Here comes the answers to all of your questions. (attached)
Hope it is not too late. Please acknowledge its receipt.
Regards,
Dear Renata Medeiros
Sorry that I took a long time to answer your questions and hope the answers are satisfactory and not too long.
As I answered the questions in rush, so forgive me for any grammatical errors or any repetition of points in my answers.
Please let me know if you have any further questions if you want any point to be explained.
You'd better to write me through email as talking over the phone is not always easy to understand each other.
Much respect
Malalai Joya
Original interview below
1) When, how and why did you join the political career?
In Afghanistan, in the past 30 years, we have many generations of war, I am one of them. Ongoing tragedy in Afghanistan engaged even Afghan children in some degree in politics. I was interesting in social activism and working for women’s rights when I was very young in school. I used to read many books. But it was during the time of the Taliban when I returned from refugee life to Afghanistan and worked as social worker with an NGO to teach women and girls in secret classes. Seeing horrible plight of Afghan women and men under the brutal rule of the Taliban and other fundamentalist bands even further encouraged me to engage myself in politics and working for democracy, women’s rights and social justice in Afghanistan. And finally in 2003 after being elected for Afghan Grand Assembly, where Afghanistan’s new constitution was to be approved, I found the opportunity to voice the cry of my people in a short speech, which changed my life and direction of political and social activism. Later when I was elected to the Afghan parliament, it gave me more opportunities to work for my people and challenge enemies of our country.
2) Two years after being elected, you were expelled from parliament. How did you feel when it happened? How was that moment for you?
It was not a surprise for me, when I entered the parliament, I knew that I have a tough time ahead, as I wanted to challenge some brutal and infamous men in the parliament. I knew that this is not a democratic parliament, and many of these men occupied the parliament using their gun, money and foreign relations. Many of them are anti-democratic and anti-women to the morrow of their bone and used to only speak with the language of gun and all they know is to kill and to destroy.
There were only few like-minded MPs in the parliament but majority were drug-lords, warlords and known criminals who had a very dark past.
From the vey first day in the parliament I was facing threats, insults and pressure. But I was not ready to compromise my principles and wanted to use my position in the parliament to expose the real nature of the Afghan parliament, the puppet regime of Hamid Karzai and crimes and treacherous policies of the US/NATO in my unfortunate country.
So I knew that they can’t bear me for long, first they tried to censor me inside the parliament and don’t give me much chance to take part in discussions, when they could not stop me, their next move was to expel me from the parliament.
I regard it my victory, it is my success that in parliament where the most powerful and brutal men were there, they could not stop me from becoming the voice of my people. But it was their weakness as they could not face the truth and resorted to expelling me in undemocratic and fascistic way, and then even could not face me in the court and despite international condemnation; they kept silent and never did a hearing on my case in the court.
3) What kind of threats did you receive when you were expelled from parliament and what kind of threats do you receive nowadays?
There have been a number of assassination attempts on my life, even inside the parliament I had to bear the verbal threats and abuses of warlords, once when a crowd of them attacked me in the parliament, one of them shouted "Take and rape her!". It was very common to call me "whore", "prostitute" etc., inside the parliament!
I still receive threats by phone, by email and have to live in hiding. I change my house every few days and even can’t live with my family and husband all the time. When I give interview to journalists or when I meet visitors, I am protected by my personal bodyguards and when move from place to place; I have to wear the disgusting Burqa to hide my identity.
The fundamentalist warlords are writing many cheap articles against me on their web sites and publications. They are trying to discredit me among people and do much negative and false propaganda against me.
As my enemies have their private armies, billions of dollars, connection with drug mafia and support of the US government and the West, I have to be careful and use many different techniques to continue my struggle against them and also to be alive. For them killing a human being is as easy as killing a bird. Some of them are in the list of war criminals of the Human Rights Watch. One of them is Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, a dreaded warlord responsible for killing thousands of our people and even a UN report documented one of the massacres ordered by him, saying this men "kill everyone, don’t leave anyone alive"!
4) I would like to know about your routine. How is your day? What do you do? What kind of difficults do you suffer nowadays?
Unfortunately, the past few years, security problems have restricted me from meeting people and traveling to different parts of Afghanistan, but still I try to be connected with the people and especially women and victims, so I have tried to accept visitors in different secret locations and note their cases and try to help them through my supporters and friends. I also try to publicize their problems and through international media so everyone know what is going on in under the so-called "democratic" regime that has been donated by the US to Afghanistan.
I receive many phone calls from across Afghanistan and people come to meet me and share their problems with me. Despite security risks, I spend much of my time in Afghanistan meeting these people and hearing their stories. The sad and painful stories of their plight usually even further encourage me to carry on my fight for justice and against fundamentalists and puppet regime.
I also run a clinic in my hometown to provide free medical care to women and children. Although I can’t visit the center all the time, but I tried to use any means to raise fund for it as it is not being supported by any funding agency or any government and I have to rely on individuals’ donations to keep it running.
Since I was expelled from the parliament, life is very difficult for me inside Afghanistan, I have been restricted from free movement and meeting people in different parts of Afghanistan, so I tried much to also advance my efforts through international tribunes and use any opportunity to expose the US strategy in Afghanistan and the truth behind its so-called "war on terror" and to unmask the nature of the so-called "democratic" regime the US and allies has created in Afghanistan.
Fortunately I have many supporters around the world and receive many invitations from different countries. I have established good connection with anti-war movement and progressive groups and individuals. So I spent also much of my time touring different countries and giving speeches, interviews and lectures on Afghanistan.
As over 40 countries are involved with the US war in Afghanistan, I think it is very essential to inform people of these countries that their governments are misleading them with their propaganda through media and their involvements only serve the regional, strategic and economic interests of the US government and adds to the suffering of Afghan people, so they should raise their voice against the wrong policies of their governments.
5) The fact of being a woman bring "problems" for you? Is it still hard for a woman in Afghanistan to study, have a career and to be respected?
Yes, in a male-chauvinistic society being a woman itself is a sin and social activism for women bears extra problems and boundaries to cross. For our fundamentalists, a woman is regarded half a man and weak creature. They think politics is the job of a man and not woman, so when they are challenged by a woman, it is not bearable for them and when they are exposed by a woman, they become rabid and try to silent her. They think a woman is weak and when threatened soon she can be silenced, but with my stanch stand against such enemies I tried to teach them that women have nothing less than a man have and they have the guts to challenge brutal men and fight for their rights.
Unfortunately Afghan women are still facing many of the problems that they used to face under the brutal regime of the Taliban. Only a small percentage of women in big cities can find job, and women and rural areas have no job opportunity at all. Still 70% Afghan girls have no opportunity to attend school. Only a small percentage of girls can attend universities. 80% of Afghan women suffer domestic violence, 60% of marriages are coerced, and half of women are married before the age of 16. Due to sever pressure and problems, the self-immolation among Afghan women has gone so high in the past few years and every years hundreds of cases are reported across Afghanistan.
Rape of women by warlords is another crime very common in today’s society. However, "rape with impunity" better describes this phenomenon because in the rapists are not prosecuted.
Since occupation of Afghanistan by the US under the name of "liberation women" and "democracy", only some cosmetic changes were made. While Afghanistan is still facing a women’s rights catastrophe, but the Western media, through its lies try to cover up it and by fabricated news show their situation much better than the reality.
When some sworn enemies of women’s rights are in power and have their hold on legislation, executive and judicial bodies and are free to pass any anti-women laws easily, how can we expect any positive change in the conditions of Afghan women?
6) What can we say about the political situation in Afghanistan nowadays? In the country, who are the people who in power?
Eight years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, our devastated country is still chained in the fetters of the fundamentalist warlords, Taliban, occupation forces and their puppet regime and is like an unconscious body breathing its last. We are living under a jungle law today, the rule of gun and drug-mafia is practiced across Afghanistan.
The US and allies overthrown the barbaric regime of the Taliban in 2001 and imposed the Northern Alliance fundamentalists on Afghan people and supported and brought to power those criminals who have a history full of crimes and are as ignorant and anti-women as Taliban. In fact, the US has replaced one undemocratic fundamentalist regime with another and from the first days our people knew that they have been truly betrayed under the name of democracy and liberation and the new administration will bring nothing positive for them.
But today even some incredible international sources confirm that Afghanistan is a fail state and run by drug-mafia.
Corruption and fraud in the government directs billions of dollars to the pockets of officials and their related NGOs. Despite receiving Billions of dollars in aid, the government still could not provide electricity, food, water for people and gross majority are living under the line of poverty.
Human Rights Watch in a statement on Sep. 27, 2006 writes: "Warlords with records of war crimes and serious abuses during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s, such as parliamentarians Abdul Rabb al Rasul Sayyaf and Burhanuddin Rabbani, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, and current Vice President Karim Khalili, have been allowed to hold and misuse positions of power, to the dismay of ordinary Afghans".
7) How is the life of people in Afghanistan? What are the biggest problems of the country?
Every sector of life in Afghanistan today is a complete tragedy, from women’s rights to security, law and order, economy and domination of drug-mafia. Women are especially badly suffered due to the non-existence of justice.
To describe, I just give you few statistics:
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Over 95% of Afghan women suffer from depression.
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Every 28 minutes a woman dies in Afghanistan during childbirth.
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The life expectancy for Afghan women is only 44 years.
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70% of Afghans - about 18 million people - suffer from acute food insecurity
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only 2% of Afghan people have access to electricity
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Afghanistan still stands 175th out of 177 countries in the UN Human Development Index
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The official rate of unemployment is over 40%.
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Afghanistan is ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries by Transparency International.
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60% Afghans said Integrity Watch Afghanistan in 2007 that President Karzai's government is more corrupt than that of the Taliban, the mujahedeen or the Communist regimes
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In Afghanistan, 1,600 women die of complications out of every 100,000 live births, one of the worst rates in the world.
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Of every 1,000 newborn babies, 128 will not live beyond a year
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60 percent of families surveyed stated that almost half their children were involved in some kind of labour.
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Afghanistan has about 800,000 people with disabilities.
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More than 70% of women do not receive medical care during pregnancy, 40% have no access to emergency obstetric care, and 48% suffer from iron deficiency.
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About 92 percent of Afghanistan's estimated 26.6 million population do not have access to proper sanitation.
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Out of 169 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, released by Reporters Without Borders, Afghanistan is put low on the list in the 142th....
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According to UNIFEM, 65% of the 50,000 widows in Kabul see suicide as the only option to get rid of their miseries and desolation
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Over 8500 Afghan civilians – mostly women and children- have been killed by the US/NATO since 2001.
- Occupation, rule of warlords, drug-mafia, Taliban insurgency, awful corruption, sever poverty, none existence of rule of law etc. are some of the major problems Afghanistan faces today.
8) Nowadays, who are your "enemies"? Why?
Afghan people are facing three main enemies: Taliban are terrorizing our people from one hand, the Northern alliance bands carry on their crimes and brutalities from another and the occupation forces headed by the US continue their war crimes and killing our innocent civilians in its so-called war on terror.
The US government has joined hands with the most brutal enemies of Afghan people and installed some infamous and corrupt people in the key posts of its puppet regime to advance its regional interests in Afghanistan. Besides criminal warlords, even some former puppets of Russian are now in the service of the US and they are once again imposed on our people. Now they are also trying to negotiate with Taliban and terrorist band of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and share power with such fascist groups.
Unfortunately the neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and others are also sending support and arms either to the Taliban or warlords.
9) What kind of consequences did the war, which started in 2001, bring to your country? How did it affect the economy, political and social life in Afghanistan?
The US and allies used the plight of Afghan women as an excuse to legitimate its occupation of Afghanistan and "bring freedom to Afghan women". Soon after the overthrown of the Taliban Mr. Bush announced that "Afghan women are free now".
But this is just a lie and throwing dust on the eyes of people of the world. In reality the conditions of Afghan women not changed to positive, but they are suffering more then ever.
Drug mafia is in the hold of power and supported by the West. Few days ago Housing Minister of Afghanistan Mr. Yousif Pashtun announced that four million hectors of land have been occupied by powerful men and they can do nothing as the mafia is involved in it and he named Qasim Fahim (a savage warlord, who was recently named by Karzai as his first vice president for coming election) as head of the land-mafia.
Powerful imperialistic institutions such as IMF, Word Bank, WTO and others have free hand in Afghanistan and they are directing Afghanistan’s economy towards the direction they want. Privatization of government assets and looting of Afghanistan’s natural resources have devastating consequences on poor Afghan people. While over 80 % people don’t have enough to eat, a small minority have their gape on the whole country and fill their pockets with billions of dollars and looting the riches of the country and also grab the foreign aid.
In the name of "democracy", many jokes are made to our people. Apparently we have "democratically elected" president, "democratic" parliament and "democratic" constitution, but in fact even Afghan children know that these elections were disgusting shows and full of fraud, intimidation and the results were not decided by the vote of people but according to warlords and their Western masters in the White House decisions.
While the West supports enemies of Afghan people, pro-democracy and progressive organizations and individuals are under constant pressure and they are not being supported by any one. The US and its Afghan puppets are trying to stop emergence of mass pro-democracy and progressive movement as it is the only alternative to mobilize Afghan people and to work for an independent, democratic and secular Afghanistan. Only such a group can rescue Afghanistan from the current disasters.
Afghan people are deeply feed up with the situation and in the verge of rising up against it.
10) Does the Taleban still have power in the country? How do they act? How do they "show" their power to people? Do you believe the war has been helping the group to get stronger? The relationship between them and Al-Qaida worries you?
Now even some Western officials confess that since 2001, Taliban have become more powerful and they have their presence in a large part of the country. They are still being supported by Pakistan, Iran and some other countries. They still impose their middle Ages rules on people in the areas under their domination; carry on public executions and suicide bombings.
Poverty and joblessness and opposition to the rule of warlords and corruption in the Afghan government push many young people into the ranks of the Taliban, who pay their men more than what Afghan govt. pays to its police force. Official figures show that Taliban get at least 500 millions USD from the opium income, by which they can recruit people.
The US/NATO is not serious in its fight against Taliban and plays a Tom and Jerry game with them. Everyone knows that defeating a small group such as Taliban is not hard for a superpower supported by forty other nations, but the US needs Taliban for the time being which is an excuse for them to stay in Afghanistan for long and change Afghanistan into its military base in the region so could combat Asian powers such as China, Russia, Iran etc and also follow its other economic and military strategies in the region.
The US government alone spends over U$ 100 million every month in its military actions in Afghanistan, but where all the money goes while Taliban are getting powerful? If a small part of the money is truly spent on changing the lives of Afghan people, the situation of Afghanistan can be changed.
Even there are some suspicious news that foreign troops are providing arms and ammunitions to Taliban.
11) What is your opinion about President Barack Obama's plans for Afghanistan? What is your opinion about the foreign invasion in your country?
While Obama took office with much hue and cry, but his first news for Afghan people was more war and conflict and continuation of the wrong policy of the Bush administration and even worse. Obama plan to surge forces in Afghanistan will only add to problem and miseries of Afghan people and even larger number of our suffering and innocent people will be killed during their air raids. Only few weeks back over 150 innocent civilians were massacred in the US raid on a village in my hometown of Farah, many more such tragic incidents have taken place in the past few months.
Secondly Obama administration is planning on decorating some of the brutal and barbaric Taliban and terrorist party of Glubuddin Hekmatyar as "moderate" and share power with them while there no moderate Taliban exist. This is a dreadful policy for Afghan people. In 2001, the US and allies imposed the criminal warlords on our people, which was the first critical mistake and main cause of the current disaster and deadlock in Afghanistan, but when another bunch of terrorists and brutal bands are also included in this collection, then the future of Afghanistan will be even worse and bloody than today.
My suffering people have been well and truly betrayed over the past seven years, the US is not concerned with the suffering and disastrous conditions of our people; the US policy-makers put our people in danger as long as their own regional and economic interests are met. Unfortunately other US allies and the European countries are not trying to do anything contrary to the US wrong policies and exactly follow the footpath of the US government.
No question that Afghanistan needs international support to get into track and rebuild itself, but we don’t want occupation, Afghans have a long history of opposing foreign invasion. And more importantly we witnessed in the past couple of years that foreign invasion even further complicated Afghan crisis and pushed us from the frying pan into the hot oven.
History showed that no nation can or want to bring liberation to another nation, it is the obligation and responsibility of our own people to fight for their freedom and to bring democracy, people of other countries may only give us a helping hand. So now majority of our people are against the occupation forces and ask for their withdrawal. If they did not voluntary pull out, then they may face resistance from people of Afghanistan.
12) During his administration, Bush mostly concentrated in Iraq, and "forgot" Afghanistan. Do you believe that the change of focus came too late?
The "focus" of Obama on Afghanistan is all in negative way and they are focusing to include Taliban in power and to increase its forces and to change Afghanistan into a military base. We don’t need such "focus" and Afghans wish the US and allies once again "forgot" Afghanistan and let us alone to solve our problems ourselves! They are only complicating our problems and making our enemies stronger.
13) What about the production of opium in Afghanistan? Is this another problem to the country?
The only sector in which Afghanistan has progressed beyond imagination in the recent years is drugs cultivation and trafficking, and now Afghanistan produces 93% of world opium which shows a 4,500% increase since 2001.
One of the hidden objectives of the war in Afghanistan was specifically to restore the CIA sponsored drug trade and exert direct control over the routes of the U$ 600 billion annual global drug industry. The Afghan narcotics economy is a designed project of the CIA, supported by US foreign policy. So it is very understandable to see that since October 2001, opium poppy cultivation has skyrocketed and there are reports that even US army is engaged in the drugs trafficking.
Drug mafia is in the hold of power and supported by the West. Recently even Western media reported that Wali Karzai, brother of Hamid Karzai, runs the largest network of drugs in eastern Afghanistan and it is a fact that high ranking officials are engaged in the dirty business.
The counter-narcotics efforts are also mere lies and dramas. A former warlord called Gen. Khodiedad is minister of counter-narcotics and another former warlord and known drug trafficker called Gen. Daud is head of the anti-narcotics drive!!
These days Afghanistan is not only top producer of opium in the world but also largest producer of cannabis, another illegal crop from which marijuana is derived.
Opium poses one of the biggest dangers for future of Afghanistan.
14) You have received several awards and was indicated to the Nobel Prize of Peace. Things like these make the fight worthy? How do you feel about it?
My fight is for freedom, democracy and human rights in Afghanistan, not receiving awards. But when some human rights and peace-loving groups and organizations kindly nominate me for some awards and honor me with any prizes, then of course I accept them. With each award I get, I find wider audience around the world and it gives me an opportunity to reach a larger number of people to spread the word about the plight of Afghan people.
I’ve so far dedicated all the awards to my suffering people and any monetary income from these awards also go towards helping Afghan women and children in my humanitarian projects. I always say these awards do not belong to me but to hundreds of thousands of unnamed heroes and heroines of my country who lost their live in the fight for freedom and democracy but no one remember or honored them.
Of course these awards and encouragements put extra responsibilities and obligations on my shoulders to fight against discrimination, injustices and brutal fundamentalists in my country with more determination and power.
15) I would like to know about your goals, your wishes. What is your dream to Afghanistan?
For the time bring my first goal is to bring to justice some top war criminal of Afghanistan who are still in power. I’ve collected many documents of their brutalities and crimes and have established contacts with some of my supporters and peace-loving groups in different countries to work on brining some of these brutal men to an international court of justice, because in the time being there is no justice in Afghanistan to prosecute them inside our own country.
I think as long as some top Afghan war criminals are not put on trial, we can not guarantee peace and justice in future of Afghanistan. The era of impunity these criminals enjoy in Afghanistan today, further encourage them and others to brutalize our people.
I dream a free, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan where women are considered human being and equal with men and they are given chance to play their role to rebuild their country. I dream of Afghanistan where people live under a secular democracy and no extremist group is allowed to misuse religion for their sinister objectives, a prosperous Afghanistan where everyone have equal chance to live and share the beauty of the nature.
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These reports granted by Mr. Joya are a precious material for anyone who writes about the Middle East, whatever one's viewpoint on the topic.
Let us read now how journalist Renata Medeiros and her O Tempo took advantage of it, what they concluded of Ms. Joya's answers, and what kind of job was made:
Published stuff by O Tempo below
PRIORITY - Measures of fighting terrorism may worsen violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan
North-American offensive strengthen Al-Qaeda and the Taliban actions. Specialists say about an expansion of extremists as a colletaral effect.
by Renata Medeiros
"War strengthen our enemies". This is Malalai Joya's opinion, an Afghan militant and ex-Parliamentarian. She states it against recent measures announced by President Barack Obama, concerning Pakistan. The eight-year conflict in Afghanistan is one of Obama's priorities, and sending more troops there is one of the steps to defeat the terrorist network Al-Qaeda, and to combat radical Talibans who scatter along their neighboring country, Pakistan. However, it is likely to the focus on the combat to increase the power of extremists, and also add more ammunitions in this barrel of powder about to explode.
"Today, due to this war, we live in a lawless and fell into ruins country", complains Malalai. One of her fears is that more troops in her country and the financial investment in the conflict will worsen the situation. According to her, the war itself helped the Taliban, who fell in 2001 by the North-American invasion. Today, the group dominates 72% of the Afghan territory. "The Taliban has brought retrocession and oppressed people. The US presence worsens the situation in the country and strenghtens those in power against the people", she criticizes
Ties. One of the North-American deepest concerns is the connection between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which has common ideological and historical ties. Both are original from extremist Sunni Islam, but as the Taliban defends its interest in a specific region, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Al-Qaeda acts internationally. It is mainly in Afghanistan, along the boundary with Pakistan, that their proximity has been seen as a threat. CIA believes that Osama bin Laden is hiddeen in Pakistan soil. Swat Valley is one of the most conflictive places in the world.
"Members of Al-Qaeda know that a Pakistan taken by the Taliban is a great place to the terrorist network develops", says Lorenzo Vidino, author of "Al-Qaeda na Europa - O Novo Campo de Batalha" (Al-Qaeda in Europe - The New Battlefield). As well as Malalai, specialists believe that the focus on Afghanistan may not only strengthen the Taliban, but also Al-Qaeda. "It is where there is a conflict, where the terrorist network get stronger and develops. If a large number of civilians die, victims of the US offensive, one supposes that people, very angry, join in terrorist networks", explain the International Relations Professor Onofredo dos Santos, from Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais [Brazil]. Vidino agrees with Santos, and even mentions that the beginning of the war on Iraq provided a new stimulation to Al-Qaeda. In 2005, according to CIA, Iraq turned into a training field to a new generation of Muslim militants. "The terrorist network only weakenned some years later, when Iraqis themselves raised against 'severe laws' imposed by terrorists", he points.
Curiosities. Al-Qaeda: In the late 80's, a youth boot camp was created against the Soviet offensive [Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were directly stimulated and supported by the US government and CIA, as we exposed in Behind the Superpower Curtains - What the World does not Know about US, Al-Qaeda and "War on Terror"]. The place was called Al-Qaeda, which means "Solid Base" [wrong, it means just "The Base"]. From this comes the name of the Taliban network [Taliban means "Student"].The group is supported by traffic, being responsible for 90 per cent of the world opium production [to be more accurate according to local and UN numbers, 93%]. The US government intends to turn the Taliban into a political party, which divide opinions.
Pakistan. It is fundamental to stability. As a nuclear power, its stability is essential to a safe territory. "There are dreads that nuclear weapons come to fall into extremist Talibans' hands. If it really happens, India, another nuclear power and enemy of Pakistan, will react developing a conflict with disastrous consequences", says Lourival Santana, author of "Viagem ao Mundo dos Taliban" [Travel to Taliban's World].
According to Dany Zahredine, specialist in International Relations of Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais, the more space Talibans get in Afghanistan, the more it gets strength in Pakistan". Afghan instability affects directly Pakistan one. Controlling Afghanistan means decrease the Taliban's opportunities, continuing to act against the politics in the region", he says.
Renata Medeiros
Numbers. 96 per cent of Afghans disapprove extremist acts of the political group Taliban. 21 thousand US soldiers will be added to Afghanistan this year. Today, they are 47 thousand.
Mini-Interview
Malalai Joya, an Afghan militant, and an ex-Parliamentarian in Afghanistan
[1] "In the Parilament I heard several times 'rape her'. Being a woman itself is a sin". In 2007, you were expelled from Parliament. Why did it happen?
The Parliament is not democratic. It is led by those who have money and guns. When they realized that they could not stop me saying inside the Parliament, I got threats from them, who expelled me from there.
[2] Did the fact of being a woman also influence it?
Yes. The fact of being a woman is considered a sin. They think that politics is the job of a man. Today, 70% of the Afghan woman do not attend school, only a small percentage of woman have a job and many of them are victims of rape, impunity practiced.
[3] Do you still receive threats nowadays?
Inside the Parliament, several times I heard "rape her". They called me prostitute. I still get death threats. I need to go out in a burqa [photo] and never stay a long time in the same house.
[4] How is your militant job?
People come to meet me and I try to reveal to the world, through the international media, the reality in Afghanistan. I also run a clinic to provide free medical care to women and children. I have collected documents that prove the brutalities of those in power, and I want to bring this material to an international court of Justice.
[5] What are the biggest problems faced by Afghans?
Only 2% of the Afghan people have access to electricity, and 8% have access to proper sanitation. The life expectancy for Afghans is 44. Afghans suffer under poverty, opium traffic and under a lawlees country.
[6] Who causes these problems in Afghanistan?
Afghanistan has three enemies: The Taliban, which oppresses, the warlords, and the US occupation, which continues killing civilians.
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"War on Terror": Endless Manipulation around the World
The more time goes by, the more clearly we see the real face of this joke of war on terror, which started with the "Good against Evil Fight" silly talk for the part of the lords of democracy in the White House, as well as we see what kind of democracy we live in the West judging ourselves as being so honorably ready to "impose" democracy and good principles to others, especially to easterners against whom we have much prejudice.
Brazil is historically subdued by Empires, as all the Latin America and all underdeveloped countries in the world, including Afghanistan. Nowadays the US, only world superpower, largely subdues Latin America, and Brazil, as Brazil itself subdues Paraguay.
Incredibly, the media in Brazil is more pro-US than the US media itself, which reflects on all of behaviors, habits and culture in general in the Brazilian society. As North-Americans, though the intellectual and moral crisis that the US has been through, are as a whole much more cultured than us Brazilians, with much more critical and moral sense watching their institutions, then having more sense of democracy, citizenship and justice than us, exigently protesting against such institutions if necessary, we Brazilians tend to passively accept every trash thrown on us under the blessings of Uncle Sam, welcomed by our dominant classes and their magnates linked to mega transnational companies, who destroy our culture manipulating, exploiting and oppressing our people.
A recent and practical example that Brazil is the backyard of the US, is that from Brazil nowadays one cannot send anything by post office, neither to Afghanistan, nor to Iraq, nor to Pakistan. But from the US, yes, one can. What do we Brazilians have to do with 9/11? What do we have to do with terrorism and US wars? We did neither voted nor re-elected George Bush! We have nothing to do with this clownery of war on terror, we want freedom as Afghans, Iraqis and Pakistanis want it, too, but we have been isolated from one another. To the US safety (?), we have been deprived of our liberty.
"Studying" the Mafia - Behind the International Media Curtains
Concerning the article above written by Renata Medeiros followed by a funny mini-interview with Malalai Joya (another evidence of what kind of "dirty" backyard we are), the journalist intended to give us the idea that it was based on Malalai Joya's opinions, for it started with part of her quotations, as all the article contains only small and vague "pieces" of Ms. Joya's statements, linking also her viewponit to the CIA's viewpoint (read our Behind the Superpower Curtains, and know why it is impossible for this to happen).
On the contrary to what suggested Ms. Medeiros, Ms. Joya does not criticizes "war on terror" just now, against Obama's measures of sending more troops to Afghanistan. According to Ms. Joya, such a measure is terrible, and she pointed the center of the problems of the war, never mentioned by the Brazilian website: Ms. Joya explained exactly the US has substituted a mafia in power (the Taliban) for another (warlords, as we have read in question 6, original); why the US has done it (questions 8, 10 and 13, original); what the US / NATO soldiers do in her country day after day, massacring Afghans (10, original) and trafficking drugs (13, original).
In the published interview, questions 1 and 2, it was not published why exactly Ms. Joya was expelled from Parliament, as she explained it with details (questions 2 and 5, original). Why not to publish it, Ms. Medeiros?
In question 4, published, the website cut the essence of the reality, the main information and all this context: Ms. Joya is collecting documents, yes, but what for? She explained it, as we have read in question 15, original.
In question 5, published, Renata Medeiros made a mistake (not to change her way of being): Ms. Joya did not state that the life expectancy in Afghanistan is in general 44, but this number corresponds only to women in her country.
The festival of incompetence goes on: in the same question 5, published, Ms. Joya never said that "Afghans suffer under poverty" in the original interview, but she explained how they suffer (we have to point that in an article a journalist is free to give his conclusions, in his behalf, as in an interview he is to publish what the interviewee really said). Neither said Ms. Joya that they suffer under traffic nor under a lawless country, she did not use these words at all but explained how they suffer under it all, in clear, objective and detailed words.
To conclude, we also observe, comparing "both interviews" (!), that questions 1, 2 and 4 published were not asked by the "journalist" at all, as questions 3, 5 and 6 was totally cut and published by halves (or even less than half).
In question 5, original, Ms. Joya as always accuses the West media of covering up the catastrophic situation in the Middle East, especially in Afghanistan. Now, more than ever it is sadly proved: that she is right.
In May, 164 civilians were killed in the US / NATO bombings in tha Farah Province in Afghanistan. The Pentagon announced that as low as 12 were killed! Read Ms. Joya denouncement in a press conference, on May 11, published with documents by Z-Magazine on May 16, 2009:
Malalai Joya is the youngest person to become a member of the Afghan Parliament (one of 68 women elected to the 249-seat National Assembly, or Wolesi Jirga, in 2005); after she spoke out against the fundamentalists and former warlords in parliament, she was suspended. She was one of 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, is one of the World Economic Forum's 250 Global Leaders for 2007, and was nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. In 2007, she was in Berlin and spoke at the Human Rights Commission of the German Parliament. She heads the non-governmental group Organization for Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities (OPAWC) in the west of Afghanistan. She has survived many assassination attempts. (this text in full here).
Films on Ms. Joya and her fight:
Regards and thanks to
Our dear and so respected manager Walt Thiessen, for stimulating us on the 'Chart
Gene de Nardo, who revised this stuff
Special love and grateful for
Jesus Christ our so loving Friend and Redeemer, Giver of Life, who full of tenderness and power saved us, when we were totally lost.
Jesus, my Refuge, is the Solid Rock on which I stand
