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(ambient music)

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(shovel digging)

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(dog barking)

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(indistinct chattering)

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[Narrator] A family of Afghan refugees

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working as brick makers in
a refugee camp in Pakistan.

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Camps that have been
in existence since 1980

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when Afghans first fled
war in their country.

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Since then, millions of
people had come and gone,

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setting up makeshift lives,

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earning a livelihood where they can,

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surviving at the border of
their estranged homeland,

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at the border of an irrecoverable past.

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(ambient music)

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Some of them have lived in
camps for over 20 years.

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Others for just a few months.

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(ambient music)

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I came here in November 2000,

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initially to talk with Afghan women

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about their experiences of the Taliban.

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It was known that the Taliban's
rule was a repressive one,

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but at that time, there
was not much attention

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on the plight of Afghan women.

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There were women from all
over Afghanistan in the camps.

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Some out of tradition or
fear still wore the burka.

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Others felt safer not to.

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I began to record their stories.

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(indistinct chattering)

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(Bibi Gul speaking in foreign language)

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(Parwasha speaking in foreign language)

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(Sabza speaking in foreign language)

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(Koko-shirin speaking in foreign language)

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(Parwasha speaking in foreign language)

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(Sabza speaking in foreign language)

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(Koko-shin speaking in foreign language)

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(Bibi Gul speaking in foreign language)

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(sorrowful music)

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[Narrator] Interviewing many people,

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I also learned that the Taliban

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was only a part of a much broader story.

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The story of how Afghan women
have had their rights stripped

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from them over the last two decades,

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how they have not yet recovered
even basic human rights.

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Three women in particular allowed me

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into their lives to tell this story.

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First, there was Shapiray.

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(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

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[Narrator] She and her
family had fled the Taliban

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and had been in Pakistan for
only about a year and a half.

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(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(door knocking)

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(metal clinking)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(children speaking in foreign language)

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(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

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(children speaking in foreign language)

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(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

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(sorrowful music)

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(children speaking in foreign language)

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[Narrator] A few miles away

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in the same camp is another
essential service for refugees,

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a basic healthcare clinic.

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(indistinct chattering)

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It was there that I met Dr. Roeena.

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She had fled Afghanistan
during the Civil War,

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which happened from 1992 to 1996.

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(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(child cries)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(upbeat music)

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(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

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(upbeat music)

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(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

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(upbeat music)

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[Narrator] Both Shapiray
and Roeena described

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an almost idyllic time.

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A time when women in the cities

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could move freely without fear.

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A time when they could dream
of what they wanted to be.

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It was during the reign of King Zahir Shah

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who came to power in 1933.

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Believing that women's
participation was vital

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to a modernizing society,

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he opened up many traditionally male jobs

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and professions to women.

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Campaigns promoted all
kinds of careers to women.

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This film encouraged women
to become bus drivers.

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(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

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[Narrator] Schools and
universities opened their doors.

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Women's education was actively encouraged.

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By 1964, women had the right to vote.

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Forced and underage marriages
once common were banned,

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and no law governed
how women should dress.

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Even the king's wife appeared
in public without the veil.

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But these reforms were
confined to the cities.

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In the rural areas,

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conservative tribal
leaders still had control.

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They supported the king

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as long as he didn't impose
his progressive ideas on them,

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a bargain made to hold
the country together.

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But it came at the expense
of women in the countryside

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who were subject to
centuries of tribal law

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that held them under male control.

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There were regional differences
in how they were treated,

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but in general, women were
regarded as the property of men.

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(indistinct chattering)

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(birds chirping)

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The third woman I met in
the refugee camps was Wajia.

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(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

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[Narrator] She had grown up

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in a rural area of Afghanistan.

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(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

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(plastic bag crinkling)

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[Narrator] Wajia was working
with a women's rights group,

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the Revolutionary Association

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00:12:17,610 --> 00:12:20,240
of the Women of Afghanistan or RAWA.

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(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(indistinct chattering)

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(student speaking in foreign language)

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(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

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(students speaking in foreign language)

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[Narrator] RAWA's goal is to
achieve a secular democracy

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with rights for all women.

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A goal more radical now

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than it was when the group
first formed in 1977.

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The founder, known simply as Meena,

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was then just 20 years old,

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a fiery and charismatic student in Kabul.

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(ambient music)

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She wanted to bring rights

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that women had been gaining in the cities

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out to rural women.

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Initially, RAWA's focus was on education

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for women and girls,

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but they were soon forced

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to expand their activities in response

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to the dramatic events
of the next two decades.

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(vehicles rumbling)

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In 1979, the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan.

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The world was outraged

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00:15:04,590 --> 00:15:07,263
by the seemingly unprovoked
act of aggression.

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Yet a closer look at events
paints a different picture.

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The years before had
been a tumultuous time.

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In 1973, after a rule of 40
years, the king was overthrown.

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A series of regimes rose and fell,

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each with ever stronger
ties to the Soviets.

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They imposed radical changes
on the whole country,

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inflaming tribal leaders
who saw the new order

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as a violation of traditional ways.

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In the United States, with
a Cold war in full swing,

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the Carter administration was alarmed

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by the increasing Soviet influence,

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and so began to secretly
fund anti-government rebels

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in June of 1979.

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(indistinct chattering)

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00:15:56,741 --> 00:15:58,412
(dramatic music)

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(vehicles rumbling)

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The Soviets were determined

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00:16:01,650 --> 00:16:04,680
to maintain their
influence over Afghanistan.

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And within six months,
in December of 1979,

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they moved 100,000 troops
across the Afghan border

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and installed a puppet Afghan government.

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(vehicles rumbling)

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Soviet occupation had begun.

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00:16:20,518 --> 00:16:23,874
(dramatic music)

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(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

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00:17:08,101 --> 00:17:09,900
(ambient music)

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00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:12,180
[Narrator] At first, women
in the cities had mixed

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feelings about the Soviets.

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On the one hand, they benefited
from expanded educational

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and professional opportunities.

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00:17:27,990 --> 00:17:31,403
But on the other, they were
under a foreign occupation.

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(drums thumping)

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Afghans increasingly resented
the presence of Soviet forces.

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Resistance intensified.

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00:17:42,330 --> 00:17:45,270
At first, the rebels were unorganized,

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fighting only with homemade weapons

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and makeshift battle plans.

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00:17:49,260 --> 00:17:51,270
(drums thumping)

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The Soviets reacted with an
iron fist, bombing villages.

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00:17:55,782 --> 00:17:58,950
(bomb exploding)

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00:17:58,950 --> 00:18:01,197
Imprisoning, killing thousands.

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(birds quacking)

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00:18:18,783 --> 00:18:23,200
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

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00:18:56,086 --> 00:18:58,919
(sorrowful music)

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00:19:01,905 --> 00:19:05,128
[Narrator] Millions of
people fled to Pakistan,

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often with just the
clothes on their backs.

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00:19:17,903 --> 00:19:19,986
Months turned into years.

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Years into decades.

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00:19:24,810 --> 00:19:26,793
Permanent homes replaced tents.

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00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:30,473
Temporary camps transformed
into small towns.

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00:19:33,072 --> 00:19:35,989
(machine whirring)

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00:19:39,484 --> 00:19:40,775
(cat meowing)

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00:19:40,775 --> 00:19:43,453
(machine whirring)

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00:19:43,453 --> 00:19:47,870
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

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00:20:04,727 --> 00:20:07,948
(birds chirping)

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00:20:07,948 --> 00:20:10,865
(machine whirring)

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00:20:29,763 --> 00:20:32,680
(machine whirring)

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00:20:50,266 --> 00:20:53,589
(indistinct chattering)

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00:20:53,589 --> 00:20:56,339
(birds chirping)

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00:21:15,738 --> 00:21:18,571
(sorrowful music)

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00:21:30,067 --> 00:21:33,400
(indistinct chattering)

208
00:21:39,448 --> 00:21:42,198
(bomb exploding)

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00:21:55,185 --> 00:21:58,018
(sorrowful music)

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00:22:18,180 --> 00:22:20,010
[Narrator] The Soviet
War changed everything

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00:22:20,010 --> 00:22:22,830
that Afghanistan once aspired to.

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00:22:22,830 --> 00:22:25,380
It's a complicated story that tells

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00:22:25,380 --> 00:22:27,930
how a nationalist struggle was transformed

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00:22:27,930 --> 00:22:30,483
into a pan-Islamic religious battleground.

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00:22:31,470 --> 00:22:34,260
How a form of fundamentalist
Islam that had never

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00:22:34,260 --> 00:22:37,443
before existed in
Afghanistan rose to power.

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00:22:39,090 --> 00:22:41,940
With consequences reverberating even now,

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00:22:41,940 --> 00:22:44,290
the women were afraid to
speak of it on camera.

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00:22:45,630 --> 00:22:47,880
Though details of this history may vary,

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00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,013
the basic facts remain consistent.

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00:22:54,630 --> 00:22:58,320
The United States embroiled
in the Cold War was determined

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00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,830
to oust the Soviets from
Afghanistan at any cost.

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00:23:01,830 --> 00:23:03,510
They drastically increased support

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00:23:03,510 --> 00:23:06,993
for the Afghan resistance,
using them as proxy fighters.

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00:23:08,550 --> 00:23:11,433
For the first few years,
the support was covert.

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00:23:12,270 --> 00:23:14,430
No Americans in sight,

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00:23:14,430 --> 00:23:17,733
not even public admission
that the US was running guns.

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00:23:18,653 --> 00:23:20,400
(guns shooting)

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00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,380
The money, weapons, and training didn't go

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00:23:22,380 --> 00:23:24,360
to just any Afghan rebels,

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00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:25,380
but went specifically

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00:23:25,380 --> 00:23:28,170
to the most extreme
Islamic fundamentalists

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00:23:28,170 --> 00:23:30,333
who violently opposed modernization.

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00:23:32,970 --> 00:23:35,820
They viewed women as a
distraction away from God

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00:23:35,820 --> 00:23:38,763
and were vehemently against
their increased rights.

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00:23:42,330 --> 00:23:44,910
These men had no support in Afghanistan

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00:23:44,910 --> 00:23:48,963
and fled to Pakistan in the
1970s where they found a friend,

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00:23:49,980 --> 00:23:52,503
the fundamentalist dictator, General Zia.

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00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,100
Zia secretly managed the transfer

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00:23:56,100 --> 00:23:59,688
of American military support
to the fundamentalists.

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00:23:59,688 --> 00:24:04,355
(speakers speaking in foreign language)

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00:24:05,925 --> 00:24:08,675
(gunshots fired)

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00:24:10,873 --> 00:24:14,603
(audience applause)

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00:24:14,603 --> 00:24:17,850
I take particular
satisfaction in signing today

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00:24:17,850 --> 00:24:21,420
the commemoration of March
21st as Afghanistan Day

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00:24:21,420 --> 00:24:22,923
throughout the United States.

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00:24:23,790 --> 00:24:26,310
This resolution testified...

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00:24:26,310 --> 00:24:27,480
[Narrator] The Americans were well aware

249
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,390
of the human rights abuses
of the fundamentalists

250
00:24:30,390 --> 00:24:32,340
and of their brutal treatment of women.

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00:24:33,515 --> 00:24:36,348
(dramatic music)

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00:24:37,380 --> 00:24:41,283
So why did the US favor them
over secular moderate fighters?

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00:24:42,930 --> 00:24:46,350
Firstly, the fundamentalists
were better organized,

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00:24:46,350 --> 00:24:49,410
but more importantly, their
religious ideology could

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00:24:49,410 --> 00:24:51,333
transcend national borders.

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00:24:53,190 --> 00:24:54,630
Seeing this potential,

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00:24:54,630 --> 00:24:59,490
the CIA began covertly to
brand and sell religious war,

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00:24:59,490 --> 00:25:01,410
making the struggle for liberation

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00:25:01,410 --> 00:25:04,443
not just an Afghan
cause, but a Muslim one.

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00:25:06,990 --> 00:25:09,030
Islam was its rallying cry,

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00:25:09,030 --> 00:25:11,280
and jihad, traditionally meaning

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00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,710
an internal spiritual struggle,

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00:25:13,710 --> 00:25:17,430
was recast as the military
duty of all Muslims

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00:25:17,430 --> 00:25:20,728
to fight against the godless
infidels of communism.

265
00:25:20,728 --> 00:25:23,728
(speakers chanting)

266
00:25:27,660 --> 00:25:29,070
[Narrator] For almost a decade,

267
00:25:29,070 --> 00:25:32,100
the US and Saudi Arabia
plied the fundamentalists

268
00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:33,573
with billions of dollars.

269
00:25:35,370 --> 00:25:39,870
Men without prospects, men without jobs,

270
00:25:39,870 --> 00:25:41,670
poor civilians from all over the globe

271
00:25:41,670 --> 00:25:43,533
enlisted in the call to arms,

272
00:25:45,030 --> 00:25:46,750
stirred by an emotional appeal

273
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,213
and a salary they
couldn't have dreamed of.

274
00:25:58,706 --> 00:26:00,450
(indistinct chattering)

275
00:26:00,450 --> 00:26:02,370
This alliance between the United States

276
00:26:02,370 --> 00:26:05,010
and the fundamentalists
was especially catastrophic

277
00:26:05,010 --> 00:26:06,123
for Afghan women.

278
00:26:08,970 --> 00:26:10,620
Supported by guns and money,

279
00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:13,560
these men began to impose
their fundamentalist agenda

280
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:14,883
on other Afghans.

281
00:26:18,390 --> 00:26:20,430
Women became acceptable targets

282
00:26:20,430 --> 00:26:22,443
for abuse in the name of religion.

283
00:26:23,481 --> 00:26:26,543
(sorrowful music)

284
00:26:26,543 --> 00:26:29,376
(rooster crowing)

285
00:26:32,697 --> 00:26:37,364
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

286
00:26:46,832 --> 00:26:51,749
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

287
00:27:00,853 --> 00:27:05,520
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

288
00:27:18,298 --> 00:27:21,630
(sorrowful music)

289
00:27:21,630 --> 00:27:22,710
[Narrator] Women found themselves

290
00:27:22,710 --> 00:27:24,990
caught between two extremes.

291
00:27:24,990 --> 00:27:27,240
One, an occupying army,

292
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,430
and the other, fundamentalists who wanted

293
00:27:29,430 --> 00:27:31,023
to strip them of their rights.

294
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,663
RAWA had been running orphanages
in clinics during the war.

295
00:27:40,740 --> 00:27:43,110
They also rallied
against Soviet occupation

296
00:27:43,110 --> 00:27:45,240
and the fundamentalists,

297
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,130
stirring the anger of both.

298
00:27:47,130 --> 00:27:50,133
They faced death threats
and were forced underground.

299
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,033
Then in 1987, RAWA's
leader, Meena went missing.

300
00:28:00,540 --> 00:28:03,003
Her strangled body was
found six months later.

301
00:28:04,710 --> 00:28:06,570
It was determined that the murderers

302
00:28:06,570 --> 00:28:08,163
were paid by both sides.

303
00:28:10,290 --> 00:28:11,523
She was just 30.

304
00:28:18,803 --> 00:28:22,023
Meena's death was a devastating
blow to the women of RAWA.

305
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:25,650
Still, they were undeterred,

306
00:28:25,650 --> 00:28:28,202
resolving to keep up Meena's legacy.

307
00:28:28,202 --> 00:28:31,258
(women chanting)

308
00:28:31,258 --> 00:28:34,258
(vehicles rumbling)

309
00:28:35,181 --> 00:28:36,931
10 Long years of war.

310
00:28:37,830 --> 00:28:41,733
In 1989, the Soviets finally
withdrew their forces.

311
00:28:43,740 --> 00:28:45,780
The Americans were jubilant in claiming

312
00:28:45,780 --> 00:28:47,973
a Cold War victory over communism.

313
00:28:49,170 --> 00:28:50,943
Afghanistan was devastated.

314
00:28:52,830 --> 00:28:56,700
One and a half million women,
men, and children were dead.

315
00:29:03,211 --> 00:29:05,794
(cars beeping)

316
00:29:15,540 --> 00:29:17,070
Dr. Roeena lives in the city

317
00:29:17,070 --> 00:29:20,100
of Peshawar about a 40-minute
drive from her clinic

318
00:29:20,100 --> 00:29:20,933
in the camp.

319
00:29:23,485 --> 00:29:26,654
(indistinct chattering)

320
00:29:26,654 --> 00:29:30,809
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

321
00:29:30,809 --> 00:29:34,142
(indistinct chattering)

322
00:30:06,044 --> 00:30:07,918
(indistinct chattering)

323
00:30:07,918 --> 00:30:10,585
(ambient music)

324
00:30:44,281 --> 00:30:46,864
(upbeat music)

325
00:31:34,020 --> 00:31:36,853
(rooster crowing)

326
00:31:38,683 --> 00:31:42,016
(indistinct chattering)

327
00:31:47,891 --> 00:31:52,558
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

328
00:32:23,503 --> 00:32:26,836
(indistinct chattering)

329
00:32:51,544 --> 00:32:54,377
(rooster crowing)

330
00:33:26,514 --> 00:33:29,264
(camera flashes)

331
00:33:30,644 --> 00:33:35,061
(child speaking in foreign language)

332
00:33:45,494 --> 00:33:50,494
(Shapiray's husband speaking
in foreign language)

333
00:34:34,049 --> 00:34:37,200
(brooding music)

334
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:38,280
[Narrator] The Soviets were gone,

335
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,263
but the nation did not see peace.

336
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,530
Scarred by 10 years of grueling war,

337
00:34:46,530 --> 00:34:49,320
the fatigued Afghan
population couldn't imagine

338
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:50,733
that things could get worse.

339
00:34:52,890 --> 00:34:56,070
By 1992, the puppet government collapsed

340
00:34:56,070 --> 00:34:57,483
leaving a power vacuum.

341
00:34:59,250 --> 00:35:01,980
The United Nations appointed
a government made up

342
00:35:01,980 --> 00:35:03,870
of the same fundamentalists

343
00:35:03,870 --> 00:35:06,513
supported by the US and Saudi Arabia.

344
00:35:07,590 --> 00:35:10,980
(speakers chanting)

345
00:35:10,980 --> 00:35:13,323
But these men were unable to share power.

346
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,200
Forming and reforming alliances,

347
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,230
they fell into fighting
amongst themselves,

348
00:35:19,230 --> 00:35:21,662
plunging the country again into war.

349
00:35:21,662 --> 00:35:23,730
(vehicle roaring)

350
00:35:23,730 --> 00:35:25,610
This time, civil war.

351
00:35:25,610 --> 00:35:27,990
(gunshots fired)

352
00:35:27,990 --> 00:35:31,770
Using the vast armaments left
behind by their benefactors,

353
00:35:31,770 --> 00:35:35,145
the fundamentalists wreaked
havoc on the country.

354
00:35:35,145 --> 00:35:36,912
(vehicle rumbling)

355
00:35:36,912 --> 00:35:39,745
(vehicle hooting)

356
00:35:40,632 --> 00:35:45,549
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

357
00:36:00,858 --> 00:36:03,150
(brooding music)

358
00:36:03,150 --> 00:36:04,550
[Narrator] No rule of law.

359
00:36:07,590 --> 00:36:09,033
No effective government.

360
00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:14,703
Rampaging militias
terrorizing civilians at will.

361
00:36:18,660 --> 00:36:20,100
A relentless reign of bombs

362
00:36:20,100 --> 00:36:23,223
and bullets over Kabul
flattened sections of the city.

363
00:36:26,550 --> 00:36:27,930
It was the most chaotic

364
00:36:27,930 --> 00:36:30,543
and violent period Afghans had ever known,

365
00:36:33,750 --> 00:36:35,943
but the eyes of the world had turned away.

366
00:36:37,350 --> 00:36:39,513
Afghanistan was no longer news.

367
00:36:41,460 --> 00:36:44,640
Only remnants of buildings
remain as the markers

368
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:46,953
of massacres still unacknowledged.

369
00:36:49,170 --> 00:36:50,223
Even denied.

370
00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:58,157
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

371
00:37:09,390 --> 00:37:10,740
[Narrator] Women were the first victims

372
00:37:10,740 --> 00:37:13,473
of the fundamentalist anarchy
that swept the country.

373
00:37:14,490 --> 00:37:17,640
The burka, which had never
legally been enforced,

374
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,953
was now thrust upon women at gunpoint.

375
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,320
Assaulted and abducted by roving militia,

376
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:27,540
raped for just being visible.

377
00:37:27,540 --> 00:37:29,223
Thousands of women disappeared.

378
00:37:31,110 --> 00:37:32,883
Thousands more were mutilated.

379
00:37:34,050 --> 00:37:37,053
Surviving with missing limbs
and memories of horror.

380
00:37:40,380 --> 00:37:42,933
It isn't fully known how
many people were killed,

381
00:37:43,950 --> 00:37:46,802
but the families of
those missing remember.

382
00:37:46,802 --> 00:37:49,635
(sorrowful music)

383
00:37:55,204 --> 00:38:00,037
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

384
00:38:21,246 --> 00:38:24,079
(sorrowful music)

385
00:38:40,211 --> 00:38:43,544
(indistinct chattering)

386
00:39:57,377 --> 00:40:00,127
(birds chirping)

387
00:40:02,387 --> 00:40:07,054
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

388
00:40:33,889 --> 00:40:38,719
(Shapiray's husband speaking
in foreign language)

389
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:43,719
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

390
00:40:43,896 --> 00:40:46,175
(Shapiray's husband speaking
in foreign language)

391
00:40:46,175 --> 00:40:50,842
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

392
00:41:05,799 --> 00:41:10,799
(Shapiray's husband speaking
in foreign language)

393
00:41:41,798 --> 00:41:45,131
(indistinct chattering)

394
00:41:54,045 --> 00:41:56,712
(ambient music)

395
00:41:59,670 --> 00:42:01,320
[Narrator] In the mid 1990s,

396
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,873
a new group emerged to
confront the warlords.

397
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,293
They were called the Taliban.

398
00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:10,890
A decade earlier,

399
00:42:10,890 --> 00:42:14,040
they had grown up in the
Pakistani refugee camps

400
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:16,920
where fundamentalist
religious schools operated

401
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:18,810
by Pakistanis and Saudis

402
00:42:18,810 --> 00:42:21,630
and partially funded by the United States,

403
00:42:21,630 --> 00:42:25,053
offered them food, shelter,
and a free education.

404
00:42:26,430 --> 00:42:30,180
The education, however,
was actually indoctrination

405
00:42:30,180 --> 00:42:33,420
into an extreme form of
Islam called Wahhabism,

406
00:42:33,420 --> 00:42:35,661
previously unknown in Afghanistan.

407
00:42:35,661 --> 00:42:38,578
(children singing)

408
00:42:40,403 --> 00:42:43,403
(speakers chanting)

409
00:42:48,353 --> 00:42:53,103
In the early 1990s, the Taliban
crossed into Afghanistan.

410
00:42:55,020 --> 00:42:57,180
Posing as champions of the common people,

411
00:42:57,180 --> 00:42:58,680
they were welcomed as saviors.

412
00:43:00,210 --> 00:43:02,160
They managed to drive out the war laws.

413
00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:08,040
But once in power, they imposed
the most repressive laws

414
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:09,690
Afghanistan had ever seen.

415
00:43:13,073 --> 00:43:17,823
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

416
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,010
[Narrator] Kite flying was banned.

417
00:43:29,010 --> 00:43:31,140
Playing music was banned.

418
00:43:31,140 --> 00:43:32,940
Films and television were forbidden.

419
00:43:34,350 --> 00:43:37,173
Men who didn't pray at the
right times were beaten.

420
00:43:39,780 --> 00:43:44,197
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

421
00:43:59,146 --> 00:44:01,979
(whistle blowing)

422
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:04,740
[Narrator] RAWA was the only women's group

423
00:44:04,740 --> 00:44:07,053
to document the abuses of the Taliban.

424
00:44:08,100 --> 00:44:10,740
They hid cameras in their burkas to record

425
00:44:10,740 --> 00:44:12,971
what was happening around them.

426
00:44:12,971 --> 00:44:16,741
(indistinct shouting)

427
00:44:16,741 --> 00:44:19,110
(car hooting)

428
00:44:19,110 --> 00:44:20,520
If they'd been discovered,

429
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:22,670
they would've almost
certainly been killed.

430
00:44:24,531 --> 00:44:28,948
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

431
00:44:39,567 --> 00:44:42,120
(indistinct shouting)

432
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:43,140
[Narrator] This woman was beaten

433
00:44:43,140 --> 00:44:45,783
because her shoes made too
much noise as she walked.

434
00:44:52,247 --> 00:44:54,997
(brooding music)

435
00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:01,500
In Kabul, people were rounded up

436
00:45:01,500 --> 00:45:05,517
and forced to go to a central
stadium to witness executions.

437
00:45:05,517 --> 00:45:10,267
(announcer speaking in foreign language)

438
00:45:12,419 --> 00:45:15,086
(gunshot fired)

439
00:45:26,730 --> 00:45:28,980
[Narrator] Though public
hangings, amputations,

440
00:45:28,980 --> 00:45:31,170
and violence increased daily,

441
00:45:31,170 --> 00:45:34,107
the world outside took little notice.

442
00:45:34,107 --> 00:45:37,440
(indistinct chattering)

443
00:45:42,666 --> 00:45:45,333
(ambient music)

444
00:45:48,784 --> 00:45:53,784
(Shapiray's husband speaking
in foreign language)

445
00:46:18,959 --> 00:46:20,343
(brooding music)

446
00:46:20,343 --> 00:46:21,176
[Narrator] Though most of the world

447
00:46:21,176 --> 00:46:22,470
did not recognize the Taliban

448
00:46:22,470 --> 00:46:24,750
as Afghanistan's official government,

449
00:46:24,750 --> 00:46:28,537
in May 2001, the United
States gave the Taliban

450
00:46:28,537 --> 00:46:30,873
$43 million in aid.

451
00:46:33,150 --> 00:46:35,853
Four months later, September 11th.

452
00:46:39,900 --> 00:46:42,183
Almost 3,000 people were killed.

453
00:46:44,550 --> 00:46:47,310
Osama bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire

454
00:46:47,310 --> 00:46:51,780
and CIA confidant during the
1980s was held responsible.

455
00:46:51,780 --> 00:46:53,280
He was living in Afghanistan

456
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,293
under invitation from the Taliban.

457
00:46:58,170 --> 00:46:59,430
[George W. Bush] On my orders,

458
00:46:59,430 --> 00:47:01,290
the United States military has begun

459
00:47:01,290 --> 00:47:04,950
strikes against Al-Qaeda
terrorist training camps,

460
00:47:04,950 --> 00:47:08,433
military installations of the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

461
00:47:10,230 --> 00:47:13,020
[Narrator] To capture him, a
bombing campaign was launched

462
00:47:13,020 --> 00:47:15,153
on the entire country of Afghanistan.

463
00:47:17,209 --> 00:47:19,959
(brooding music)

464
00:47:28,821 --> 00:47:31,654
(bombs exploding)

465
00:47:57,090 --> 00:48:00,390
[Narrator] Returning to
the area in November 2001,

466
00:48:00,390 --> 00:48:02,643
I went to visit a hospital in Peshawar.

467
00:48:04,500 --> 00:48:07,293
It was full of people
injured by the US bombing.

468
00:48:08,430 --> 00:48:11,400
This man was a farmer
who'd been tilling his land

469
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:12,423
when a bomb struck.

470
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:15,903
One of his legs was blown off instantly.

471
00:48:17,130 --> 00:48:20,163
The other leg had been
amputated because of gangrene.

472
00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:23,430
At the time of this filming,

473
00:48:23,430 --> 00:48:26,043
he didn't yet know that
his two legs were gone.

474
00:48:29,970 --> 00:48:32,803
(sorrowful music)

475
00:48:36,330 --> 00:48:39,753
About 80,000 people once
again fled Afghanistan.

476
00:48:40,620 --> 00:48:43,563
New refugee camps sprung
up to accommodate them.

477
00:48:54,090 --> 00:48:55,320
Revisiting the camps,

478
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,233
I came across a landmine
awareness class for children,

479
00:48:59,070 --> 00:49:00,965
an everyday activity.

480
00:49:00,965 --> 00:49:03,084
(indistinct chattering)

481
00:49:03,084 --> 00:49:07,667
(refugee speaking in foreign language)

482
00:49:44,018 --> 00:49:46,851
(sorrowful music)

483
00:49:57,540 --> 00:49:59,673
[Narrator] It's now December 2001.

484
00:50:00,791 --> 00:50:03,958
(helicopter whirring)

485
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:06,450
It's taken less than six weeks

486
00:50:06,450 --> 00:50:08,253
for the Taliban regime to fall.

487
00:50:11,910 --> 00:50:14,940
The US used their old
friends from the Soviet era,

488
00:50:14,940 --> 00:50:16,530
the fundamentalist warlords,

489
00:50:16,530 --> 00:50:20,310
now known as the Northern
Alliance, for help on the ground

490
00:50:20,310 --> 00:50:22,653
to route out Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

491
00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:29,460
November 13th, the Northern
Alliance just rode into Kabul

492
00:50:29,460 --> 00:50:30,293
and took over.

493
00:50:35,550 --> 00:50:39,093
And now the United Nations
and the US has rewarded them.

494
00:50:40,770 --> 00:50:42,900
They've given the warlords
critical positions

495
00:50:42,900 --> 00:50:45,407
in an appointed interim government.

496
00:50:45,407 --> 00:50:48,240
(speaker singing)

497
00:50:50,310 --> 00:50:51,270
[Narrator] The record shows

498
00:50:51,270 --> 00:50:52,830
that the newly chosen President,

499
00:50:52,830 --> 00:50:55,953
Hamid Karzai is clear
of wartime atrocities.

500
00:50:57,270 --> 00:50:59,100
But with a warlord surrounding him,

501
00:50:59,100 --> 00:51:01,023
he can have little real authority.

502
00:51:02,027 --> 00:51:05,250
(indistinct chattering)

503
00:51:05,250 --> 00:51:06,630
History is replaying itself

504
00:51:06,630 --> 00:51:09,090
in the eyes of the Afghan people.

505
00:51:09,090 --> 00:51:10,800
Once again, they must watch

506
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:13,683
as a new government is
installed by foreign hands.

507
00:51:15,270 --> 00:51:17,883
The familiar faces of
oppression back in power.

508
00:51:21,003 --> 00:51:24,003
(audience applause)

509
00:51:27,570 --> 00:51:30,180
Instead of being tried for war crimes,

510
00:51:30,180 --> 00:51:31,890
these men have been re-empowered

511
00:51:31,890 --> 00:51:33,440
by the international community.

512
00:51:43,194 --> 00:51:45,861
(RAWA chanting)

513
00:51:49,511 --> 00:51:51,720
[Narrator] RAWA was the only
group to publicly protest

514
00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:53,497
the return of the warlords.

515
00:51:53,497 --> 00:51:56,164
(RAWA chanting)

516
00:52:10,912 --> 00:52:13,323
Good afternoon. Can we leave this?

517
00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:16,323
Can we leave this?

518
00:52:18,270 --> 00:52:19,710
I don't think that it's appropriate

519
00:52:19,710 --> 00:52:21,270
to receive women with a barrier.

520
00:52:21,270 --> 00:52:22,263
Just leave this.

521
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:26,940
I will jump on your
side because this is...

522
00:52:26,940 --> 00:52:28,260
It'll take an hour.

523
00:52:28,260 --> 00:52:30,892
I'm Dr. Wasser, the head of UNFP.

524
00:52:30,892 --> 00:52:31,980
[RAWA Member] I am a member of RAWA.

525
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:38,070
Every year we hold demonstration
on the 10th of December,

526
00:52:38,070 --> 00:52:40,140
which is the Human Rights Day,

527
00:52:40,140 --> 00:52:42,720
and our aim in this Human Rights Day

528
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:45,600
is that we don't want the domination,

529
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:49,740
the power of Northern Alliance
once again in Afghanistan.

530
00:52:49,740 --> 00:52:52,680
We don't want them that
they repeat their crimes

531
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:56,550
that they did from 1992
to 1996 in Afghanistan.

532
00:52:56,550 --> 00:52:57,383
[Dr. Wasser] Yes.

533
00:52:57,383 --> 00:52:58,950
[RAWA Member] And the
United Nation must send

534
00:52:58,950 --> 00:53:02,460
its peacekeeping forces in
Afghanistan to, first of all,

535
00:53:02,460 --> 00:53:06,630
disarm all these Northern
Alliance groups that...

536
00:53:06,630 --> 00:53:09,420
I don't want to get involved
in Northern Alliance.

537
00:53:09,420 --> 00:53:12,480
What is important for us, United Nations,

538
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:15,000
is that women are part of the process

539
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:17,130
of reconstruction of Afghanistan.

540
00:53:17,130 --> 00:53:18,900
So I'm glad that we have

541
00:53:18,900 --> 00:53:21,304
two women in the interim government.

542
00:53:21,304 --> 00:53:22,260
[RAWA Member] But these two women,

543
00:53:22,260 --> 00:53:24,450
they cannot represent
the women of Afghanistan

544
00:53:24,450 --> 00:53:25,680
because one is this-

545
00:53:25,680 --> 00:53:27,750
I think that the first important step is

546
00:53:27,750 --> 00:53:29,400
that you have women.

547
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:32,220
[RAWA Member] No, what kind of women?

548
00:53:32,220 --> 00:53:33,120
What kind of women?

549
00:53:33,120 --> 00:53:34,920
They are women from Afghanistan,

550
00:53:34,920 --> 00:53:35,906
so this is the...

551
00:53:35,906 --> 00:53:37,257
No, but let's see...

552
00:53:37,257 --> 00:53:39,750
[Narrator] The UN official
deflected the argument

553
00:53:39,750 --> 00:53:42,993
away from the reinstallation
of the warlords to power.

554
00:53:44,220 --> 00:53:46,893
RAWA's warnings went unheeded again.

555
00:53:49,471 --> 00:53:52,471
(airplane whirring)

556
00:54:00,003 --> 00:54:03,810
(suspenseful music)

557
00:54:03,810 --> 00:54:05,160
I came back to the region

558
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:06,870
because I wanted to see if the lives

559
00:54:06,870 --> 00:54:08,430
of the three women had changed

560
00:54:08,430 --> 00:54:10,113
after the fall of the Taliban.

561
00:54:18,060 --> 00:54:20,550
Reports in the press had been optimistic

562
00:54:20,550 --> 00:54:22,140
saying that women were now free,

563
00:54:22,140 --> 00:54:24,333
and that reconstruction was well underway.

564
00:54:25,590 --> 00:54:26,970
Yet two of the three women,

565
00:54:26,970 --> 00:54:29,940
Roeena and Wajia were still in Pakistan

566
00:54:29,940 --> 00:54:32,403
having decided not to
return to Afghanistan.

567
00:54:33,450 --> 00:54:35,103
I wanted to find out why.

568
00:54:41,820 --> 00:54:44,943
I first went to see Roeena
in New Shamsitu Camp.

569
00:54:47,430 --> 00:54:49,410
It was a dramatic change to see many

570
00:54:49,410 --> 00:54:51,933
of the refugee homes
destroyed and abandoned.

571
00:54:53,566 --> 00:54:57,483
(indistinct chattering)

572
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:02,313
But many Afghans were still there.

573
00:55:08,340 --> 00:55:10,140
When we caught up with Roeena,

574
00:55:10,140 --> 00:55:12,210
she was making sure
children in the camp had,

575
00:55:12,210 --> 00:55:14,988
had their polio vaccinations.

576
00:55:14,988 --> 00:55:16,196
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

577
00:55:16,196 --> 00:55:20,264
(speaker speaking in foreign language)

578
00:55:20,264 --> 00:55:25,181
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

579
00:55:45,270 --> 00:55:50,193
Basically, I want to know
if there is some child,

580
00:55:51,150 --> 00:55:54,193
some missed child or not.

581
00:55:54,193 --> 00:55:57,270
Like there was a missed house.

582
00:55:57,270 --> 00:55:59,940
The last one, it was a missed house,

583
00:55:59,940 --> 00:56:02,109
but I don't know if it's a missed house

584
00:56:02,109 --> 00:56:04,192
or it didn't reach there.

585
00:56:06,161 --> 00:56:09,494
(indistinct chattering)

586
00:56:11,391 --> 00:56:16,224
(Dr. Roeena speaking in foreign language)

587
00:56:59,833 --> 00:57:02,666
(sorrowful music)

588
00:57:37,764 --> 00:57:39,524
(cars hooting)

589
00:57:39,524 --> 00:57:42,941
(indistinct chattering)

590
00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:53,610
[Narrator] After saying goodbye to Roeena,

591
00:57:53,610 --> 00:57:54,953
I went to see Wajia.

592
00:57:56,220 --> 00:57:58,020
I found her just as she was leaving

593
00:57:58,020 --> 00:58:01,080
for her own fact finding mission to Kabul,

594
00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:05,585
the first time she would be
returning there in 25 years.

595
00:58:05,585 --> 00:58:10,002
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

596
00:58:20,436 --> 00:58:22,860
[Narrator] Wajia is taking
her son, Hareem with her,

597
00:58:22,860 --> 00:58:25,604
his first time out of the refugee camp.

598
00:58:25,604 --> 00:58:27,085
(ambient music)

599
00:58:27,085 --> 00:58:29,668
(cars hooting)

600
00:58:33,804 --> 00:58:38,304
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

601
00:59:32,867 --> 00:59:34,650
[Narrator] Though I knew that Afghanistan

602
00:59:34,650 --> 00:59:36,150
wasn't a war zone,

603
00:59:36,150 --> 00:59:39,043
everything around us made
it seem as if it were.

604
00:59:39,043 --> 00:59:41,662
(helicopter whirring)

605
00:59:41,662 --> 00:59:45,101
(indistinct chattering)

606
00:59:45,101 --> 00:59:48,601
It was a relief to arrive safely in Kabul.

607
00:59:49,790 --> 00:59:52,080
(ambient music)

608
00:59:52,080 --> 00:59:54,663
(cars hooting)

609
01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:27,240
The next day, Wajia was
met by a RAWA member,

610
01:00:27,240 --> 01:00:29,223
introducing herself as Naseem.

611
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:32,520
She had her face covered when being filmed

612
01:00:32,520 --> 01:00:34,023
to hide her identity.

613
01:00:35,280 --> 01:00:37,113
She took us on a tour of the city.

614
01:00:38,342 --> 01:00:43,342
(Wajia and Naseem speaking
in foreign language)

615
01:01:02,821 --> 01:01:05,571
(brooding music)

616
01:02:42,503 --> 01:02:45,420
(wheels crinkling)

617
01:02:51,631 --> 01:02:53,250
[Narrator] Shapiray and
her family had returned

618
01:02:53,250 --> 01:02:55,800
to Afghanistan a year earlier.

619
01:02:55,800 --> 01:02:59,130
When I went to meet them, they
were back in their own home.

620
01:02:59,130 --> 01:03:01,920
Luckily, it hadn't been
taken over by militias

621
01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:04,440
who had commandeered
many houses in the area.

622
01:03:14,666 --> 01:03:17,499
(rooster crowing)

623
01:03:19,648 --> 01:03:24,315
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

624
01:03:54,366 --> 01:03:59,366
(Shapiray's husband speaking
in foreign language)

625
01:04:06,990 --> 01:04:09,336
(shovel digging)

626
01:04:09,336 --> 01:04:12,086
(broom sweeping)

627
01:04:23,573 --> 01:04:27,274
(indistinct chattering)

628
01:04:27,274 --> 01:04:30,024
(birds chirping)

629
01:04:34,895 --> 01:04:39,562
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

630
01:04:59,700 --> 01:05:02,450
(metal clinking)

631
01:05:03,341 --> 01:05:06,008
(upbeat music)

632
01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:10,950
[Narrator] The next day
I went back to see Wajia.

633
01:05:14,640 --> 01:05:17,250
She was visiting RAWA
members who'd lived in Kabul

634
01:05:17,250 --> 01:05:19,625
throughout the rule of the Taliban.

635
01:05:19,625 --> 01:05:24,042
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

636
01:05:27,422 --> 01:05:30,538
(group laughter)

637
01:05:30,538 --> 01:05:33,871
(indistinct chattering)

638
01:05:48,867 --> 01:05:53,867
(RAWA members speaking
in foreign language)

639
01:06:49,472 --> 01:06:52,889
(indistinct chattering)

640
01:07:20,640 --> 01:07:23,190
[Narrator] Many refugees
have returned to Kabul

641
01:07:23,190 --> 01:07:25,803
and its economy is much
more active than before.

642
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:30,750
But overshadowing the
city are gigantic images

643
01:07:30,750 --> 01:07:34,023
of the slain Northern Alliance
leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud.

644
01:07:35,880 --> 01:07:38,730
They're significant in that
they're not of the President,

645
01:07:38,730 --> 01:07:43,173
Hamid Karzai, and sign
who's really in charge.

646
01:07:48,253 --> 01:07:51,900
(helicopter whirring)

647
01:07:51,900 --> 01:07:54,180
I was told by many that the relative peace

648
01:07:54,180 --> 01:07:56,910
that exists in Kabul
is due to the presence

649
01:07:56,910 --> 01:07:59,823
of international peacekeepers
who patrol the city.

650
01:08:03,330 --> 01:08:06,120
Though many, including Karzai and the UN,

651
01:08:06,120 --> 01:08:08,340
called for them throughout the country,

652
01:08:08,340 --> 01:08:10,413
the US opposed their deployment.

653
01:08:13,470 --> 01:08:14,820
The result?

654
01:08:14,820 --> 01:08:17,010
The very same warlords responsible

655
01:08:17,010 --> 01:08:20,013
for the Civil War have
taken over the countryside.

656
01:08:21,660 --> 01:08:24,030
They still receive US and British funding

657
01:08:24,030 --> 01:08:25,863
to fight remnants of the Taliban,

658
01:08:27,420 --> 01:08:30,393
but the money serves to pay
for their own private armies.

659
01:08:32,250 --> 01:08:36,360
They haven't cooperated in
international disarmament efforts

660
01:08:36,360 --> 01:08:39,003
and are once again
terrorizing their citizenry.

661
01:08:40,747 --> 01:08:42,720
(cars hooting)

662
01:08:42,720 --> 01:08:45,540
Human rights groups have
documented their involvement in

663
01:08:45,540 --> 01:08:49,833
extortion, kidnapping, torture,
rape, and drug trafficking.

664
01:08:51,570 --> 01:08:54,060
The escalating violence
was even being acknowledged

665
01:08:54,060 --> 01:08:55,650
by the Karzai government.

666
01:08:55,650 --> 01:08:58,410
It set up a commission in 2003

667
01:08:58,410 --> 01:09:01,290
to monitor human rights abuses.

668
01:09:01,290 --> 01:09:03,690
I sat in on a radio
discussion with members

669
01:09:03,690 --> 01:09:05,403
of the commission.

670
01:09:05,403 --> 01:09:10,403
(members of the commission
speaking in foreign language)

671
01:10:45,697 --> 01:10:48,530
(sorrowful music)

672
01:10:52,929 --> 01:10:54,690
[Narrator] Knowing that
they can't get any help from

673
01:10:54,690 --> 01:10:56,280
the law or government,

674
01:10:56,280 --> 01:10:59,460
some women are organizing
their own support groups,

675
01:10:59,460 --> 01:11:01,890
coming together to do whatever they can

676
01:11:01,890 --> 01:11:04,533
to address the dire situations they face.

677
01:11:06,390 --> 01:11:08,730
Wajia is at a meeting held by RAWA.

678
01:11:09,957 --> 01:11:14,957
(RAWA members speaking
in foreign language)

679
01:12:33,954 --> 01:12:36,787
(sorrowful music)

680
01:12:41,790 --> 01:12:45,840
[Narrator] Since 2002, a
new phenomenon has emerged.

681
01:12:45,840 --> 01:12:47,853
Women are setting themselves on fire.

682
01:12:50,010 --> 01:12:53,130
The rate is so high in some
areas that hospitals have had

683
01:12:53,130 --> 01:12:56,763
to open special burn wards to
accommodate those who survive.

684
01:13:03,939 --> 01:13:06,772
(sorrowful music)

685
01:13:23,147 --> 01:13:27,330
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

686
01:13:27,330 --> 01:13:28,470
[Narrator] Although she had not taught

687
01:13:28,470 --> 01:13:30,180
in Afghanistan before,

688
01:13:30,180 --> 01:13:32,703
Shapiray was now teaching
at a nearby school.

689
01:13:34,982 --> 01:13:39,732
(Shapiray speaking in foreign language)

690
01:15:39,675 --> 01:15:42,750
[Narrator] Wajia decided
not to stay in Afghanistan.

691
01:15:42,750 --> 01:15:46,233
Instead, she's returning to
the refugee camp in Pakistan.

692
01:15:47,579 --> 01:15:51,996
(Wajia speaking in foreign language)

693
01:16:11,638 --> 01:16:14,471
(sorrowful music)

694
01:17:41,455 --> 01:17:43,788
(sad music)

695
01:19:10,582 --> 01:19:13,249
(upbeat music)