community than a credible expression of a genuine and wholehearted commitment to support Afghan women. In fact, at the expense of women's rights the current Afghan elites play a cynical political game that can be characterized as an attempt to strike a balance between continuing to receive much-needed financial support from the international community on the one hand and keeping the conservative forces of Afghan society happy on the other. In practice, the demands of extremist elements residing in the presidential palace, particularly those in the judicial bodies as well as the Afghan Ulema (Religious Scholars) Council, always outweigh those of the international community. In these political games, Afghan women's rights activists are mainly absent. Not only have they not been recognized as relevant actresses in these interactions but the ruling elite has repeatedly attempted to cause fragmentation among different women's rights groups, while at times trying to make instrumental use of them as part of deliberately staged political orchestrations. The insignificant presence of women in the High Peace Council (HPC) is another proof of this sad reality. Moreover, Afghan women continue to encounter serious problems as a result of existing legislation. The legal discussions conducted as part of the legislative theatre consultations found a variety of Afghan laws, including some articles of the penal code, to be crime-generating. Besides, the use of highly ambiguous language such as “moral crimes”, even in judicial proceedings, has led to widespread violations of women's rights. Women's unawareness of judicial proceedings as well as a general lack of transparency and accountability in judicial processes are other factors that have rendered Afghan women vulnerable in the courts. Finally, a general culture of impunity widely prevails, leading to growing indifference and apathy towards frequent human rights violations such as the constant maltreatment and abuse of women by some senior managers in government agencies as well as in universities. Today, the sad truth is that flagrant human rights violations can be raised and investigated only with the political and legal backing of members of the international community. Then again, it is worth reminding that female activists and women's rights organizations also contribute to this situation. They often suffer from weaknesses such as low analytical capacity, a lack of proper understanding of the allpervasive nature of patriarchy in Afghanistan and a debilitating competition among different women's groups for money and influence that ultimately undermine the struggle for women's rights in Afghanistan. What is more, Afghan women active in the fields of politics and human rights are yet to fully acknowledge the extent and seriousness of the potential return to power of different Salafist groups and the Taliban. Though it is clear that the latter's re-empowerment would jeopardize many recent positive developments, including the increased recognition of ethnic and religious minorities, many women leaders disregard this possibility with naive optimism. For example, when 2009 presidential candidate Shahla Atta was asked AHRDO Afghan Women after the Taliban: Will History Repeat Itself? Page 6