From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 19:02:11 EST
Subject: SF Supervisor's resolution on gays, women in Afghanistan


[Dear friends,
The following resolution was introduced at the full S.F. Board of Supervisors
meeting on January 25 by President Tom Ammiano.  It should be voted on
probably at the next board meeting Monday, February 1.  Unfortunately, the
condmenation of the Taliban does not mention the death penalty on the books in
Afghanistan.  For more information about this statement, and to ask that the
statement be revised to include a forceful explicit condemnation of the death
penalty, please contact Supervisor Ammiano at 415-554-5144.  Thanks.  Michael
Petrelis]

Condemning the Taliban -- 

    WHEREAS,  The Taliban, the current ruling faction of the government of 
Afghanistan, is not recognized by the majority of nations except for four  
countries; and 

    WHEREAS, Under the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic Law, homosexuality
is
deemed a capital offense and is punishable by toppling a brick wall up to 15
feet over those convicted of sodomy and if the convicted survives, the
sentence
is commuted; and

     WHEREAS, On February 25, 1998, three Afghan men, Fazalur Rehamn, Ahmand
Shah andAbdul Qahir , were convicted of sodomy and had a stone wall toppled
over them by a battle tank; and

     WHEREAS, On March 22, 1998, Abdul Sami and Bismillah were similarly
convicted and suffered the same ordeal; and

     WHEREAS, on January 15, 1999, Shuma Khan, also convicted of sodomy and
punished,survived the ordeal; and

     WHEREAS, On all three occasions, the punishment was meted out in public,
sometimes in public stadiums, in order to terrorize its citizens; and

     WHEREAS, The Taliban has imposed an oppressive system of gender
discrimination against women, banning girls from going to school, banning
women from attending university, prohibiting women from holding jobs,
requiring women to be accompanied at all times in public by a male member of
their immediate families,requiring women to be covered from head to toe and
requiring windows of homes with women to be darkened ; and

     WHEREAS, These attacks against gays and women are latest in a series of
repressive measures which are justified through religious rhetoric and aimed
at
circumscribing the rights of its citizens; now, therefore, be it 

     RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San
Francisco condemns the Taliban, the ruling faction of the government of
Afghanistan, for its inhumane treatment of gays;.and let it be

     FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors condemn inhumane and
antiquated sodomy laws as a violation of human rights of gay people; and let
it be

     FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors condemn the gender
discrimination of women as violation of human rights and as an affront to
civil
society and government.

SUPERVISOR AMMIANO, KATZ, LENO

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