PIPISTRO

A frame from Enemies of Happiness, a film that follows the campaign of an Afghan woman, Malalai Joya – then 28 year-old – as she was running in the country’s first democratic parliamentary elections in 35 years. The first clip shows Malalai Joya addressing the Loya Jirqa (Constitutional Assembly), calling for the prosecution of warlords present at the meeting and being instantly expelled from the Assembly (image left). She was elected from Farah province and on May 21, 2007, the lower house of the Afghan parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, voted to suspend her. She was accused of insulting the parliament and suspended until the end of her term in 2009. Since her suspension, she has continued to criticize warlords in the Afghan parliament despite the concerns for her safety. Human Rights Watch said, on May 21, 2008, that the Afghan parliament should reinstate her and noted that members of parliament have regularly criticized each other, but no one else has been suspended. Here the Human Rights Watch video interview with Malalai Joya. Moreover, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said that “Afghanistan is requesting billions of dollars in assistance from donors next month and presenting itself as an emerging democracy (…) If Malalai Joya remains suspended for exercising her right to free expression and has to keep moving around because of threats for which the government does nothing, what does this say about the state of human rights and democracy?”

“Afghanistan, centre of the world’s attention four years ago, remains an impoverished and volatile nation with an uncertain future. Though internet access is scarce, young Afghans are beginning to raise their voices through blogging. Sohrab Kabuli, a young man from Kabul, is one such pioneer, writing in the English version of his blog ‘Afghan Lord’. In it he writes about life in Kabul and events abroad, with the intention of illuminating both himself and others. With Afghanistan having been overlooked for years following the invasion of Iraq, Politics contacted Sohrab to learn more about his nation and his views”. Blogging from the edge of the world, says the header at p. 20 of the UK magazine Gair Rhydd. There you can find a long interview made by Andrew Rennison with Sohrab Kabuli, our friend blogging from Afghanistan. Here you can download the pdf file of the issue.