TRANSCRIPT
PLEASE NOTE: All dialog is translated from original language of Dari.
VOICEOVER OVER BRICKMAKER/LANDSCAPE FOOTAGE
IN: 01:00:10;00 A family of Afghan refugees, working as brickmakers in a
refugee
camp in Pakistan.
OUT: 01:00:16;19
IN: 01:00:19;06 Camps that have been in existence since 1980, when
Afghans first fled war in their country. Since then, millions of people have come and gone, setting up makeshift lives, earning a livelihood where they can…. surviving at the border of their estranged homeland…. at the border of an irrecoverable past.
OUT: 01:00:45;20
IN: 01:00:50;00 Some of them had lived in camps for over 20 years. Others,
for just a few months.
OUT: 01:00:56;04
FADE IN: 01:00:59;15 MAIN TITLE: VIEW FROM A GRAIN OF SAND
FADE OUT: 01:01:05;17
VOICEOVER
IN: 01:01:16;05 I came here in November 2000, initially to talk with
Afghan women about their experiences of the Taliban who then ruled Afghanistan. It was known that the Taliban’s rule was a repressive one, but at that time there was not much attention on the plight of Afghan women. Interviewing many people, I also learned that the Taliban was only a part of a much broader story. The story of how Afghan women have had their rights stripped from them over the last two decades. How they have not yet recovered even basic human rights.
Three women in particular allowed me into their lives to tell this story. First, there was Shapiray.
OUT: 01:02:01;22
Shapiray:
IN: 01:02:03;07 My name is Shapiray.
OUT: 01:02:04;25
VOICEOVER
IN: 01:02:06;28 She and her family had fled the Taliban, and had been in
Pakistan for only about a year and a half.
OUT: 01:02:11;25
Shapiray:
IN: 01:02:13;16 When we first came here, this place was like a desert.
OUT: 01:02:18;06
IN: 01:02:19;01 We registered as refugees and the UN gave us some plastic
sheets. We spent all winter on those plastic sheets.
OUT: 01:02:31;17
Shapiray:
IN: 01:02:43;12 Peace be with you.
Kids:
IN: 01:02:44;28 And peace be with you.
Shapiray: [Shapiray and kids on one card]
IN:01:02:47;01 -- How are you?
Kids:
IN: 01:02:47;01 -- Good.
OUT: 01:02:51;21
Shapiray: [Shapiray and kids on one card]
IN: 01:02:52;02 -- You don't have too many troubles?
Kids:
-- No, we don't.
OUT: 01:02:53;27
Shapiray:
IN: 01:02:54;04 I worked at this school for one year without pay.
Then, the school was made legal and we were able to get some aid.
We were trained for a month and then I officially became a teacher.
OUT: 01:03:15;26
IN: 01:03:27;17 I feel joy when I help the children of my country, who have
suffered loss and misery during the wars.
OUT: 01:03:36;11
TITLE
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS CLINIC
NEW SHAMSITU CAMP
PAKISTAN 2001
VOICEOVER
IN: 01:03:46;07 A few miles away in the same camp, is another essential
service for refugees: a basic health care clinic.
OUT: 01:03:52;07
IN: 01:03:56;03 It was there that I met Doctor Roeena. She had fled
Afghanistan during the civil war, which happened/went on from 1992 to 1996.
OUT: 01:04:05;06
Roeena:
IN: 01:04:05;24 My name is Roeena. I am from Kabul, Afghanistan.
OUT: 01:04:12;04
IN: 01:04:19;24 I trained as a physician in Afghanistan and worked there for
three years.
OUT: 01:04:24;28
IN: 01:04:25;25 My father was a modern thinker and he treated his sons and
daughters equally.
OUT: 01:04:34;25
IN: 01:04:38;21 We had the same rights to education as our brothers.
OUT: 01:04:42;13
IN: 01:04:48;04 Because of this neither I nor my sisters ever felt that because
we were girls we could not do certain things.
OUT: 01:04:56;13
IN: 01:04:58;26 I remember being very happy to go to school.
OUT: 01:05:01;28
IN: 01:05:11;14 In Kabul, my school was very near my house, so I could walk
there.
OUT: 01:05:15;03
IN: 01:05:17;20 It was like a dream to me.
OUT: 01:05:19;13
Shapiray:
IN: 01:05:26;12 When I was six, I started school.
OUT: 01:05:28;17
In: 01:05:30;10 My best friend's name was Maryal.
Out: 01:05:33;28
In: 01:05:35;16 We had the same clothes, sandals,
Out: 01:05:39;06
In: 01:05:39;24 the same socks, bags and umbrellas.
Out: 01:05:46;17 Everything matched.
Roeena
In: 01:05:49;14 When I was in medical college,
Out: 01:05:52;26 I enjoyed every minute of it.
In: 01:05:53;28 That was a time when
Out: 01:05:55;05
In: 01:05:55;14 boys and girls were
Out: 01:05:59;01 going to college together.
In: 01:05:59;28 Boys and girls
Out: 01:06:02;22 could study together,
In: 01:06:02;23 we could all sit in
Out: 01:06:05;15 the same classroom,
In: 01:06:05;16 my chair was beside
Out: 01:06:08;23 the chair of a boy,
In: 01:06:08;24 and we could study in one group.
Out: 01:06:11;01
In: 01:06:13;20 Nobody said that men and
Out: 01:06:17;25 women should be separate.
In: 01:06:17;26 It was not an issue.
Out: 01:06:21;09
VOICEOVER
In: 01:06:29;11 Both Shapiray and Roeena described an almost idyllic
time. A time when women in the cities could move freely, without fear.
They could dream of what they wanted to be.
Out: 01:06:42;24
In: 01:06:47;14 It was during the reign of King Zahir Shah, who came to power in 1933. Believing that women’s participation was vital to a modernizing society, he opened up many traditionally male jobs and professions to women.
Campaigns promoted all kinds of careers to women…..
Out: 01:07:05;29
In: 01:07:11;18 This film encouraged women to become bus drivers.
Out: 01:07:14;00
In: 01:07:18;21 Schools and universities opened their
doors…women’s education was actively encouraged.
By 1964 women had the right to vote. And no law governed how women should dress. Even the King’s wife appeared in public without the veil.
Out: 01:07:38;18
In: 01:07:40;22 But these reforms were confined to the cities. In the
rural areas, conservative tribal leaders had control. They supported the King as long as he didn’t impose his progressive ideas on them - a bargain made to hold the country together.
But it came at the expense of women in the countryside, who were subject to centuries of tribal law that held them under male control.
There were regional differences in how they were treated, but in general, women were regarded as the property of men.
Out: 01:08:16;29
VOICEOVER
In: 01:08:27;00 The third woman I met in the refugee camps, was
Wajia.
Out: 01:08:29;25
In: 01:08:34;04 She had grown up in a rural area of Afghanistan.
Out: 01:08:36;22
Wajia
In: 01:08:38;22 My name is Wajia.
Out: 01:08:41;05
In: 01:08:41;14 and I have been living
Out: 01:08:45;15 in this camp for 8 years.
VOICEOVER
In: 01:08:51;04 Wajia was working with the Revolutionary Association
of the Women of Afghanistan, or RAWA.
Out: 01:08:58;14
Wajia
In: 01:09:01;03 The items we give you
Out: 01:09:02;21
In: 01:09:02;22 are different every month.
Out: 01:09:04;17
In: 01:09:04;18 Sometimes it's shampoo,
Out: 01:09:08;06 or toothpaste, or soap ...
In: 01:09:08;07 This month we are giving you
Out: 01:09:10;26
In: 01:09:10;27 matches and laundry soap.
Out: 01:09:12;17
In: 01:09:14;22 We see how desperate
Out: 01:09:17;23 these people are.
In: 01:09:18;02 For them a bar of soap means a lot.
Out: 01:09:22;09
In: 01:09:22;18 They're able to wash
Out: 01:09:26;10 their children's clothes.
In: 01:09:28;17 We know these gifts are very small.
Out: 01:09:32;18
In: 01:09:32;19 But we want to give them
Out: 01:09:36;14 whatever we can
In: 01:09:36;15 to encourage them to
Out: 01:09:42;04 come to school to study.
In: 01:09:46;08 I am from Farah, in the
Out: 01:09:50;26 countryside of Afghanistan.
In: 01:09:51;25 After my father died, my mother
Out: 01:09:55;22 brought us up on her own.
In: 01:09:57;13 My brothers went to school
Out: 01:09:59;27
In: 01:10:00;00 while we girls helped my mother,
Out: 01:10:03;14
In: 01:10:05;03 so I didn't have an education.
Out: 01:10:08;21
In: 01:10:10;08 RAWA changed my life.
Out: 01:10:14;06
In: 01:10:20;15 I learned how to read
Out: 01:10:26;05 and write in their school.
In: 01:10:26;27 And now I can help other women
Out: 01:10:29;11
In: 01:10:29;12 like RAWA helped me.
Out: 01:10:32;17
VOICEOVER
In: 01:10:37;21 RAWA’s goal is to achieve a secular democracy with
rights for all women....a goal more radical now than it was when the group first formed, in 1977.
Out: 01:10:48;10
In: 01:10:51;01 The founder, known simply as Meena, was then just 20 years old, a fiery and charismatic student in Kabul. She wanted to bring rights that women had been gaining in the cities, out to rural women. Initially their focus was on education for women and girls.
But the group was [forced] to expand its activities in response to the dramatic events of the next two decades.
Out: 01:11:20;29
In: 01:11:28;21 In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The
world was outraged by this seemingly unprovoked act of aggression. Yet a closer look at events paints a different picture.
Out: 01:11:41;09
In: 01:11:45;16 The years before had been a tumultuous time.
In 1973, after a rule of 40 years, the King was overthrown. A series of regimes rose and fell, each with ever-stronger ties to the Soviets. They imposed radical changes on the whole country, inflaming tribal leaders who saw the new order as a violation of traditional ways.
In the United States, with the Cold War in full swing, the Carter administration was alarmed by the increasing Soviet influence, and so began to secretly fund anti-government rebels in June of 1979.
Out: 01:12:16;09
In: 01:12:21;16 The Soviets were determined to maintain their influence over
Afghanistan. Within six months, in December of 1979, they moved 100,000 troops across the Afghan border and installed a puppet Afghan government.
Out: 01:12:35;24
In: 01:12:39;03 Soviet occupation had begun.
Out: 01:12:41;06
Roeena
In: 01:12:44;23 I don't remember
Out: 01:12:47;00 what grade I was in
In: 01:12:47;11 when they announced that
Out: 01:12:50;10
In: 01:12:50;11 the new government was
Out: 01:12:57;02 supported by the Russians.
In: 01:12:57;21 The older people would talk about it
Out: 01:13:06;12 but I didn't pay much attention.
In: 01:13:06;17 I didn't understand why the Soviets
Out: 01:13:11;12 had come to Afghanistan
VOICEOVER
In: 01:13:14;18 At first, women in the cities had mixed feelings about
the Soviets. On the one hand they benefited from expanded educational and professional opportunities.
Out: 01:13:26;00
In: 01:13:32;21 But on the other, they were under a foreign
occupation.
Out: 01:13:35;06
In: 01:13:38;25 Afghans increasingly resented the presence of Soviet forces.
Resistance intensified.
Out: 01:13:45;13
In: 01:13:47;04 At first, the rebels were unorganized, fighting only with
homemade weapons and makeshift battle plans.
Out: 01:13:53;07
In: 01:13:55;29 The Soviets reacted with an iron fist, bombing villages, imprisoning, killing thousands.
Out: 01:14:05;22
In: 01:14:10;28 Millions of people fled to Pakistan - often with just the clothes
on their backs.
Out: 01:14:16;10
In: 01:14:24;00 Months turned into years. Years into decades. Permanent
homes replaced tents. Temporary camps transformed into small towns.
Out: 01:14:36;00
Wajia
In: 01:14:45;20 When we came from Afghanistan,
Out: 01:14:47;18
In: 01:14:47;18 we didn't bring anything
Out: 01:14:50;25
In: 01:14:50;26 except this machine.
Out: 01:14:55;21
In: 01:14:58;17 It is from a long time ago and it
Out: 01:15:05;16 holds a lot of memories for me.
In: 01:15:12;21 My husband bought it for me.
Out: 01:15:19;02
In: 01:15:22;18 I always told him that I
Out: 01:15:26;24 wanted a manual machine
In: 01:15:26;25 not an electric one,
Out: 01:15:29;12
In: 01:15:29;13 so he got this one for me.
Out: 01:15:31;25
In: 01:15:34;10 When I am sewing, all the memories
Out: 01:15:40;15 I have of him flood over me again,
In: 01:15:44;15 He is in front of me
Out: 01:15:49;18 when I am sewing.
In: 01:15:55;15 My husband and I would always
Out: 01:16:01;16 discuss the events in Afghanistan.
In: 01:16:01;17 He had decided to join
Out: 01:16:07;02 the resistance fighters
In: 01:16:07;25 and so we would keep up
Out: 01:16:11;15 with all the news.
In: 01:16:18;14 He led a full battalion
Out: 01:16:23;29 of freedom fighters.
In: 01:16:26;00 He was in a certain stronghold,
Out: 01:16:29;12 and wanted to change positions.
In: 01:16:32;24 But the Russians suddenly ambushed
Out: 01:16:38;03 them and they were trapped.
In: 01:16:48;00 I wasn't given the details.
Out: 01:16:50;17
In: 01:16:50;18 I was just told he'd been killed.
Out: 01:16:53;15
VOICEOVER ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE
In: 01:17:11;14 The Soviet war changed everything that Afghanistan
once aspired to. It’s a complicated story, that tells how a nationalist struggle was transformed into a pan-Islamic battleground. How a form of fundamentalist Islam, that had never before existed in Afghanistan, rose to power.
With consequences reverberating even now, the women were afraid to speak of it on camera.
The details of this history may vary, but the basic facts remain the same.
Out: 01:17:43;10
In: 01:17:47;26 The United States, embroiled in the Cold War, was
determined to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan at any cost. They drastically increased support for the Afghan resistance, using them as proxy fighters.
For the first few years, the support was covert, no Americans in sight, not even public admission that the US was running guns. The money, weapons and training didn’t go to just any Afghan rebels: but went specifically to the most extreme Islamic fundamentalists… Afghans based in Pakistan, who violently opposed modernization. They viewed women as a distraction away from God, and were vehemently against their increased rights.
These men had no support in Afghanistan and fled to Pakistan in the 1970s, where they found a friend:
Out: 01:18:41;22
In: 01:18:43;07 the fundamentalist dictator General Zia.
Zia secretly managed the transfer of American military support to the fundamentalists.
Out: 01:18:51;29
REAGAN SPEECH
In: 01:18:59;10 “I take particular satisfaction in signing today, the
commemoration of March 21 as Afghanistan Day throughout the United States.This resolution testifies…”
Out: 01:19:11;04
VOICEOVER
In: 01:19:11;07 The Americans were well aware of the human rights
abuses of the fundamentalists and of their brutal treatment of women.
Out: 01:19:17;10
In: 01:19:22;09 So why did the US favor them over secular, moderate
fighters?
Out: 01:19:26;04
In: 01:19:27;26 Firstly, the fundamentalists were better organized. But
more importantly their religious ideology could transcend national borders. Seeing this potential, the CIA began, covertly, to brand and sell religious war…. making the struggle for liberation not just an Afghan cause, but a Muslim one. Islam was its rallying cry, and “Jihad”, traditionally meaning an internal spiritual struggle, was re-cast as the military duty of all Muslims to fight against the godless infidels of Communism.
Out: 01:20:05;01
In: 01:20:12;19 For almost a decade, the US and Saudi Arabia plied
the fundamentalists with billions of dollars …
Out: 01:20:18;10
In: 01:20:20;07 Men without prospects, men without jobs, poor
civilians from all over the globe, enlisted in the call to arms…. stirred by an emotional appeal, and a salary they couldn’t have dreamed of.
Out: 01:20:35;28
In: 01:20:39;15 This alliance between the United States and the
fundamentalists was especially catastrophic for Afghan women. Supported by guns and money, these men began to impose their fundamentalist agenda on other Afghans. Women became acceptable targets for abuse in the name of religion.
Out: 01:20:59;12
In: 01:21:07;07 Ten long years of war. In 1989, the Soviets finally
Withdrew their forces. The Americans were jubilant in claiming a cold war victory over communism. Afghanistan was devastated. One and a half million women, men and children were dead.
Out: 01:21:28;18
In: 01:21:38;21 Dr. Roeena lives in the city of Peshawar, about a 40 minute
drive from her clinic in the camp.
Out: 01:21:43;18
Roeena
In: 01:21:48;15 I have seven sisters and one brother.
Out: 01:21:52;04
In: 01:22:06;08 We all grew up together
Out: 01:22:10;07
In: 01:22:10;08 and we got along very well.
Out: 01:22:13;20
In: 01:22:20;25 My mother and I have a good relationship
Out: 01:22:24;11
In: 01:22:24;12 but sometimes I get upset with her -
Out: 01:22:27;22
In: 01:22:28;18 - if she tells me to get married
Out: 01:22:33;02
In: 01:22:33;17 My parents want me to marry, but it's not in my plans.
Out: 01:22:37;26
In: 01:22:43;06 I want to learn as much as possible about my career
Out: 01:22:52;11
In: 01:22:53;13 so that I can achieve my dreams and goals
Out: 01:22:57;28
In: 01:22:58;28 and perhaps become a well-known doctor.
Out: 01:23:02;19
In: 01:23:04;08 My work is very important to me right now.
Out: 01:23:09;03
In: 01:23:09;22 I think that marriage is a point
Out: 01:23:17;21 where I cannot learn anymore!
Shapiray
In: 01:23:29;18 When I was young, many marriage
Out: 01:23:33;28 proposals were coming in for me.
In: 01:23:36;22 One day I went home and my parents were smiling.
Out: 01:23:40;27
In: 01:23:42;00 I asked them why, but they wouldn't answer.
Out: 01:23:47;16
In: 01:23:49;24 Then my sister told me that my
Out: 01:23:53;12 parents had arranged my wedding,
In: 01:23:53;13 to a good man, who owned land,
Out: 01:23:56;10
In: 01:23:56;11 who was educated and had
Out: 01:24:00;16 a good post in the government.
In: 01:24:05;01 They said a lot about him, but
Out: 01:24:09;19 I said "I don't want to get married."
In: 01:24:09;20 I ran off and cried and cried.
Out: 01:24:12;03
In: 01:24:25;03 Now we have a very good relationship.
Out: 01:24:30;01
In: 01:24:30;06 We do everything with advice from each other.
Out: 01:24:35;26
In: 01:24:36;27 Sometimes I have a very bad temper,
Out: 01:24:39;25
In: 01:24:39;26 but he forgives me all the time.
Out: 01:24:42;06
In: 01:24:42;16 Although it's a saying that
Out: 01:24:45;17
In: 01:24:45;18 "Men have no good qualities."
Out: 01:24:48;10
In: 01:24:48;11 Compared to a lot of people,
Out: 01:24:53;26 my husband is a very good man,
In: 01:24:54;04 and I very much respect him.
Out: 01:24:56;10
Shapiray’s Husband, Hassan
In: 01:25:03;27 I brought my family here
Out: 01:25:05;27
In: 01:25:06;07 and now we have to live
Out: 01:25:08;24
In: 01:25:09;10 in this terrible condition,
Out: 01:25:11;29
In: 01:25:12;16 with dry and empty ground.
Out: 01:25:16;02
In: 01:25:16;09 All the happiness and good memories we had
Out: 01:25:19;28
In: 01:25:19;29 have been taken from us in this one year.
Out: 01:25:22;13
In: 01:25:23;14 The culture of our country was destroyed to the root.
Out: 01:25:26;10
In: 01:25:26;11 Shelter, that is the most basic need of human life is
Out: 01:25:29;24 not there
In: 01:25:30;19 There is no medicine or clinics,
Out: 01:25:35;08 the education is completely gone.
In: 01:25:37;04 We are living like barbarians in prehistoric times.
Out: 01:25:40;26
VOICEOVER
In: 01:25:49;05 The Soviets were gone, but the nation did not see
peace. Scarred by 10 years of grueling war, the fatigued Afghan population couldn’t imagine that things could get worse.
In: 01:26:03;10 By 1992 the puppet government collapsed,
leaving a power vacuum. The United Nations appointed a government made up of the same fundamentalists supported by the US and Saudi Arabia.
Out: 01:26:16;16
In: 01:26:21;15 But these men were unable to share power. Forming
and re-forming alliances, they fell into fighting amongst themselves, plunging the country again into war. This time Civil war.
Out: 01:26:35;18
In: 01:26:38;13 Using the vast armaments left behind by their
benefactors, the fundamentalists wreaked havoc on the country.
Out: 01:26:44;17
Roeena
In: 01:26:47;23 I was working in a hospital in Kabul.
Out: 01:26:50;28
In: 01:26:51;07 that was when the Islamist
Out: 01:26:55;18 government took control
In: 01:26:56;25 I saw a lot of terrible things...so much suffering.
Out: 01:27:02;04
In: 01:27:02;05 We treated many wounded people, injured by rockets
Out: 01:27:06;23
VOICEOVER
In: 01:27:10;12 No rule of law.
In: 01:27:14;24 No effective government.
In: 01:27:18;21 Rampaging militias terrorizing civilians at will.
In: 01:27:25;26 A relentless rain of bombs and bullets over Kabul
flattened sections of the city.
In: 01:27:33;21 It was the most chaotic and violent period Afghans
had ever known.
Roeena
In: 01:27:39;23 Things got really bad, as
Out: 01:27:42;27 the war got closer to the city.
In: 01:27:42;28 the rockets were more frequent and
Out: 01:27:47;26 it was getting worse for women.
In: 01:27:48;21 as the militia were kidnapping them.
Out: 01:27:54;23
VOICEOVER
In: 01:27:56;07 Women were the first victims of the fundamentalist
anarchy the swept the country. The burqa - which had never legally been enforced- was now thrust upon women at gunpoint.
Assaulted and abducted by roving militia, raped for just being visible, thousands of women disappeared. Thousands more were mutilated, surviving with missing limbs and memories of horror.
Out: 01:28:23;22
Roeena
In: 01:28:45;20 Each day I make time to pray and I read the Koran
Out: 01:28:54;10
In: 01:28:58;04 Religion gives me a lot of peace.
Out: 01:29:05;06
In: 01:29:07;23 When you go in a bad direction,
Out: 01:29:13;04 it shows you the right way.
In: 01:29:13;05 And if I have any problem
Out: 01:29:18;15
In: 01:29:18;16` I can find peace in religion.
Out: 01:29:22;22
In: 01:29:26;09 God says in the Koran that
Out: 01:29:35;03 men and women are equal.
In: 01:29:35;12 Because God said this, no one can
Out: 01:29:42;16 take these rights away from women.
Shapiray
In: 01:29:46;09 We are Muslims
Out: 01:29:50;10
In: 01:29:50;18 and believe in Islam.
Out: 01:29:53;18
In: 01:29:54;01 We are supposed to behave like good Muslims,
Out: 01:29:59;22
In: 01:30:01;01 and that is very important to me.
Out: 01:30:03;16
In: 01:30:03;25 Praise God.
Out: 01:30:06;12
In: 01:30:10;16 My grandfather's grandfather
Out: 01:30:13;10
In: 01:30:13;11 followed this religion.
Out: 01:30:16;02
In: 01:30:16;03 We are their grandchildren so...
Out: 01:30:17;28
Husband
In: 01:30:17;29 And what does Islam do for you?
Out: 01:30:21;26
Shapiray
In: 01:30:23;17 God gave us, hands, eyes, a mouth, everything...
Out: 01:30:27;08
Husband
In: 01:30:27;09 And God didn't give them to non-Muslims?
Out: 01:30:30;04
Shapiray
In: 01:30:30;05 Please be quiet, or come sit in my place!
Out: 01:30:32;27
In: 01:30:35;16 I don't care what my husband thinks.
Out: 01:30:39;19
In: 01:30:40;03 I don't mind, but for myself, I follow from my parents,
Out: 01:30:46;25
In: 01:30:46;26 and my grandparents, and do what I learned from
Out: 01:30:49;28 them.
Husband
In: 01:30:50;03 Well I am also Muslim,
Out: 01:30:53;20
In: 01:30:53;21 but I'm not as religious as this beautiful lady is.
Out: 01:30:57;24
In: 01:30:57;25 It has to be democratic, tolerant.
Out: 01:31:03;05
In: 01:31:03;06 And if Islam is the only religion and
Out: 01:31:11;03 is not tolerant, then it is not right.
In: 01:31:11;04 It is a personal faith, and it cannot have rules
Out: 01:31:16;03
In: 01:31:16;04 and it cannot be forced.
Out: 01:31:19;13
In: 01:31:19;14 Now, please, may we change the subject?
Out: 01:31:23;08
VOICEOVER
In: 01:31:34;10 In the mid 1990’s a new group emerged to confront
the warlords. They were called the Taliban.
Out: 01:31:41;23
In: 01:31:44;11 A decade earlier, they had grown up in the Pakistani
refugee camps. Mostly poor, they were offered food, shelter and a free education by fundamentalist religious schools, operated by Pakistanis and Saudis, and partially funded by the United States. The education, however, was actually indoctrination, into an extreme form of Islam, previously unknown in Afghanistan.
Out: 01:32:08;26
In: 01:32:22;20 In the early 1990’s The Taliban crossed into
Afghanistan. Posing as champions of the common people, they were welcomed as saviors. They managed to drive out the warlords. But once in power they imposed the most repressive laws Afghanistan had ever seen.
Out: 01:32:44;13
In: 01:32:48;22 Kite flying was banned. Playing music was banned. Films
and television were forbidden. Men who didn’t pray at the right times were beaten.
Out: 01:32:58;24
Wajia
In: 01:33:01;20 Taliban made a new Islam, but it is not Islamic.
Out: 01:33:07;09
In: 01:33:07;10 In which part of Islam does it say
Out: 01:33:11;25 that prayer should be by force?
In: 01:33:14;04 Islam does not say that women should be in burqa.
Out: 01:33:17;01
In: 01:33:18;04 Where in the Koran does it say that?
Out: 01:33:20;07
VOICEOVER
In: 01:33:22;12 RAWA was the only women’s group to document the abuses of the Taliban. They hid cameras in their
burkas, to record what was happening around them.
Out: 01:33:31;10
Wajia
In: 01:33:33;14 Women weren't allowed to go to school at all,
Out: 01:33:39;14
In: 01:33:39;15 they weren't allowed to go out, weren't allowed to
Out: 01:33:47;20 work.
VOICEOVER
In: 01:33:51;14 This woman was beaten because her shoes made too much noise as she walked.
Out: 01:33:55;01
In: 01:33:59;26 In Kabul, people were rounded up and forced to go to a
central stadium to witness executions.
Out: 01:34:05;20
In: 01:34:27;15 Though public hangings, amputations and violence increased daily, the world outside took little notice.
Out: 01:34:34;01
Shapiray’s Husband, Hassan
In: 01:34:44;01 The Taliban threatened anyone who
Out: 01:34:49;06 had worked for any government.
In: 01:34:49;07 They would torture people
Out: 01:34:53;16 to try and get money or weapons.
In: 01:34:53;17 Even though we had done nothing wrong
Out: 01:34:57;20
In: 01:34:57;21 they were looking for us.
Out: 01:35:01;07
In: 01:35:01;16 Had they found us
Out: 01:35:04;22
In: 01:35:04;23 they would have killed all of us.
Out: 01:35:07;02
VOICEOVER
In: 01:35:15;19 Though most of the world did not recognize the Taliban as
Afghanistan’s official government, in May 2001, the United States gave the Taliban $43million dollars in aid.
Out: 01:35:26;06
In: 01:35:28;22 Four months later, September 11.
Out: 01:35:31;10
In: 01:35:35;21 Almost 3000 people were killed.
Out: 01:35:37;20
In: 01:35:40;03 Osama bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire, and a CIA
confidante during the 1980’s, was held responsible. He was living in Afghanistan under invitation from the Taliban.
Out: 01:35:50;22
Voice of U.S. President George W. Bush
In: 01:35:53;18 “On my orders, the United States military has
begun strikes against the Al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan….”
Out: 01:36:03;24
VOICEOVER
In: 01:36:05;25 To capture him, a bombing campaign was launched on the
entire country of Afghanistan.
Out: 01:36:10;18
VOICEOVER
In: 01:36:36;16 Returning to the area in November 2001, I went to
visit a hospital in Peshawar. It was full of people injured by the U.S bombing. This man was a farmer, who’d been tilling his land when a bomb struck. One of his legs was blown off instantly. The other leg had been amputated… because of gangrene…. At the time of this filming, he didn’t yet know that his two legs were gone….
Out: 01:37:05;09
In: 01:37:15;25 About 80,000 people once again fled Afghanistan.
New refugee camps have sprung up to accommodate them.
Out: 01:37:23;03
In: 01:37:28;10 It’s now December 2001. It’s taken less than 6 weeks
for the Taliban regime to fall. The U.S used their old friends from the Soviet era, the fundamentalist warlords, now known as the Northern Alliance, for help on the ground. To rout out Al Qaeda and Taliban.
Out: 01:37:50;07
In: 01:37:53;11 November 13, the Northern Alliance just rode into
Kabul and took over.
And now the United Nations and the US is rewarding them. They are giving the warlords critical positions in an appointed interim government.
The record shows that the newly chosen President, Hamid Karzai, is clear of wartime atrocities. But with the warlords surrounding him, he can have little real authority.
Out: 01:38:21;09
In: 01:38:25;27 History’s replaying itself in the eyes of the Afghan people:
once again they must watch as a new government is installed by foreign hands, the familiar faces of oppression back in power. Instead of being tried for war crimes, these men are being re-empowered by the international community.
Out: 01:38:50;27
VOICEOVER
In: 01:39:12;16 I came back to the region because I wanted to see if
the lives of the three women had changed two years after the fall of the Taliban.
Reports in the press had been optimistic, saying that women were now free and that reconstruction was well under way. Yet two of the three women, Roeena and Wajia, were still in Pakistan, having decided not to return to Afghanistan. I wanted to find out why.
Out: 01:39:38;03
In: 01:39:40;03 I first went to see Dr. Roeena in New Shamsitoo
Camp. It was a dramatic change to see many of the refugee homes destroyed and abandoned.
Out: 01:39:48;21
In: 01:39:53;01 But many Afghans were still there.
Out: 01:39:54;21
Roeena
In: 01:40:01;06 The situation for refugees in this camp
Out: 01:40:04;13
In: 01:40:04;14 has not changed much.
Out: 01:40:07;16
In: 01:40:12;01 They are not returning
Out: 01:40:16;18
In: 01:40:16;19 as there are still problems in Afghanistan.
Out: 01:40:20;03
In: 01:40:20;04 All those promised programs of rebuilding
Out: 01:40:24;00
In: 01:40:24;01 haven't started yet.
Out: 01:40:27;01
In: 01:40:29;03 And the fundamentalists who caused
Out: 01:40:34;22 the civil war are back in power.
In: 01:40:35;27 They are still fighting one another
Out: 01:40:42;13 and there is no security.
In: 01:40:43;13 Right now the situation there is not very hopeful.
Out: 01:40:47;27
In: 01:40:58;00 I wish to live in my country.
Out: 01:41:02;15
In: 01:41:03;11 It would make me happy to go back.
Out: 01:41:06;09
In: 01:41:07;18 But I also want to live a normal life.
Out: 01:41:14;28
In: 01:41:17;14 I don't have any plans to go back,
Out: 01:41:22;25
In: 01:41:22;26 As long as this government is in power.
Out: 01:41:25;21
VOICEOVER
In: 01:41:33;17 After saying goodbye to Roeena, I went to see Wajia. I
found her just as she was leaving for her own fact-finding mission to Kabul – the first time she would be returning there in 25 years.
Out: 01:41:46;15
Wajia
In: 01:41:48;00 I am going on a trip to Afghanistan
Out: 01:41:52;16 to do some work for RAWA.
In: 01:41:54;28 Once in Kabul, my friends in RAWA
Out: 01:42:01;17 will tell me what I'll be doing there.
VOICEOVER
In: 01:42:01;20 Wajia was taking her son Haroun with her – his first time out
Out: 01:42:07;03 of the refugee camp.
Wajia
In: 01:42:10;01 I haven't been to Kabul
Out: 01:42:12;12
In: 01:42:12;13 in over 25 years.
Out: 01:42:16;26
In: 01:42:17;14 I don't know what to expect, good or bad,
Out: 01:42:20;23
In: 01:42:20;24 but I am very excited to go.
Out: 01:42:24;04
VOICEOVER
In: 01:42:48;25 Though I knew that Afghanistan was not a war zone,
Out: 01:42:53;26 everything around us made it seem as if it were.
In: 01:42:59;00 It was a relief to arrive safely, in Kabul.
Out: 01:43:01;22
In: 01:43:14;14 The next day, Wajia was met by a RAWA member, who
introduced herself as Naseem. She covered her face when
being filmed to hide her identity. She took us on a tour of the city.
Out: 01:43:27;00
Wajia
In: 01:43:27;15 Where are we?
Out: 01:43:29;10
Naseem
In: 01:43:31;04 This is the Deh-Mazang area.
Out: 01:43:32;29
Wajia
In: 01:43:33;19 Oh! look at this! Everything is ruined!
Out: 01:43:36;00
In: 01:43:37;21 When did this happen?
Out: 01:43:39;19
Naseem
In: 01:43:40;09 During the civil war fighting
Out: 01:43:43;24 between Massoud and Hekmatyar
In: 01:43:44;29 Many of the people killed
Out: 01:43:48;19 didn't belong to either group.
Wajia
In: 01:43:54;00 Oh my God! Look at that side!
Out: 01:43:56;00
In: 01:44:12;13 Even the trees have died!
Out: 01:44:14;21
Naseem
In: 01:44:16;14 This place used to be full of flowers
Out: 01:44:22;02 and trees - there is nothing left of it.
Wajia
In: 01:44:33;14 I can't believe what has happened to Afghanistan.
Out: 01:44:40;05
In: 01:44:41;24 I could not imagine this kind of destruction.
Out: 01:44:45;25
In: 01:44:45;26 It is so shocking, and terrible. I just cannot believe it.
Out: 01:44:51;24
VOICEOVER
In: 01:44:57;27 Shapiray and her family had returned to Afghanistan a year
earlier. When I went to meet them, they were back in their own home. Luckily, it hadn’t been taken over by militias, who had commandeered many houses in the area.
Out: 01:45:10;21
Shapiray
In: 01:45:12;03 We came from Pakistan last May.
Out: 01:45:14;18
In: 01:45:16;17 When we came to our home we saw
Out: 01:45:19;24 that everything was damaged.
In: 01:45:20;15 Bombs hit my house
Out: 01:45:24;29
In: 01:45:24;30 and all the doors and windows were broken.
Out: 01:45:29;21
In: 01:45:29;22 Most of the damage to this area was during the fight
Out: 01:45:34;28
In: 01:45:34;29 between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance
Out: 01:45:38;24
In: 01:45:39;13 The local people left the area during these battles.
Out: 01:45:42;07
In: 01:45:42;08 There was no one left, not even a fly.
Out: 01:45:44;28
Shapiray’s Husband, Hassan
In: 01:45:47;26 When we returned from Pakistan,
Out: 01:45:52;05 I was happy to be home
In: 01:45:53;04 Although our home was destroyed,
Out: 01:45:58;19 we began picking up the pieces.
In: 01:46:05;12 The little money we had,
Out: 01:46:11;22 we spent on fixing our home.
Shapiray
In: 01:46:19;02 Life would be much easier if we
Out: 01:46:24;22 had electricity and running water.
In: 01:46:31;17 They say they will fix the electricity.
Out: 01:46:35;24 They keep saying today, tomorrow,
In: 01:46:35;25 but they have yet to start working on it.
Out: 01:46:39;06
VOICEOVER
In: 01:46:49;10 The next day I went back to Kabul to see Wajia. She was visiting RAWA members who had lived in Kabul throughout
the rule of the Taliban.
Out: 01:46:57;00
Wajia
In: 01:46:59;28 After September 11, when
Out: 01:47:05;00 America bombed Afghanistan,
In: 01:47:06;16 how did people react to that attack?
Out: 01:47:09;09
In: 01:47:09;10 How did people feel about it?
Out: 01:47:11;19
Nasifeh (RAWA member)
In: 01:47:12;10 People were really scared.
Out: 01:47:14;29
In: 01:47:16;03 They were worried that they might get killed.
Out: 01:47:18;27
In: 01:47:18;28 The US bombed Al Qaeda and the Taliban
Out: 01:47:21;18
In: 01:47:21;19 but sometimes the wrong places were hit.
Out: 01:47:24;03
In: 01:47:24;04 Still, people were glad that the Taliban was gone.
Out: 01:47:26;06
In: 01:47:26;07 People wanted to be free
Out: 01:47:30;08 and have a normal life again.
Naseem
In: 01:47:30;09 But things haven't turned out as people had hoped.
Out: 01:47:34;19
Wajia
In: 01:47:34;20 How do you mean?
Out: 01:47:37;04
Naseem
In: 01:47:37;05 Well, even though girls are now
allowed to go to school,
In: 01:47:43;11 And women are allowed to take
literacy classes
Out: 01:47:47;21
In: 01:47:47;22 But now the problem is they are not safe to do so:
Out: 01:47:53;02 there is no security.
In: 01:47:53;03 The Taliban regime is gone
Out: 01:47:59;05 and its power demolished,
In: 01:47:59;06 but other forceful and dictatorial
Out: 01:48:06;12 groups have replaced them.
In: 01:48:07;17 You will see that women are afraid
Out: 01:48:11;06 to go out without the burka.
In: 01:48:15;19 Many months have passed since the
Out: 01:48:19;11 Karzai government took over,
In: 01:48:20;02 But he has not been able to do much.
Out: 01:48:22;22
In: 01:48:23;12 He has not been able to take
Out: 01:48:27;22 away the guns from militia’s hands.
In: 01:48:29;20 As long as these people are armed,
Out: 01:48:32;19 no one will feel safe.
VOICEOVER
In: 01:48:40;10 Many refugees have returned to Kabul, and it’s
economy is much more active than before.
Out: 01:48:45;14
In: 01:48:47;16 But overshadowing the city are gigantic images of the
slain Northern Alliance leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud. They’re significant in that they’re not of the President, Hamid Karzai, and sign who’s really in charge.
Out: 01:49:02;20
In: 01:49:06;08 I was told by many that the relative peace that exists
in Kabul is due to the presence of international peacekeepers who patrol the city. Though many people, including Karzai and the UN, called for them throughout the country, the U.S opposed their deployment.
Out: 01:49:22;06
In: 01:49:23;04 The result: the very same warlords responsible for the
civil war have taken over the countryside. They still receive U.S and British funding, to fight remnants of the Taliban. But the money serves to pay for their own private armies: they have barely cooperated in international disarmament efforts…. and they are once again terrorizing their citizenry.
Out: 01:49:47;21
In: 01:49:52;03 Human rights groups have documented their
involvement in extortion, kidnapping, torture, rape and drug trafficking.
Out: 01:49:59;02
In: 01:50:04;15 Knowing that they can’t get any help from the law or
government, some women are organizing their own support groups, coming together to do whatever they can to address the dire situations they face.
Wajia is at a meeting held by RAWA.
Out: 01:50:20;07
Rawa member
In: 01:50:24;07 Last Monday Namro overdosed on pills.
Out: 01:50:28;16
In: 01:50:28;17 She intended to commit suicide.
Out: 01:50:32;17
In: 01:50:33;07 She survived only because her
Out: 01:50:37;16 stomach was pumped at the hospital
In: 01:50:38;08 What happened? Tell us why you did this.
Out: 01:50:42;05
Namro
In: 01:50:43;09 Rahmat had no job. We had nothing to eat.
Out: 01:50:47;11
In: 01:50:48;19 I told him the children were hungry.
Out: 01:50:52;20
In: 01:50:53;08 He became angry and started beating me.
Out: 01:50:56;10
In: 01:50:56;11 His mother also joined him shouting at me.
Out: 01:50:59;25
In: 01:51:00;12 I couldn't bear this kind of life anymore
Out: 01:51:03;09
In: 01:51:03;10 so I took the pills.
Out: 01:51:06;20
Wajia
In: 01:51:10;06 Namro didn't die because
Out: 01:51:12;15
In: 01:51:12;16 RAWA members were there to help.
Out: 01:51:15;24
In: 01:51:15;25 They got her to the hospital in time.
Out: 01:51:19;10
In: 01:51:19;11 One month ago there was a report that
Out: 01:51:23;07
In: 01:51:23;08 31 women committed suicide in a single province
Out: 01:51:27;01 of Afghanistan
In: 01:51:27;02 They were in a similar condition as Namro.
Out: 01:51:33;02
In: 01:51:33;03 Some of them burned themselves
Out: 01:51:39;10 or shot themselves…
VOICEOVER
In: 01:51:53;15 Since 2002 a new phenomenon has emerged – women are
setting themselves on fire. The rate is so high in some areas that hospitals have had to open up special burn wards to accommodate those who survive.
Out: 01:52:08;05
In: 01:52:36;28 Although she had not taught in Afghanistan before, Shapiray
was now teaching at a nearby school.
Out: 01:52:42;00
Shapiray
In: 01:52:44;28 The children who were directly affected by the wars
Out: 01:52:51;01
In: 01:52:51;02 such as rockets or bombs hitting their homes,
Out: 01:52:54;09
In: 01:52:54;10 have vivid memories of the war.
Out: 01:53:01;01
In: 01:53:09;06 One girl told me that one day while
Out: 01:53:14;12 walking an airplane dropped bombs
In: 01:53:16;20 and a woman was hit and fell to the ground.
Out: 01:53:20;00
In: 01:53:27;29 Her four children couldn't
Out: 01:53:31;14 understand what had happened.
In: 01:53:31;27 They kept trying to wake her up.
Out: 01:53:34;13
In: 01:53:37;00 They listen to the radio and hear
Out: 01:53:42;19 the country may slip back into war.
In: 01:53:44;27 They worry. I tell them not to
Out: 01:53:49;21 worry and that things will be ok.
In: 01:53:55;13 We are happy to have left Pakistan
Out: 01:54:02;01 and to be back in our home.
In: 01:54:02;11 But, we're also worried about destructive forces
Out: 01:54:06;23
In: 01:54:07;12 causing chaos again in Afghanistan.
Out: 01:54:11;13
In: 01:54:11;29 Then where would we go ?
Out: 02:15:27;27
In: 01:54:16;22 They say those bitten by a snake
Out: 01:54:20;15 are afraid of a long rope.
In: 01:54:21;15 We're afraid to be refugees again.
Out: 01:54:27;15 But, God forbid, it could still happen.
VOICEOVER
In: 01:54:33;23 Wajia decided not to remain in Afghanistan, but to return to
the refugee camp in Pakistan…
Out: 01:54:40;01
Wajia
In: 01:54:41;17 I remember on my last visit to Kabul,
Out: 01:54:48;15 the city was so beautiful
In: 01:54:48;28 with many nice buildings and parks and gardens.
Out: 01:54:53;21
In: 01:54:53;22 Now they are all destroyed.
Out: 01:54:57;01
In: 01:55:00;08 People were glad to get rid of the
Out: 01:55:04;27 Taliban but things haven't changed.
In: 01:55:09;19 People are saying that even though
Out: 01:55:13;00
In: 01:55:13;01 the rebuilding has somewhat started
Out: 01:55:16;13
In: 01:55:17;08 the government has not been able
Out: 01:55:23;17 to bring security back to the country
In: 01:55:33;03 I thought I should feel safe
Out: 01:55:38;16 in my own country but I don't.
In: 01:55:45;10 People in Afghanistan live in fear.
Out: 01:55:48;10
FADE TO BLACK
END CREDITS