Contact: Sharon Singh, [email protected], 202-675-8579, @spksingh
(Washington, D.C.) – Suzanne Nossel, Amnesty International USA executive director, issued the following statement in response to the Associated Press’ reporting that another woman was allegedly killed in Afghanistan:
“Today’s report of yet another egregious killing, if confirmed, is a sobering reminder that individual governments and the international community as a whole must step up and immediately commit to a human rights-based plan of action to stop violence against women around the globe. The enduring view that women and girls are disposable and not equal leads to the chronic suffering of more than half the world’s population. How many more women and girls have to die for governments to wake up and guarantee basic human rights for all?
“As Afghanistan assumes responsibility for its security, the international community must play its part in addressing the need to guarantee women’s rights to security, political participation and justice without compromise.”
Amnesty International reiterates its call to the Afghan government to promptly enforce its law on Elimination of Violence Against Women. The law criminalizes forced marriage, rape, beatings, and other acts of violence against women. It was enacted in August 2009, but is still only sporadically enforced.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.