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Petition in defence of Lal Bibi: bring her rapists to justice and protect women across Afghanistan

6 July 2012

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Petition
To the US Secretary of State, UK Secretary of State for International
Development and the Foreign Ministers of Germany, Japan and Italy:

As concerned citizens across the world, we call on you to ensure strong guarantees for the protection of women´s rights in your pledge to provide aid to the Afghan government. We urge you to ensure that any financial aid to Afghanistan is conditioned on an end to the blatant impunity that has resulted in the rape, abduction and torture of Lal Bibi by the Afghan Local Police. Afghan officials must immediately bring her rapists to justice and work to protect women across Afghanistan.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_lal_bibi_c/?bSvMibb&v=15757

From: Dalia Hashad - Avaaz.org [avaaz@avaaz.org]
Sent: July-04-12 6:16 PM
Subject: How a rape survivor could change Afghanistan

Dear friends,

Dear friends,
After being kidnapped, raped and tortured by Afghan police, 18-year- old Lal Bibi is fighting police impunity and the cultural requirement that she commit suicide. Prosecutors are failing to try her rapists, but a massive global outcry can persuade the donor countries that are about to hand over billions to Afghanistan to use their leverage to force real change for Lal Bibi and all Afghan women. Sign the petition, and tell everyone:

18 year-old Lal Bibi was kidnapped, raped, tortured and chained to a wall for five days by a gang of powerful Afghan police officers. But she stood up to do what women in Afghanistan are told not to — she is fighting back, and together we can help her and all Afghan women win justice.

According to deep cultural mandates, as a raped woman, Lal Bibi has been "dishonoured" and will kill herself — and she publicly says she must, unless her rapists are brought to justice to restore her honour and dignity. Afghanistan’s justice system routinely fails to pursue these cases and so far the chief suspects in Lal Bibi’s case have not been prosecuted, likely in the hopes that international attention will die down. Every day that passes without an arrest pushes Lal Bibi closer to suicide — but there is hope.

This weekend, the US, UK, Japan and other major donors are expected
to pledge 4 billion dollars to Afghanistan — money that will pay for the very police forces responsible for Lal Bibi´s rape. But an international outcry can shame donor countries into action, conditioning their aid on real action to fight rape and protect women. We don’t have much time left — click below for change that could save Lal Bibi´s life and our petition will be delivered right into the donor conference in Tokyo:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_lal_bibi_c/?bSvMibb&v=15757

Local custom in some parts of Afghanistan dictates that women are
shamed by rape and must kill themselves to restore their family’s
honour for generations to come. Amazingly, Lal Bibi and her family
courageously are seeking to save her life by insisting on the
prosecution of her torturers and shifting the blame to the
perpetrators, in society’s eyes.

The Afghan police force responsible for the rape depends heavily on foreign funding that will be pledged this weekend, when all of Afghanistan´s major donors gather in Tokyo. Donor countries can and should require that funds are not spent to grow a police force that acts with appalling impunity and that police officers work to protect women, not attack them!

There are hundreds of women and girls all across Afghanistan who are
subject to the "tribal justice" meted out to Lal Bibi. Thousands
more are watching carefully to see how the Afghan government and the
world will respond to the girl who is fighting back and refuses to
die quietly. Let’s stand with her — sign the petition below and tell
everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_lal_bibi_c/?bSvMibb&v=15757

The global war on women is relentless. But time and time again our
community joins together to win. We helped stop the illegal stoning
of Sakineh Ashtiani in Iran, and fought for justice for rape survivors in Libya, Morocco and Honduras. Let´s show the global power of our community to help win justice for Lal Bibi and millions of women in Afghanistan.

With hope and determination,

Dalia, Emma, Alaphia, Ricken, Laura, Antonia and the rest of the
Avaaz team

P.S. Avaaz has launched Community Petitions, an exciting new platform
where it’s quick and easy to create a campaign on any issue you care
strongly about. Start your own by clicking
here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?do.ps.lal_bib

More Information:
Rape case tests Afghan justice (Radio Free Europe)
http://www.rferl.org/content/rape-case-tests-afghan-justice/24604549.html

Afghan rape case turns focus on local police (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/world/asia/afghan-rape-case-turns-focus-on-local-police.html?pagewanted=all

Afghanistan expects $4 billion in aid pledges at the July conference (CNBC)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47900279/Afghanistan_expects_4_billion_in_aid_pledges_at_July_conference

Tokyo Declaration to push donors, Afghanistan to make better use of
aid (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/us-afghanistan-aid-idUSBRE8610CL20120702

Afghan government confident about endorsement of its strategic vision
in Tokyo (UNAMA)
http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=17189