Point 5 in this document of shame reads:

“According to the decision by the Commission on Islamic, Cultural and High Education, all music programs must be banned and be replaced by the Islamic subjects at AFCECO orphanages.”

AFCECO, the Afghan Child Education & Care Organization, is a wonderful organization. Founded and run by Afghans, it educates boys and girls in an environment of equality and respect. It is raising a new generation of Afghan community leaders – all those of us who have met some of them know this to be true – and this is how the government treats them.

This edict by parliament is the latest in a series of attacks by a small, but clearly influential group. Last year, they raided AFCECO’s New Learning Center, stating that it was a house of prostitution. The armed men accompanying the woman who lead this assault ended up looking very sheepish when they saw the great work going on within.