Malalai Joya
Encyclopedia
Malalai Joya (born April 25, 1978) is an activist
, writer and a former politician
from Afghanistan
. She served as a Parliamentarian
in the National Assembly of Afghanistan
from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of what she considered to be warlord
s and war criminals in the Afghan parliament. She is an outspoken critic of the Karzai administration and its western supporters, particularly the United States
.
Her suspension in May 2007 has generated protest internationally and appeals for her reinstatement have been signed by high profile writers, intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky
, and politicians including Members of Parliament from Canada
, Germany
, the United Kingdom
, Italy
and Spain
. She was called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan" by the BBC
.
In 2010, Time magazine
placed Malalai Joya on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Foreign Policy Magazine
listed Malalai Joya in its annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. On March 8, 2011, The Guardian
listed her among "Top 100 women: activists and campaigners".
, in western Afghanistan. Her father was a former medical student who lost a leg while fighting in the Soviet war in Afghanistan
. In 1982, when she was 4 years old, her family fled Afghanistan to live as refugees
in neighboring Iran
. She got involved in humanitarian work while in eighth grade.
After the Soviet withdrawal, Joya returned to Afghanistan in 1998 during the Taliban's reign. As a young woman she worked as a social activist and was named a director of the non-governmental group, Organisation of Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities (OPAWC) in the western provinces of Herat
and Farah. She is married.
convened to ratify the Constitution of Afghanistan
, she spoke out publicly against the domination of warlords on December 17, 2003.
In response, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
, chief of the Loya Jirga called her "infidel" and "communist". Since then she has survived four assassination attempts, and travels in Afghanistan under a burqa and with armed guards.
World Pulse Magazine (Issue 1, 2005) wrote:
With her words, she stunned the Loya Jirga and journalists present on the occasion, when she unleashed a three-minute hard-hitting speech accusing the alleged warlords controlling the Loya Jirga of crimes. Joya's controversial stance against these other members of the Loya Jirga have earned her much popularity as well as heavy criticism from her political opponents.
She has continued her stance against the inclusion of alleged war criminals
in the current government of Afghanistan.
The BBC has called Joya "the most famous woman in Afghanistan." In a January 27, 2007 interview with BBC News Joya commented on her personal political mission amid continuous death threats, saying:
"They will kill me but they will not kill my voice, because it will be the voice of all Afghan women. You can cut the flower, but you cannot stop the coming of spring."
In 2006, the Washington Post said of Joya: "Her truth is that warlords should not be permitted to hide behind "the mask of democracy to hold on to their chairs" and their pernicious pursuits at the expense of poor, "barefoot" Afghans who remain voiceless and disillusioned. The warlords are corrupt "war criminals" who should be tried, and incorrigible "drug dealers" who brought the country to its knees, she said."
Malalai Joya appeared at the Federal Convention of Canada's New Democratic Party
(NDP) in Quebec City on September 10, 2006, supporting party leader Jack Layton
and the NDP's criticism of the NATO-led mission in southern Afghanistan. She said, "No nation can donate liberation to another nation."
On September 13 she addressed gatherings at McGill University
in Montreal
and at the University of Ottawa
, where she expressed her disappointment with US actions in Afghanistan.
After her speech, Prof. Denis Rancourt
of the University of Ottawa
, wrote in an article about Joya: "Her talk was a sharp blade cutting thru the thick web of US-Canada war propaganda... All MPs need to take a lesson from Malalai Joya.",
Malalai was in Sydney, Australia, on March 8, 2007, as a guest of UNIFEM
, speaking about women's rights in Afghanistan in honor of International Women's Day
.
Malalai returned to Canada in November 2007 and addressed 400 people at the Steelworkers Hall on Cecil Street in Toronto. She then addressed a small group of union activists and activists at the Ontario Federation of Labour.
In November 2008 Malalai visited the Norway Social Forum, and spoke before the 1900 participants. She also participated in a debate with the Norwegian Foreign Minister, and asked Norway to pull its troops out of Afghanistan.
In December 2008, Malalai Joya was invited by Amnesty International
India to New Delhi
for the International Week of Justice Festival, December 5–10, 2008, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
. Joya participated in two public forums for the festival at Jamia Millia Islamia
and Alliance Francaise
on the issues related to post-war Afghanistan, female empowerment and torture
.
Spain's popular "20 Minutos" newspaper in its list of "The world's most beautiful female politicians", puts Malalai Joya in the 54th place, getting 1053 votes from its readers for her.
In October–November 2009 Joya was on book tour to the US and Canada and addressed many anti-war rallies and gatherings. She called for withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan.
When Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
, Noam Chomsky
wrote in an article syndicated by the New York Times: "The Nobel Peace Prize committee might well have made truly worthy choices, prominent among them the remarkable Afghan activist Malalai Joya."
On November 24, 2009, The New Statesman
(UK) ranked Malalai Joya in the sixth place on its list of "The 50 people who matter today... for good and ill", calling her "Afghanistan's answer to Aung San Suu Kyi."
Because she is "unemployed" and "lives underground", the United States denied Joya a travel visa in March 2011 which sparked a public campaign by her supporters to pressure the US government. She was scheduled to speak at several different places in the United States, including Pace University
in Manhattan and St. Mary's College of Maryland
. Joya stated that "[the Afghan government] has probably requested the U.S. to not let me enter ... because I am exposing the wrong policies of the U.S. and its puppet regime at the international level." However, the U.S. State Department
later explained that a visa has been issued to Joya.
Joya started her US speaking tour on March 25, 2011 from Boston where along with Professor Noam Chomsky
she gave presentation on Afghan war to 1200 people at Harvard's Memorial Church.
"I said there are two kinds of mujahedeen in Afghanistan," Joya told the Associated Press. "One kind fought for independence, which I respect, but the other kind destroyed the country and killed 60,000 people." In response, angered lawmakers shouted death threats and threw empty plastic water bottles at Joya, who was shielded by sympathetic colleagues.
In response to such threats, Joya continues to speak out against those she believes to be former mujahedeen in Afghanistan, stating:
On May 21, 2007, fellow members of the Wolesi Jirga voted to suspend Malalai Joya for three years from the legislature, citing that she had broken Article 70 of the Parliament, which had banned Wolesi Jirga members from openly criticizing each other. Joya had compared the Wolesi Jirga to a "stable or zoo" on a recent TV interview, and later called other members of parliament "criminals" and "drug smugglers." She is reported to have referred to the House as "worse than a stable", since "(a) stable is better, for there you have a donkey that carries a load and a cow that provides the milk."
Joya said the vote was a "political conspiracy" and that she had been told Article 70 was written specifically for her saying "since I've started my struggle for human rights in Afghanistan, for women's rights, these criminals, these drug smugglers, they've stood against me from the first time I raised my voice at the Loya Jirga."
In a statement Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch
, wrote: "Malalai Joya is a staunch defender of human rights and a powerful voice for Afghan women, and she shouldn't have been suspended from parliament."
People in Farah, Nangarhar
, Baghlan, Kabul
and some other provinces of Afghanistan staged protests against Joya's suspension.
On June 21, 2007, one month after Joya was suspended, Joya supporters in Melbourne staged protests to the Afghan government to reinstate Joya to the parliament. In November 2007, an international letter was launched with a number of prominent signatories supporting the call for her reinstatement to parliament.
In January 2008, after her suspension, Joya spoke to Rachel Shields and said that the government was not democratically elected and they were "trying to use the country's Islamic law as a tool with which to limit women's rights."
On April 18, 2008, the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, unanimously adopted a resolution at its 182nd session in Cape Town in favour of Malalai Joya which "Calls on the authorities at the same time to do everything in their power to identify and bring to justice those making the death threats against Ms. Joya."
On October 7, 2008, six women Nobel Peace Prize laureates in the history of the Nobel Prize (Shirin Ebadi
, Jody Williams
, Wangari Maathai
, Rigoberta Menchu
, Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire) in a joint statement supported Malalai Joya: "We commend this courage, and call for Joya’s reinstatement to Afghanistan’s national parliament… Like our sister Aung San Suu Kyi
, Joya is a model for women everywhere seeking to make the world more just."
During her suspension, Malalai Joya, stayed active by giving interviews to western journalists and by writing articles for western newspapers on her views on the situation of Afghanistan. In 2009 she made a tour through the United States and Canada to advocate her cause and to promote her book.
Shukria Barakzai
, a fellow MP and women's rights activist, has also criticised the legislature in similar terms: "Our parliament is a collection of lords. Warlords, drug lords, crime lords." She defended Malalai Joya, reporting that some parliamentarians threatened to rape her.
and also Farah
— the western province that sent her first to the loya jirga that ratified the Constitution, then elected her to Parliament in 2005. Preparing for her comeback, she said she would prefer for security reasons to run as a candidate in the capital.
However, at the occasion of the marriage of one of her body guards in July 2010, she revoked her earlier announcement to participate in the parliamentary elections.
. The US and Canadian version of the book was published in October 2009 by Scribner under the title of A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice in 224 pages. The Australian and British versions have already been published by Pan Macmillan and Rider under the title of Raising My Voice
: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dares to Speak Out. It has so far been published in German titled Ich erhebe meine Stimme - Eine Frau kämpft gegen den Krieg in Afghanistan, in Norwegian under the title Kvinne blant krigsherrer - Afghanistans modigste stemme and in Dutch under the title Een vrouw tussen krijgsheren.
The book will be available, in translation, in France (titled Au nom de mon peuple), Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Indonesia and Israel.
Kirkus Reviews
write about Joya's book: "A chilling, vital memoir that reveals hidden truths about Afghanistan and directly addresses the misguided policies of the United States."
Library Journal
writes: "This book will interest those who seek stories of real-life heroines risking death every day for their nation."
Publishers Weekly
writes: "Joya was outspoken in condemning these warlords she called “criminals” and “antiwomen,” enduring the shutting off of her microphone, assassination threats and, finally, suspension from Parliament. Joya is on a dangerous, eye-opening mission to uncover truth and expose the abuse of power
in Afghanistan, and her book will work powerfully in her favor."
The New York Times Book Review
writes: "(...) bears witness to the horrific experience known as “being female in Afghanistan.”
Noam Chomsky
writes: "Perhaps the most remarkable feature of this inspiring memoir is that despite the horrors she relates, Malalai Joya leaves us with hope that the tormented people of Afghanistan can take their fate into their own hands if they are released from the grip of foreign powers, and that they can reconstruct a decent society from the wreckage left by decades of intervention and the merciless rule of the Taliban and the warlords who the invaders have imposed upon them."
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
, writer and a former politician
Politics of Afghanistan
The politics of Afghanistan consists of the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly, with a president serving as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the military. The nation is currently led by the Karzai administration under President Hamid Karzai who is backed by two vice...
from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. She served as a Parliamentarian
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the National Assembly of Afghanistan
National Assembly of Afghanistan
The National Assembly is Afghanistan's national legislature. It is a bicameral body, comprising two chambers:*Wolesi Jirga or the House of the People: the 250-member lower house.*Meshrano Jirga ) or the House of Elders: an upper house with 102 seats....
from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of what she considered to be warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
s and war criminals in the Afghan parliament. She is an outspoken critic of the Karzai administration and its western supporters, particularly the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Her suspension in May 2007 has generated protest internationally and appeals for her reinstatement have been signed by high profile writers, intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, and politicians including Members of Parliament from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. She was called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan" by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
In 2010, Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
placed Malalai Joya on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Foreign Policy Magazine
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
listed Malalai Joya in its annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. On March 8, 2011, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
listed her among "Top 100 women: activists and campaigners".
Early and personal life
Joya was born on April 25, 1978, in the Farah ProvinceFarah Province
Farah is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Farah. Farah is a spacious and sparsely populated province that lies on the Iranian border...
, in western Afghanistan. Her father was a former medical student who lost a leg while fighting in the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. In 1982, when she was 4 years old, her family fled Afghanistan to live as refugees
Afghans in Iran
Afghans in Iran are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan during the 1980s Soviet war as well as diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, tourists and other visitors. As of March 2009, nearly 1 million Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Iran...
in neighboring Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. She got involved in humanitarian work while in eighth grade.
After the Soviet withdrawal, Joya returned to Afghanistan in 1998 during the Taliban's reign. As a young woman she worked as a social activist and was named a director of the non-governmental group, Organisation of Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities (OPAWC) in the western provinces of Herat
Herat Province
Herat is one the 34 provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the South-western region of the country...
and Farah. She is married.
Speech at the 2003 loya jirga
Malalai Joya gained international attention when, as an elected delegate to the Loya Jirga2003 Loya jirga
A 502-delegate loya jirga convened in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 14, 2003, to consider the proposed Afghan Constitution. Originally planned to last ten days, the assembly did not endorse the charter until January 4, 2004. As has been generally the case with these assemblies, the endorsement...
convened to ratify the Constitution of Afghanistan
Constitution of Afghanistan
The Constitution of Afghanistan is the supreme law of the state Afghanistan, which serves as the legal framework between the Afghan government and the Afghan citizens...
, she spoke out publicly against the domination of warlords on December 17, 2003.
In response, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi , served as the first President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan after the fall of the communist regime in 1992. He is also the leader of the Afghan National Liberation Front...
, chief of the Loya Jirga called her "infidel" and "communist". Since then she has survived four assassination attempts, and travels in Afghanistan under a burqa and with armed guards.
World Pulse Magazine (Issue 1, 2005) wrote:
With her words, she stunned the Loya Jirga and journalists present on the occasion, when she unleashed a three-minute hard-hitting speech accusing the alleged warlords controlling the Loya Jirga of crimes. Joya's controversial stance against these other members of the Loya Jirga have earned her much popularity as well as heavy criticism from her political opponents.
Political appointments and speaking engagements
Joya was elected to the 249-seat National Assembly, or Wolesi Jirga in September 2005, as a representative of Farah Province, winning the second highest number of votes in the province, with 7.3 percent of the vote. At an impromptu news conference after the swearing-in ceremony in December 2005, she offered her "condolences" to the people of Afghanistan "for the presence of warlords, drug lords and criminals" in the Parliament. "The people of Afghanistan have recently escaped the Taliban cage but still they are trapped in the cage of those who are called warlords"War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
in the current government of Afghanistan.
The BBC has called Joya "the most famous woman in Afghanistan." In a January 27, 2007 interview with BBC News Joya commented on her personal political mission amid continuous death threats, saying:
"They will kill me but they will not kill my voice, because it will be the voice of all Afghan women. You can cut the flower, but you cannot stop the coming of spring."
In 2006, the Washington Post said of Joya: "Her truth is that warlords should not be permitted to hide behind "the mask of democracy to hold on to their chairs" and their pernicious pursuits at the expense of poor, "barefoot" Afghans who remain voiceless and disillusioned. The warlords are corrupt "war criminals" who should be tried, and incorrigible "drug dealers" who brought the country to its knees, she said."
Malalai Joya appeared at the Federal Convention of Canada's New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
(NDP) in Quebec City on September 10, 2006, supporting party leader Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
and the NDP's criticism of the NATO-led mission in southern Afghanistan. She said, "No nation can donate liberation to another nation."
On September 13 she addressed gatherings at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, where she expressed her disappointment with US actions in Afghanistan.
After her speech, Prof. Denis Rancourt
Denis Rancourt
Denis Rancourt is a former professor of physics at the University of Ottawa. Rancourt is a recognized scientist but is more widely known for his confrontations with his former employer, the University of Ottawa, over issues involving his dissidence and his approach to pedagogy...
of the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, wrote in an article about Joya: "Her talk was a sharp blade cutting thru the thick web of US-Canada war propaganda... All MPs need to take a lesson from Malalai Joya.",
Malalai was in Sydney, Australia, on March 8, 2007, as a guest of UNIFEM
UNIFEM
The United Nations Development Fund for Women, commonly known as UNIFEM was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International Women's Year. Its first director was Dr. Margaret Snyder, Ph.D...
, speaking about women's rights in Afghanistan in honor of International Women's Day
International Women's Day
International Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
.
Malalai returned to Canada in November 2007 and addressed 400 people at the Steelworkers Hall on Cecil Street in Toronto. She then addressed a small group of union activists and activists at the Ontario Federation of Labour.
In November 2008 Malalai visited the Norway Social Forum, and spoke before the 1900 participants. She also participated in a debate with the Norwegian Foreign Minister, and asked Norway to pull its troops out of Afghanistan.
In December 2008, Malalai Joya was invited by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
India to New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
for the International Week of Justice Festival, December 5–10, 2008, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
. Joya participated in two public forums for the festival at Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988...
and Alliance Francaise
Alliance française
The Alliance française , or AF, is an international organisation that aims to promote French language and culture around the world. created in Paris on 21 July 1883, its primary concern is teaching French as a second language and is headquartered in Paris -History:The Alliance was created in Paris...
on the issues related to post-war Afghanistan, female empowerment and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
.
Spain's popular "20 Minutos" newspaper in its list of "The world's most beautiful female politicians", puts Malalai Joya in the 54th place, getting 1053 votes from its readers for her.
In October–November 2009 Joya was on book tour to the US and Canada and addressed many anti-war rallies and gatherings. She called for withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan.
When Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
2009 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people." The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and...
, Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
wrote in an article syndicated by the New York Times: "The Nobel Peace Prize committee might well have made truly worthy choices, prominent among them the remarkable Afghan activist Malalai Joya."
On November 24, 2009, The New Statesman
The New Statesman
The New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
(UK) ranked Malalai Joya in the sixth place on its list of "The 50 people who matter today... for good and ill", calling her "Afghanistan's answer to Aung San Suu Kyi."
Because she is "unemployed" and "lives underground", the United States denied Joya a travel visa in March 2011 which sparked a public campaign by her supporters to pressure the US government. She was scheduled to speak at several different places in the United States, including Pace University
Pace University
Pace University is an American private, co-educational, and comprehensive multi-campus university in the New York metropolitan area with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York.-Programs:...
in Manhattan and St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland, established in 1840, is a public, secular liberal arts college located in St. Mary's City, Maryland. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and designated as a Public Honors College . St. Mary's College is a small college, with about 2,000...
. Joya stated that "[the Afghan government] has probably requested the U.S. to not let me enter ... because I am exposing the wrong policies of the U.S. and its puppet regime at the international level." However, the U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
later explained that a visa has been issued to Joya.
Joya started her US speaking tour on March 25, 2011 from Boston where along with Professor Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
she gave presentation on Afghan war to 1200 people at Harvard's Memorial Church.
Parliament statements, attack and suspension
On May 7, 2006, Malalai Joya was physically and verbally attacked by fellow members of parliament after accusing several colleagues of being "warlords" and unfit for service in the new Afghan government."I said there are two kinds of mujahedeen in Afghanistan," Joya told the Associated Press. "One kind fought for independence, which I respect, but the other kind destroyed the country and killed 60,000 people." In response, angered lawmakers shouted death threats and threw empty plastic water bottles at Joya, who was shielded by sympathetic colleagues.
In response to such threats, Joya continues to speak out against those she believes to be former mujahedeen in Afghanistan, stating:
On May 21, 2007, fellow members of the Wolesi Jirga voted to suspend Malalai Joya for three years from the legislature, citing that she had broken Article 70 of the Parliament, which had banned Wolesi Jirga members from openly criticizing each other. Joya had compared the Wolesi Jirga to a "stable or zoo" on a recent TV interview, and later called other members of parliament "criminals" and "drug smugglers." She is reported to have referred to the House as "worse than a stable", since "(a) stable is better, for there you have a donkey that carries a load and a cow that provides the milk."
In a statement Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, wrote: "Malalai Joya is a staunch defender of human rights and a powerful voice for Afghan women, and she shouldn't have been suspended from parliament."
People in Farah, Nangarhar
Nangarhar Province
Nangarhar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan in the east of the country. Its capital is the city of Jalalabad. The population of the province is 1,334,000, which consists mainly of ethnic Pashtuns with a sizable community of Arabs and Pashais....
, Baghlan, Kabul
Kabul Province
Kābul , situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul City, which is also Afghanistan's capital. The population of Kabul province is 3.5 million people as of 2009, of which almost 80 percent live in the urban areas...
and some other provinces of Afghanistan staged protests against Joya's suspension.
On June 21, 2007, one month after Joya was suspended, Joya supporters in Melbourne staged protests to the Afghan government to reinstate Joya to the parliament. In November 2007, an international letter was launched with a number of prominent signatories supporting the call for her reinstatement to parliament.
In January 2008, after her suspension, Joya spoke to Rachel Shields and said that the government was not democratically elected and they were "trying to use the country's Islamic law as a tool with which to limit women's rights."
On April 18, 2008, the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, unanimously adopted a resolution at its 182nd session in Cape Town in favour of Malalai Joya which "Calls on the authorities at the same time to do everything in their power to identify and bring to justice those making the death threats against Ms. Joya."
On October 7, 2008, six women Nobel Peace Prize laureates in the history of the Nobel Prize (Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...
, Jody Williams
Jody Williams
Jody Williams is an American teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the campaign she worked for, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines...
, Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...
, Rigoberta Menchu
Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú Tum is an indigenous Guatemalan, of the K'iche' ethnic group. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War , and to promoting indigenous rights in the country...
, Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire) in a joint statement supported Malalai Joya: "We commend this courage, and call for Joya’s reinstatement to Afghanistan’s national parliament… Like our sister Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
, Joya is a model for women everywhere seeking to make the world more just."
During her suspension, Malalai Joya, stayed active by giving interviews to western journalists and by writing articles for western newspapers on her views on the situation of Afghanistan. In 2009 she made a tour through the United States and Canada to advocate her cause and to promote her book.
Shukria Barakzai
Shukria Barakzai
Shukria Barakzai is an Afghan politician, journalist and entrepreneur, and a prominent Muslim feminist.-Early life:She was born in 1972 in Kabul, Afghanistan...
, a fellow MP and women's rights activist, has also criticised the legislature in similar terms: "Our parliament is a collection of lords. Warlords, drug lords, crime lords." She defended Malalai Joya, reporting that some parliamentarians threatened to rape her.
Announcement of political comeback
In February 2010, at the event of the presentation in Paris of "Au nom de mon peuple", the French publication of her memoir “A Woman Among Warlords”, Joya expressed her wish to make a political comeback in the Afghan parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Allegedly, supporters in five Afghan provinces asked her to represent them. These included Nangarhar, Nimroz, Takhar, KabulKabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
and also Farah
Farah Province
Farah is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Farah. Farah is a spacious and sparsely populated province that lies on the Iranian border...
— the western province that sent her first to the loya jirga that ratified the Constitution, then elected her to Parliament in 2005. Preparing for her comeback, she said she would prefer for security reasons to run as a candidate in the capital.
However, at the occasion of the marriage of one of her body guards in July 2010, she revoked her earlier announcement to participate in the parliamentary elections.
Controversy and criticism
- Joya has more recently drawn harsh criticism from some female parliamentary membersHouse of the PeopleHouse of the People can refer to:* Palace of the Parliament * House of the People * The Maison du Peuple, a former building in Brussels, Belgium...
who contend that her remarks pertaining to the Politicians of AfghanistanPolitics of AfghanistanThe politics of Afghanistan consists of the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly, with a president serving as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the military. The nation is currently led by the Karzai administration under President Hamid Karzai who is backed by two vice...
, who battled the Soviets, are unwarranted and disingenuous. However, Joya's supporters contend that Joya distinguishes between the "real Mujahideen," who fought for the independence of Afghanistan, and the warlords and those who committed war crimes.
Autobiography
Joya has written a memoir with Canadian writer Derrick O'KeefeDerrick O'Keefe
Derrick O'Keefe is a Canadian Vancouver-based writer and social justice activist. He is the former editor of rabble.ca, Canada's most widely-read progressive website, and his writings on foreign policy, Canadian politics, ecology and other topics have been published in a number of both alternative...
. The US and Canadian version of the book was published in October 2009 by Scribner under the title of A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice in 224 pages. The Australian and British versions have already been published by Pan Macmillan and Rider under the title of Raising My Voice
Raising My Voice
Raising My Voice is a 2009 book by Malalai Joya with Derrick O'Keefe about the life of Malalai Joya the 'Bravest woman in Afghanistan' and suspended Member of Afghan Parliament.Joya has written her memoir with Canadian writer Derrick O'Keefe...
: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dares to Speak Out. It has so far been published in German titled Ich erhebe meine Stimme - Eine Frau kämpft gegen den Krieg in Afghanistan, in Norwegian under the title Kvinne blant krigsherrer - Afghanistans modigste stemme and in Dutch under the title Een vrouw tussen krijgsheren.
The book will be available, in translation, in France (titled Au nom de mon peuple), Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Indonesia and Israel.
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
write about Joya's book: "A chilling, vital memoir that reveals hidden truths about Afghanistan and directly addresses the misguided policies of the United States."
Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
writes: "This book will interest those who seek stories of real-life heroines risking death every day for their nation."
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
writes: "Joya was outspoken in condemning these warlords she called “criminals” and “antiwomen,” enduring the shutting off of her microphone, assassination threats and, finally, suspension from Parliament. Joya is on a dangerous, eye-opening mission to uncover truth and expose the abuse of power
Abuse of Power
Abuse of Power is a novel written by radio talk show host Michael Savage.- Plot :Jack Hatfield is a hardened former war correspondent who rose to national prominence for his insightful, provocative commentary...
in Afghanistan, and her book will work powerfully in her favor."
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
writes: "(...) bears witness to the horrific experience known as “being female in Afghanistan.”
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
writes: "Perhaps the most remarkable feature of this inspiring memoir is that despite the horrors she relates, Malalai Joya leaves us with hope that the tormented people of Afghanistan can take their fate into their own hands if they are released from the grip of foreign powers, and that they can reconstruct a decent society from the wreckage left by decades of intervention and the merciless rule of the Taliban and the warlords who the invaders have imposed upon them."
Awards and honors
- January 2004, The Cultural Union of Afghans in Europe, awarded her the "Malalai of Maiwand" award for her brave speech in the Loya Jirga.
- December 2004, the Valle d'Aosta Province of ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
awarded her the International Women of the Year 2004 Award.
- March 15, 2006, Tom BatesTom BatesThomas H. Bates is an American politician and is currently serving as the Mayor of Berkeley, California. He previously served 20 years as a member of the California State Assembly before being termed out in 1996. Bates is married to Loni Hancock, a former mayor of Berkeley and State Assembly...
, Mayor of BerkeleyBerkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
presented a certificate of honor to her for "her continued work on behalf of human rights".
- March 2006, she received the 2006 Gwangju Prize for Human RightsGwangju Prize for Human RightsThe Gwangju Prize for Human Rights is an award given by the South Korean May 18 Memorial Foundation to recognize "individuals, groups or institutions in Korea and abroad that have contributed in promoting and advancing human rights, democracy and peace through their work." The award is intended to...
from the South Korean May 18th Foundation in South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
(joint win with Angkhana NeelaphaijitAngkhana NeelaphaijitAngkhana Neelaphaijit is a Thai human rights activist and the wife of disappeared human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. Amnesty International described her as "a leading human rights defender in Southern Thailand".-Husband's disappearance:...
).
- Aug.2006, the Women's Peacepower Foundation awarded Joya "Women of Peace award 2006".
- She was named among the "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
2005"
- The World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
selected Joya among 250 Young Global Leaders for 2007.
- 2007 Golden Fleur-de-Lis (Giglio d'Oro) award given by Town Council of Toscana Region of ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(July 23, 2007).
- September 11, 2007, The European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
named Joya among five nominees for Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2007.
- October 6, 2007, Commune of ViareggioViareggioViareggio is a city and comune located in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.It is known as a seaside resort...
city of ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
awarded her the Mare Nostrum Award.
- October 9, 2007, Commune of the Provincia di ArezzoArezzoArezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
, Comune di BucineBucineBucine is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 45 km southeast of Florence and about 20 km west of Arezzo....
and Comune di SupinoSupinoSupino is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 70 km southeast of Rome and about 10 km west of Frosinone...
in Italy present Honorary citizenships to her.
- November 2007, The 14th Angel Award by The Angel Festival, CA, USA.
- February 11, 2008, Malalai Joya and the documentary "Enemies of HappinessEnemies of HappinessEnemies of Happiness is a 2006 documentary about the controversial Afghan politician and member of the Afghan Parliament Malalai Joya filmed by Danish director Eva Mulvad....
" was honoured with the "International Human Rights Film Award" by Amnesty International, Cinema for PeaceCinema for PeaceThe Cinema for Peace initiative aims to raise awareness for the social relevance of films and to make active use of the influence of movies and documentaries on the perception and resolution of global social, political and humanitarian challenges of our time...
and Human Rights Film Network. The award was given to her by two times academy award winning actress Hilary SwankHilary SwankHilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
.
- October 6, 2008, Malalai Joya received the Anna Politkovskaya Award in London, which is given to courageous women who have defended human rights.
- October 21, 2008, Regional Council of Tuscany (Italy) presented Malalai Joya a Gold Medal.
- October 30, 2008, Spanish organization, Spanish Committee for the Assistance to the Refugees (CEAR), announce Malalai Joya and Kurdish activist Leyla ZanaLeyla ZanaLeyla Zana , is a Kurdish politician, who was imprisoned for 10 years for her political actions which were claimed to be against the unity of Turkey. When she was a member of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, she was banned from joining any political party for five years with the Constitutional...
winner of 2008 Juan Maria Bandres award for Human Rights and solidarity with the refugees.
- March 28, 2009, International Anti-discrimination Award 2009 by Dutch Unity is Strength Foundation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
- November 8, 2009, US Member of Congress Barbara LeeBarbara LeeBarbara Jean Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1998. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to represent that district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus...
Honors Malalai Joya.
- April 29, 2010, named to the 2010 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world., although she is angry at how she was portrayed as in favor of the NATO and U.S. occupation.
- June 23, 2010, Spanish daily El Mundo awards Yo Dona International award of "premio a la Labor Humanitaria" to Malalai in Madrid.
- September 27, 2010, British Magazine New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
listed Malalai Joya in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".
- October 10, 2010, Italian Swiss University of Peace gave its International Award "Donna dell'Anno 2010" (woman of the year 2010) to Malalai Joya.
- November 4, 2010, As part of the ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
The World’s Most Powerful People package, American playwright, performer and activist Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day, named The World's Seven Most Powerful Feminists, Malalai Joya was one of them.
- November 28, 2010, Foreign PolicyForeign PolicyForeign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
Magazine listed Malalai Joya in its annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.
- March 8, 2011, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
listed her among "Top 100 women: activists and campaigners".
Films
- Malalai Joya champions rape victims, 2008, by Glyn Strong.
- Enemies of HappinessEnemies of HappinessEnemies of Happiness is a 2006 documentary about the controversial Afghan politician and member of the Afghan Parliament Malalai Joya filmed by Danish director Eva Mulvad....
, 2006, directed by Eva MulvadEva MulvadEva Mulvad is a Danish documentaries film director. She graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2001. Eva is a director of documentaries for DR TV since 1997....
. - A Woman Among Warlords (2007). Directed by Eva MulvadEva MulvadEva Mulvad is a Danish documentaries film director. She graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2001. Eva is a director of documentaries for DR TV since 1997....
. Aired on the Wide AngleWide Angle (TV series)Wide Angle is an American documentary television series produced by Thirteen/WNET New York for broadcast on PBS and for worldwide distribution. The weekly one-hour series covers international current affairs and is presently hosted by veteran journalist Aaron Brown...
TV series in September 2007. - Afghanistan Unveiled 2004, by Nicolas Delloye, Aina Productions
- Malalai Joya (Samia's Wedding), August 2010, by Glyn Strong
External links
- Defense Committee for Malalai Joya
- The Afghan Women's Mission
- Malalai Joya on HARDtalk program of BBC - BBC News, May 21, 2009
- Video of CNN interview with Malalai Joya
- Column archive at The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...