Friba Rezayee, the first athlete to represent Afghanistan in some Olympic Gamesis dismayed by the treatment that women receive by the taliban and is campaigning for the country not to participate in the Paris Games.
Rezayeewho competed in judo in Athens 2004asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) prohibiting the participation of Afghanistan due to the human rights record of the Taliban. States that, in the event of a ban, Afghan women should be able to participate in the Olympic Refugee Team of the IOC.
“Given the tons of evidence about the Taliban, about their brutal treatment of women and children, they are very dangerous”declared to Reuters Rezayeewho now lives in vancouver. “If the IOC allows them to enter the Olympic Games in the heart of Europe, in Paris, it will be very dangerous for people”added the former athlete.
Zabihullah Mujahidspokesman for the Taliban government, declined to comment.
The Taliban – who say they respect women’s rights according to their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs – have closed girls’ institutes and imposed travel restrictions on women without a male guardian and restricted access to parks and gyms.
When asked to comment on the call of Rezayeehe IOC referred to a statement made last month by James Macleodits director of Relations with the National Olympic Committees and Olympic Solidarity.
Macleod He then stated that the IOC I was talking to him National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Afghanistan and sports authorities “with the aim of reversing the current restrictions on access to sport for women and girls in Afghanistan.”
On the other hand, the IOC declared that the athletes needed refugee status confirmed by the refugee agency of United Nations in order to be part of the Olympic Refugee Team of the IOC.
Razayee’s progress cut short in Afghanistan because of the Taliban
Rezayee He was 18 years old when he competed in Athensand was convinced that her pioneering role would contribute to the advancement of women’s rights. “I actually thought we would only progress from there”he claimed.
“When I returned from Athens, I stayed in Afghanistan and I wanted to stay in Afghanistan. I continued my training because I saw the important changes it was producing in the lives of each and every girl”he highlighted.
But her hopes of seeing women in her country gain more rights were dashed when the taliban They took power in August 2021.
“I have the feeling that everything I did to support women’s rights and gender equality in 2004 has been undone by the IOC, the Taliban and the people who tolerate the Taliban”he claimed Rezayee.
In February, an expert from the UN described the Taliban’s lack of respect for the rights of women and girls as something “unparalleled in the world”and stated that his seizure of power had “exacerbated a high prevalence of gender-based violence against women and girls.
He IOC suspended the WITH of Afghanistan in 1999and the country was excluded from the Sydney 2000 Games. Afghanistan was readmitted after the fall of the Taliban, in time for Rezayee competed in Athens.
Rezayeewhich he abandoned Afghanistan in 2011 and settled in Canadafounded Women Leaders of Tomorrowa nonprofit organization that provides scholarships and educational programs to Afghan women, including athletes.
Source: Ambito
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