Two Afghan women judges have arrived in New Zealand and a third is on her way here, following efforts led by a New Zealand Supreme Court judge to help them flee the worsening situation in Afghanistan.

The judges were given New Zealand visas after pleas by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ)’s president, Justice Susan Glazebrook.

“The women have been given the opportunity to rebuild their lives, in safety,” Justice Glazebrook said. “They have had a very difficult time, but are pleased to be here.”

Two of the judges and their families have recently arrived and are being supported by Immigration New Zealand.

A third is in Europe but will soon be flying to New Zealand with her children, her nephew, and her husband.

The women and their families escaped Afghanistan on charter flights arranged by various non-governmental groups including the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Human Rights Institute, said Glazebrook.

“In my view this highlights a failure of the international community,” she said. “It has fallen to non-governmental organisations like the IAWJ and the IBA to take the leading role in rescuing women judges, and others at risk of death, from Afghanistan in the period since the foreign troops’ withdrawal.”

“I call it a failure of the international community because these women have for years been working in conditions of insecurity and danger in order to uphold the rule of law, gender equality and human rights. The international community should not abandon them now,” she said.

After the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August, the IAWJ called on the international community to provide safe passage and refuge for the women judges of Afghanistan, saying their lives were in danger because of the work they did in the courts.

Of the 230 women judges it was concerned about, so far, over half have been evacuated but Glazebrook said “only a small proportion of these families have a final refuge. And some 90 women judges remain in grave danger in Afghanistan...facing real and immediate threat”.

READ MORE

• Former guard at New Zealand base shot dead by Taliban
• Afghanistan evacuation: From ‘not feasible’ to underway within days
• Government appoints special representative for Afghanistan, as more evacuees reach New Zealand
• Dozens killed in suicide bombing on Afghan mosque

In an interview in August, Justice Glazebrook told Stuff Circuit the women were facing danger on a number of fronts, including revenge attacks from individuals they sentenced for crimes such as domestic violence, who have now been released from prison by the Taliban, and threats from a regime that has stripped them of the right to work in their profession.

“They risk being targeted because they were women, and they had the effrontery to judge men,” she said. “And that is seen as a totally unacceptable profession for women now.”

Glazebrook is now calling on states to provide visas to the judges who remain in Afghanistan, so they can rebuild their lives.

“We remain extremely concerned for the safety of the judges left in Afghanistan. As an organisation, the IAWJ has pledged to continue to help them, and not to let the world forget about them.”

“We are of course very pleased that these three families are now safe and settled in New Zealand but ... their colleagues, some 600 people with their families, are still left in mortal danger in Afghanistan.”

There are a further 100 judges and their families in transit countries still awaiting resettlement in final destinations.

“Anyone would be pleased to have them in their country. These are courageous, educated women who put themselves at risk to rebuild their country and to support the rule of law there.”

She thanked the New Zealand government for its work to get the families here, saying she looks forward to seeing the women and their families flourish.

A fourth Afghan woman judge granted a New Zealand visa was evacuated by the US in the days before the withdrawal by the US forces and is now settled here.

Justice Glazebrook said that without the New Zealand visa, she would not have been allowed through the various checkpoints.

“The visa was instrumental in saving her life and the lives of her family.”