Dear Friends,

Please do not ignore this e-mail. This is something that we as women and essentially as human beings need to support - I don't know if this is going to help but take 3 minutes out of your life to do your part. Madhu, the government of Afghanistan, is waging a war upon women.Since the Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear burqua and have been beaten and stoned in public for not having the proper attire, even if this means simply not having the mesh covering in front of their eyes. One woman was beaten to death by an angry mob of fundamentalists for accidentally exposing her arm(!) while she was driving.

Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country with a man who was not a relative.

Women are not allowed to work or even go out in public without a male relative; professional women such as professors, translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and writers have been forced from their jobs and stuffed into their homes. Homes where a woman is present must have their windows painted so that she can never be seen by outsiders, They must wear silent shoes so that they are never heard. Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest misbehavior. Because they cannot work, those without male relatives or husbands are either starving to death or begging on the street, even if they hold PhDs. Depression is becoming so widespread that it has reached emergency levels.

There is no way in such an extreme Islamic society to know the suicide rate with certainty, but relief workers are estimating that the suicide rate among women must be extraordinarily high those who cannot find proper medication and treatment for severe depression and would rather take their lives than live in such conditions. At one of the rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak, eat, or do anything, but slowly wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear. When what little medication that is left finally runs out, one doctor is considering leaving these women in front of the president's residence as a form of protest. It is at the point where the term "human rights violations"has become an understatement. Husbands have the power of life and death over their women relatives, especially their wives, but an angry mob has just as much right to stone or beat a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of flesh or offending them in the slightest way. Women enjoyed relative freedom to work, to dress generally as they wanted, and to drive and appear in public alone until only 1996.

The rapidity of this transition is the main reason for the depression and suicide. Women who were once educators or doctors or simply used to basic human freedoms are now severely restricted and treated as subhuman in the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam. It is not their tradition or 'culture,' but it is alien to them, and it is extreme even for those cultures where fundamentalism is the rule. Everyone has a right to a tolerable human existence, even if they are women in a Muslim country. If we can threaten military force in Kosovo the name of human rights for the sake of ethnic Albanians, citizens of the world can certainly express peaceful outrage at the oppression, murder and injustice committed against women by the Taliban. STATEMENT In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of women in Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves action by the United Nations and that the current situation overseas will not be tolerated. Women's Rights is not a small issue anywhere, and it is UNACCEPTABLE for women in 2001 to be treated as subhuman and as so much property. Equality and human decency is a fundamental RIGHT, not a freedom to be granted, whether one lives in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

1) Giuliana D. Black, Daly City, CA, USA

2) Mariam Nayiny, Palo Alto, CA, USA

3) Sunaina Gulati-Ruh, Palo Alto, CA USA

4) Megan McCaslin, Palo Alto, CA USAF

5) Blake Hallanan, San Francisco, Ca. USA

6) Kit Henderson, Sacramento, CA USA

7) Kara Myers, San Francisco, CA

8) Ellen Tilden, San Fransisco, CA

9) Vanessa Ross, San Francisco, CA

10) Jenna Shaw- Battista, San Francisco, CA

11) Jeanne Racik, Berkeley, CA

12) Julie Silas, Oakland, CA

13) Renee Longstreet, Tarzana,CA

14) Susan Johnson, Encino, CA

15) Kenneth Johnson, Encino, CA

16) Terri Treas, Los Angeles, CA

17) Amy Retzinger, North Hollywood, CA

18) Babette Crooms, Los Angeles, CA

19) Olivia Kienzel; Santa Barbara, CA

20) Sean Dexheimer, Los Angeles, CA

21) Elio Chavez, Jr., Pasadena, CA

22) Gregory Kastigar, Los Angeles, CA

23) Robert Collie, Los Angeles, CA

24) Jeff Garvin, Brea, CA

25) Tricia Allen, Sherman Oaks, CA

26) Joleen Nordstrom +AH4 Hollywood, CA

27) Theresa Donahoe - Martinez,CA

28) Jennifer Horn - Concord, CA

29) Roxanne Ryan - Alamo, CA

30) Miriam Tyler- San Jose CA

31) John Burns- San Jose CA

32) Kristin Lynn Minick- Fort Worth TX

33) Jeff Neal- Marietta, GA

34) Anna Neal- Marietta, GA

35) Frances Murley-Fort Worth, TX

36) David Murley-London, England, UK

37) Jillian Dykhouse, Colleyville, TX

38) Bonnie Dykhouse,Colleyville,TX

39) Nancy Williams, Colleyville, TX

40) Georgene Farr, Sterling Heights,MI

41) Joanne Arensberg, Riverview, MI

42) Luann Ouellette, Vermillion, SD

43) Sandie Sullivan, Vermillion, SD

44) Troy Nelson, Minneapolis, MN USA

45) Joseph Miller, Minnepolis, MN USA

46) Kathleen Miller, White Bear Lake, MN USA

47) Jerry Marquis, Mpls. Mn. USA

48) Julie Stokes, Coon Rapids, MN USA

49) Tracy Ford, Blaine, MN USA

50) Sheila Lawrence, Monticello, MN USA

51) Brenda Kitchen, Westlake Village, California,USA

52)Teresa Burke, Sherman Oaks, CA, USA

53) Bruce Ehrlich, Sherman Oaks, CA USA

54) Yllania Francis, Los Angeles, CA

55) Drew Hedin, Los Angeles, CA USA

56) Laura Paridon, Laguna Woods, CA USA

57) Jeanie Hagedorn, Des Moines, IA USA

58) Sue Christensen, Des Moines, IA USA

59) Sybil Finken, Glenwood, IA USA

60) Luke Finken, Earth

61) Doug Gerace, Lincoln, NE USA

62) Cheryl Gerace, NE

63) Sheri Lew, CO

64) Raven Grace, Boulder, CO

65) Martha M.Mertz, EL, Michigan

66) Colleen R. Cooper, Okemos, Michigan

67) Barbara J. Sawyer-Koch, East Lansing, MI

68) Margaret A. Meyers, Okemos, Michigan

69) Mary Helen Espes, Okemos, Michigan

70) Maureen Kirchhoff, Allenspark, CO

71) Bart Johnson, Err, France

72) Sharon O'Connor, Olympia, WA USA

73) Helen Nenson, Olympia, WA USA

74) Kim Hartley, Olympia, WA. USA

75) Jim Hartley, Olympia, WA. USA

76) Talitha Thalya, Wa. USA

77) Lelelewa Tano Rikiho. Boise, ID USA

78)Shayshoshewa Westin, Boise, ID USA

79) Rae Ann Gustafson, Boise, ID USA

80) Ellen Bencken, Boise, ID USA

81) Rocky Bencken, Boise ID USA

82) Lucia Thornton, Fresno, CA USA

83)Kristina Thelen, Livermore,CA USA

84) Julie Ferioli, Oakland, CA USA

85) Deborah Drysdale, San Francisco, CA USA

86) Judy Olasov, San Francisco, CA USA

87)Lucinda Olasov,Isle of Palms.SC USA

88) Jennifer H. Mt. Pleasant, SC, USA

89) Sara Saylor Isle of Palms, SC USA

90)Ellen McCully Gastonia NC,USA,

91)Mimi McCully, Gastonia, NC USA

92) Mary Rose Tully, Raleigh, NC USA

93) Douglas B. Tully, Raleigh, NC USA

94) Lorraine Welker, Lyon, France

95) Lucie Bouchard, Lyon, France

96) Mary Kaine, Lyon, France

97) Lisa Kaine, NYC, USA

98) Pamela Caye, NYC, USA

99) Kevin Mandel, NYC, USA

100) Justine Lackey NYC, USA

101) Thomas Aufmesser, Vienna, Austria

102) Erich Aufmesser, Vienna, Austria

103) Sigrid Weinzinger, Vienna, Austria

104) Heide Weinzinger, Zell am See, Austria

105) Erhard Weinzinger, Zell am See, Austria

106) Doris Steinbichler, Mexico

107) Rara Avis, Barcelona, Spain

108) Peter Auer, Vienna, Austria

109) Timur Hanak-Hammerl, Vienna, Austria

110) Josef Fuerst, Vienna, Austria

111) Josef P=F6lzl, Vienna, Austria

112) Wolfgang Sokol, Vienna, Austria

113) Wolfgang Rohorzka, Wiener Neustadt, Austria

114) Ralph A. Hamburger, Vienna, Austria

115) Roland Wagner, Bratislava, Slovakia

116) Adrian Rajter, Bratislava, Slovakia

117) Alzbeta Rajterova, Bratislava Slovakia

118) Helena Le Sage, Bratislava, Slovakia

119) Tony Bomber, Cambridge, England

120) Anne Seaman, Chelmsford, England

121) Jan Farndale, Cambridge, England

122) Janet Moody, Limerick, Ireland

123) Teresa McMahon

124) Phyl Fitzgerald, Limerick, Ireland

125) Pamela Daly, Dublin, Ireland

126) Eddie kelly Tipperary Ireland

127) Mairead Malone, Clare, Ireland

128) Mags O'Connor, Limerick, Ireland

129) Fiona Bolger, Waterford,Ireland

130) Marie Ryan, Offaly, Ireland

131) Stephen Mc Carthy, Waterford, Ireland

132] Owen McCarthy, Caherciveen, Ireland

133) Helen Rauch, Clearwater, Fl

134) Diane Rauch, Farmington Hills, MI

135) Shirley Patterson, Allen Park, MI

136) Bernadette Dean, Dearborn, MI

137) Marie Hogan, Detroit, MI

138) Angelina Michelini, Livonia, MI

139) Dawn Annette Mills, Tucson, AZ

140) Patricia M Vereb, Tucson, AZ

141) Valerie Stark, St. Louis, MO

142 Mary Jane Romero, St. Louis, MO

143) Theresa Mastrogiovanni, Kansas City, MO

144)Colleen McGrane, St. Louis MO

145) Lucy Wynkoop, Lacey, WA

146) Laura Swan, Lacey, WA

147) Debbie Harr, Lakewood WA

148) Barbara J. Monda, Olympia WA

149) Martin Casey, Olympia, WA

150) Art Stratton, Olympia, WA

151) Catherine Stratton, Olympia WA

152) Patti Kireview, Seattle, WA

153)Patti Grossman, Needham, MA

154)Anita Adelson, Newton, MA

155) Jane Siegel, Newton, MA

156)Lisa Davis, Suffern, NY

157) Gloria Goldberg , NY. NY

158) Julie Balaban Orono, Me

159) Cris Carter, Lexington, MA

160) Nancy Hartman, Lexington, MA

161) Marianne O'Brien, Winchester, MA

162)Shaqron Jackson, Acton, MA.

163)Barbara Schmitz, Acton, MA

164) Barbara J. Schmitz, Silver Spring, MD

165) Debra K. Udey, Kensingon, MD

166) Marge Gildenhorn, Rockville, Maryland

167) Jill Tanenbaum, Bethesda, Maryland

168) Nancy Adam, Greenwood VIllage, CO

169) Jennifer Clouatre, Vail, CO

170) Kimberly Filip-Campbell, Dillon, CO

171) Barb Fulton, Arvada, CO

172 ) Jane Allen, Tennessee, USA

173) Linda Rudy, Tennessee, USA

174) Cheryl Rex, California, USA

175) Lisa Esposito, California, USA

176) Brenda Soulliere, California, USA

177) Gina Giambuzzi, California, USA

178) Dana Marks Keener, California, USA

179) Lory Diana Rosenberg, Maryland, USA

180) Amy Stern, Miami, FL, USA

181) Joshua Stern, Honolulu, HI, USA

182) Ylfa Yr Perry, Worcester, MA, USA

183) Sage DeJackome, Worcester, MA, USA

184) Cathy Heimburger, St. Louis, MO

185) Hung-kai Wang, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

186) Paul Servais, Belgium

187) Carlos Barros, España

DIRECTIONS PLEASE USE EDIT / select all/THEN COPY / and then Paste this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and forward it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you receive this list with more than 300 names on it, please e-mail a copy of it to Mary Robinson, High Commissioner, UNHCHR, webadmin.hchr@unorg.ch and toAngela King, Special Advisor on Gender Issues and theAdvancement of Women, UN, daw@undp.org.Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not kill the petition.