Afghan deputy tells Canadians US supporting killers

She charged that President Hamid Karzai is "in the hands of criminals"

Joya's speech in the NDP convention was responded by the audience warmly.

Back in May, the Canadian parliament voted by a narrow margin to extend its troop commitment to Afghanistan until 2009. Not all of those opposed to the motion favored withdrawal, many favoring a fuller discussion of the matter. However, the issue remains highly controversial among Canadians.

Jack Layton, the leader of the socialist New Democratic Party, has called for withdrawal of Canadian forces...

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At its convention September 9 in Quebec City, the New Democratic Party delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of an immediate pullout.

As a special speaker, they brought Malalai Joya, the 28-year-old firebrand member of the Afghan Loya Jirga (Great Council) national assembly. She first came to prominence in December 2003, when, at the Loya Jirga, the country's constitutional convention, she denounced some of the other delegates as criminals.

When she made similar remarks at the national assembly this past May, some of the deputies threw bottles at her and others called for her to be raped and stabbed. More sympathetic deputies formed a circle around her to protect her.

On September 13, Joya addressed an audience in a packed 450-seat University of Ottawa lecture hall. In her speech she denounced American actions in her country, saying that the US is supporting "the killers."

The current national assembly is packed, she said, with former Communist officials, drug lords, Taliban, and "killers" from the Northern Alliance. She cited Human Rights Watch as identifying 70 percent of the deputies as people accused of human rights offenses.

According to Joya, the billions received for reconstruction and development find their way into the pockets of corrupt officials, while the conditions of her compatriots remain desperate; she cited these indicators as proof:

- 700 children and 50 to 70 women die each day for lack of adequate healthcare.
- 1,600 to 1,900 per 100,000 women die in childbirth.
- Life expectancy is less than 45 years.
- 40 percent of the population is unemployed.
- Afghanistan stands 175th out of 177 countries on the UN Human Development Index.

In contrast to these dreary social indicators, Afghanistan does lead in one area. She noted a UN report that found that Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world's opium, and she stated that government officials are deeply implicated in the illicit trade.

While much has been made of the role of the Taliban in attacking schools, she charged that other fundamentalists also destroy schools that teach girls.

That fact is part and parcel of what she sees as a general misogynist attitude on the part of the Northern Alliance and other fundamentalist factions.

This attitude is reflected in the widespread rape of women and girls and in the toleration of domestic violence and death by stoning. The cabinet has even decided to reinstate the old Taliban department of vice and virtue.

Joya contended that elections are often fraudulent, under pressure from warlords and other elements.

She charged that President Hamid Karzai is "in the hands of criminals," noting his recent appointment to top posts in the police force of 13 former commanders with links to crime, drug smuggling, and illegal militias.

Joya goes around in Afghanistan with a number of bodyguards, and she sleeps in a different house each night. She is fully aware that she is in danger of assassination, as there have already been four attempts on her life.

She is still committed to staying the course and continuing her struggle against warlords, militias, and fundamentalists. On one occasion, she commented, "You can cut the flower, but you cannot stop the spring."