VZCZCXRO3084
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #0208/01 0201559
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201559Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4873
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000208 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM, INR/B 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM AF
SUBJECT: PAKTYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN: SMALL STEP FIGHTING 
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 
 
REF: KABUL 4150 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and comment:   Paktya Provincial 
Reconstruction Team (PRT) representatives participated in a 
December celebration of the International Days on the 
Elimination of Violence Against Women in Gardez, Paktya, a 
heavily Pushtun province.  The event was attended by more 
than 60 women and approximately 80 men, and featured more 
than a dozen speakers, including the PRT,s DoS 
representative.   During her presentation, PRT rep linked the 
protection of women's rights to President Obama,s call in 
his speech of December 1 for bringing peace and stability to 
Afghanistan.  Paktya Province Deputy Governor Mangal somewhat 
surprisingly chose to use his address to call for a stronger 
rule of law not only to protect human rights, but more 
importantly to fight corruption.  He appeared to be 
distancing himself from Governor Hamdard, and for good cause 
if the allegations of the latter,s involvement with 
wide-ranging corruption and support for the insurgency in 
Paktya are true (reftel).  End summary and comment. 
 
RARE DISPLAY OF GENDER EQUALITY IN PUSHTUN DOMINANT PROVINCE 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Paktya PRT representatives participated in the event 
with the Gardez regional office of the Afghanistan 
Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).  In addition to 
Paktya Deputy Governor Mangal and the PRT rep, speakers 
included the AIHRC Regional Director, a UNAMA representative, 
and several provincial line directors, including the director 
for women's affairs.  Many of the speakers spoke on the role 
of education in preventing violence against women and the 
importance of women in Afghan society. 
 
¶3. (U) For a public event in Paktya, where female 
participants are typically seldom seen and speakers usually 
include only token female politicians, this was a rare 
display of gender equality in a Pashtun dominant province. 
Prior to the event, PRTOFFs spoke with women in the audience 
who indicated unemployment was a major issue for them, as 
many of their family members were continuously looking for 
work.  One woman said that she had four daughters--the three 
oldest of whom were 8, 10, and 13 were already married 
because she could not afford to support them.  All the women 
said their school-aged daughters who were not married 
attended school.  When asked about whether they voted in the 
elections, the women noted that politics was not for them and 
they allowed their husbands to vote for them. 
 
WIDESPREAD ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA,S NEW STRATEGY 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶4. (U)  During her presentation, the PRT,s DoS 
representative linked the protection of women's rights to 
President Obama,s call in his December 1 speech for bringing 
peace and stability to Afghanistan.  She focused on the need 
to educate both men and women, and the strong link between 
respect for human rights and the rule of law.  The audience 
acknowledged the President's speech and expressed interest in 
better understanding his plan for the future of Afghanistan. 
(Note:  During a separate, subsequent shura in Jaji District 
on the Pakistan border, the district governor also referred 
to President Obama,s speech--as well as President Karzai,s 
inaugural address--within the context of renewed focus on 
development at the district level throughout Afghanistan. 
End note.) 
 
DEPUTY GOVERNOR LINKS HUMAN RIGHTS TO FIGHTING CORRUPTION 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Paktya Province Deputy Governor Mangal chose to use 
his address to call for a stronger rule of law not only to 
protect human rights, but more importantly to fight 
corruption.   In a veiled reference to allegations of 
corruption surrounding Governor Juma Khan Hamdard (reftel), 
he underscored the corrosive effects on sub-national 
governance of such common practices as nepotism and bribery. 
Just switching corrupt senior government officials from 
positions of trust in one province to other provinces, he 
asserted, would not solve the problem. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  The theme of Mangal's address was somewhat 
surprising; he appeared to be distancing himself from 
Governor Hamdard, and for good cause if the allegations of 
 
KABUL 00000208  002 OF 002 
 
 
the latter,s involvement with wide-ranging corruption and 
support for the insurgency in Paktya are true.  By indirectly 
denouncing him in public, and encouraging the participation 
of women in the civil society of this Pushtun enclave, the 
Deputy Governor is helping us set the conditions for 
development outlined in President Karzai,s and Obama,s 
recent respective speeches.  We will continue our efforts to 
expose Governor Hamdard as a significant malign influence 
with respect to both corruption and support for the 
insurgency, and to pursue development programs that directly 
benefit the Pushtun women of Paktya.  End comment. 
EIKENBERRY