter impossibly difficult. Merely getting involved in the tribal politics of Somalia amplified the difficulties of that mission a thousand fold and created huge amounts of anti-American hostility. Trying to "make everything right" is sadly a sure-fire way to make things worse.

[Skorzeny]

It's ironic that this is being reported by "aid workers," because elsewhere (mainly Africa) aid workers have been accused of exacting sexual favors from little girls (and boys) in return to food, medicine and supplies.

It's all very sad. Unfortunately, the 18th Century Western notions of "warfare between princes" and "laws" of warfare have neither been developed nor observed in most parts of the world.

Skorzeny

[mrat]

This article made me sick.

[Smoker]

Hi Ahenry,

Ahenry Quote: " We did not go to war to "stop evil", we went to war to stop terrorists from attacking us."

Maybe if you did go to war to "stop evil" there wouldn't be any terrorists attacking you. Don't go for the easy short term solution because it doesn't work in the long run.

Ahenry Quote: "Bin Laden and his ilk had been escalating their attacks on us for many years (as an aside Clinton should have handled this a long time ago), and if we didn't take the appropriate steps to rid ourselves of this menace we can be sure that he would have escalated the level of attacks"

Very right but it is not a Clinton or Democratic problem. If Ron had acted decisively after the Marine barracks attack in Beirut and George finished the job in the Gulf War then most likely Bin Laden or anyone else wouldn't have changed the skyline of NY.

Ahenry Quote: "we cannot and should not pick and choose who will lead other nations. That is their business."

Is this the American policy toward Egypt, Saudi Arabia today or maybe Vietnam in the 60s or Iran under the Shah etc etc etc. American already does some picking, choosing and supporting. What America does need to do is a better job of picking, choosing and supporting democratic governments.

Hi Rock_jock,

Rock_jock quote: "Throwing our weight around too much at this point will only alienate the new thugs on the throne."

Maybe if you did through your weight around (in the right way) their wouldn't been new thugs on the throne but actually good, fair and democratic government.

Why are you worrying about alienating the new thugs on the throne? You should be worrying about alienating the common people who resent you coming in and putting those new thugs on the throne.

Hi Ahenry,

Ahenry quote: "Getting more involved than we should be has contributed a lot to some "anti-America" sentiment in the world."

No not getting involved with improving things but being involved with supporting undemocratic thug on the throne is what has contributed to a lot of "anti-American sentiment" in the world.

Hi CastleBravo,

CastleBravo quote: "Our impulse to "make things right" will always, past a certain point, become self-defeating because it will create resistance to us in direct proportion to how much we want to change the fundamental tenets of the society in question."

No, the American impulse to go for the quick and dirty solution (that is not a solution at all) of putting a pro-American dictator in power instead of helping the common people with the same normal aspirations of security, personal freedom, economic opportunity etc that you enjoy is the problem.

Why can't you treat these countries the way Japan and Germany were treated in WW II? Go for total military victory and then turn them into democracies. Then it's problem solved and not another bigger problem in 10 years because you didn't have the moral and political will to do the right (and smart) thing.

Hi Skorzeny,

Skorzeny quote: "It's ironic that this is being reported by "aid workers," because elsewhere (mainly Africa) aid workers have been accused of exacting sexual favors from little girls (and boys) in return to food, medicine and supplies."

I was in Cambodia when the UN was in doing the election observations. The behaviour of the personnel of the NGO and UN officials when it come to the teenage girls of Touk Kok was indescribable. I know for now they are saying is mainly national (local African) aid workers but by the end I'm sure there will be western aid workers and even peace keepers caught up in this mess. It takes a very special and strong morally person to do that job. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Cheers Smoker

[Skorzeny]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

No. It's not that power corrupts. It is that power attracts the corruptible (saying attributed to my favorite fiction writer, Frank Herbert). Hair splitting? Perhaps. But then again I've always been a fan of distinguishing subtle nuances.

Skorzeny

[KP95DAO]

I am sure that it is all a lie. After all, are not all these people followers of Islam? And, I am sure that Islam would not condon such actions.

[TheBluesMan]

[Jamie Young]