Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a concurrent resolution condemning the destruction of pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban regime. A similar resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives. This resolution expresses the grave concern of the Congress over the recent destruction of religious treasures in Afghanistan by the Taliban and over the treatment of the Afghani people by their Taliban rulers.
Afghanistan is home to a rich cultural heritage, steeped in Buddhist history and ancient artifacts. More than 1,500 years ago, a pair of Buddha statues, each standing over 100 feet tall, was carved out of a mountainside in Bamiyan. Since their creation, these statues have been visited by many people. They were both religious and cultural treasures -- they became one of the most important models for the depiction elsewhere of Buddha. Significant relics such as these should have been preserved for the edification and enlightenment of future generations.
Islam and Buddhism have peacefully coexisted in Afghanistan for more than 1,000 years. Two years ago, Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Taliban regime, called for the preservation of Buddhist cultural heritage in Afghanistan. The Islamic faith supports religious tolerance and coexistence, evidenced in the Qur'anic verse "Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion."
In spite of this edict, several times within the last year the leaders of the Taliban regime have ordered the military to disfigure these and other Buddhist statues. On February 26, 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar ordered the utter destruction of these irreplaceable cultural treasures, along with all other pre-Islamic statues in the nation, calling them "shrines of infidels." Mohammed Omar claimed that statues of the human form are in contradiction with Shari'ah and the tenets of Islam. Shari'ah refers to the laws and way of life prescribed by Allah in the Qur'an, and dictates ideology on faith, behavior, manners, and practical daily life. Destruction of the statues clearly contradicts a basic tenet of the Islamic faith which is tolerance.
The recent destruction of Buddhist statuary is the latest action by the Taliban demonstrating an open disregard for international opinion and basic norms of human behavior which include respect for individuals and their beliefs. Tales of horrific human rights violations continue to be told. Confirmed reports tell of men, imprisoned for political reasons, being held in windowless cells without food and hung by their legs while being beaten with cables. In January of this year, Taliban troops massacred several hundred Hazaras, members of a Muslim ethnic group in the Bamiyan province. This was just the latest in a series of such slaughters. Such executions are not uncommon.
The regime has a history of showing support for terrorist groups and violating human rights. Women are a frequent target of abuse. Facing the threat of public beatings, women cannot leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative and are forbidden from participating in activities in which they may interact with men. For this reason, women were banned from work and school under the Taliban, although some were allowed to work on projects sponsored by foreign charities until that right was revoked last summer. This further restriction of women under the Taliban is exacerbated by the increasing occurrence of the rape and abduction of Afghani women. The State Department recently reported that the Taliban sold women from the Shomali plains area to Pakistan and the Arab Gulf states. The State Department in its human rights reports also describes the risk of rape and abduction and tells of young women forced to marry local commanders who kidnap them. This is a sad situation with no apparent end. Afghanistan appears to be a bottomless pit of human misery, a misery afflicted by the few on the many.
Afghanistan has suffered its share of human and natural disasters. While prolonged civil war continues to wreak havoc among the population, agricultural productivity has been reduced by the worst drought in 30 years. This setback reduced crop yields by 50 percent and resulted in an 80 percent loss of livestock, affecting half the population. But the Taliban government has demonstrated greater interest in opium production than in growing food for their starving people. They seem to want history to remember them as the destroyers of both the Afghani people and Afghanistan's heritage.
I urge my colleagues' support for this resolution, denouncing the actions of the Taliban regime in destroying a vital part of the history of humankind and of their treatment of the Afghani people.
