This story was first published in the February/March 2007 issue of the Human Rights Defender, Amnesty International Australia's free bi-monthly publication.

Targeted for their work, and caught with no protection amid Taliban attacks - there is no safe place for women human rights defenders in Afghanistan.

The killing of Safi ye Amajan, the head of the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) in the southern province of Kandahar, is an example of how dangerous it is to be seen to support the rights of women - even from the apparent security of a government job.

Safi ye Amajan ran a school from her home during Taliban rule, and subsequently led MOWA projects that included the establishment of schools, and the provision of education to hundreds of girls and women. She opened vocational training centres to enable women to develop skills previously beyond their reach.

Prior to her murder, she received threatening telephone calls, had threatening messages hand-delivered to her work, and was the target of "night letters" threats posted on the walls of public places at night.

On 25 September 2006 she was shot repeatedly by motorcycle-mounted gunmen. An armed group opposed to the Afghan Government and reportedly linked to the Taliban claimed responsibility. A Taliban-affiliated website claimed the killing was "due to her spying on the Mojahedin of the Islamic Emirate on behalf of the United States of America - under the guise of women's rights."

Her death is a grave violation of the principle that civilians be distinguished from combatants during hostilities, and mirrors the pattern of disregard for fundamental human rights.

Amnesty International (AI) fears the killing was an act of gender-based violence, which targeted her specifically for her work to end discrimination and violence against women.

Death threats

Safi ye Amajan's counterpart, in the neighbouring province of Helmand, has also reportedly received death threats - some of which were renewed following the death of Safi ye Amajan.

MOWA department heads in the provinces throughout the south of the country. Some of the central and eastern regions are also believed to have received threats from unidentified men.

Providing protection to women human rights defenders - even those working for the government - isn't easy in Afghanistan, where the government is unable to guarantee the rule of law.

It is often left to the women themselves to determine how best to protect themselves. They live among the people they work with and - short of having armed guards 24 hours a day - cannot feel secure.

The provincial authorities in Kandahar have reportedly tried to ensure that the concerns of the women are heard, and have suggested they hold meetings in government facilities. But the women fear that being seen at government buildings will put them in greater danger.

No protection

A prominent woman human rights defender in Kandahar wrote to AI saying she wanted "to let the civilised world know about the realities here". Asking not to be named for fear of reprisals, she said she continued to work for women's rights in a circumspect manner, amid real threats.

"We hold our meetings in private houses to at least be able to discuss some of the core issues," she said.

"So far as my personal security is concerned, I'm still on my own. I have no armed protection from the government, nor can I keep private guards to accompany me all the time. In the past few months I have received phone threats from unknown numbers threatening to kill me if I don't give up working for women's rights. I am trying to keep my profile as low as possible until it is a bit safer to move around."

She said women in Kandahar feared for their overall security and safety, amid terrorist threats from the extremist and regrouped Taliban, and the ongoing fighting between government forces and militants. Women did not dare come out of their homes or send their daughters to schools, while job and food insecurity had further weakened their position in the conservative society.

"Almost every day there are suicide attacks, bomb blasts and fighting that kills civilians in large numbers, including women and girls," the woman wrote. "In my recent meetings with displaced families in the Panjwaie district, I know that a number of families have lost their girls in the chaos of aerial bombardment. Though the heavy fighting is over, the girls are still missing and their families don't know who may have taken them."

In another incident in the Panjwaie district, 22 members of one family were killed in a misdirected air strike by NATO planes, the woman said. Among the dead were seven women including a mother who was giving birth at the time of the bombardment.

AI has called on all armed groups in Afghanistan to stop violence against women human rights defenders, regardless of their own political ideology. It has also called on representatives of the international community in Kabul, in consultation with the Afghan Government, to find better ways of protecting human rights defenders.