Issues Raised by Journalists: Afghanistan: Freedom of Press? Only on certain (an...

Issues Raised by Journalists: Afghanistan: Freedom of Press? Only on certain (an...: "A religious grand council in Afghanistan, the Ulema Shura , which often is involved as an advisory unit for Karzai regarding religious and c..."

IT'S NOT A WOMAN'S WORLD

To be placed above the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Somalia and India as the most perilous place for a woman to live is not easily achievable. TRUSTLAW POLL revealed that an Afghan woman is considered to have a better quality of life in the Congo where among the 400,000 women that are raped each year; many of them are as young as 3 years old; are raped with bayonets and are afterwards shot in the vagina. It is impossible to imagine a more harrowing, inhumane and hateful existence...

Due to NATO air strikes, harmful cultural practices, violence and dismal health care; Afghanistan's post-Taliban reforms have barely improved the lives of women. A 2010 report conducted by UNAMA HR found that in 29 out of the 34 Afghan provinces, abuse of women’s rights occurs on a daily basis. The Government is completely inept in fully protecting the rights of women and girls. It is a shocking and unconventional devolution: in 1950s' Kabul, women were students; on their university faculties; worked in respected office jobs and even on construction sites. Under King Amanulla in the 1920s, women first won the right to go to schools and under King Zahir Shah, they walked the streets safely without burqas. In the communist 1980s, women were finally viewed as having the right to be involved in policy forming. Many have died as martyrs in order to fight for women's rights over the years in Afghanistan: Malalai Kakar - a prominent police woman, Safia Ama Jan - Director of Ministry of Women's Affairs and Zakia Zaki - journalist, to name but a few have been murdered and tortured by Afghan men for their progressive ideals. Suraya Parlika is a veteran protestor; a widely respected Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Upper House member in the Afghan Parliament. She was imprisoned, beaten regularly and had her fingernails removed. It seems that these women’s momentous sacrifice has somehow not transgressed into the 21^st Century.

Hamid Karzai was appointed into presidency in the (poorly-conducted) 2002 Loya Jirga with the ever present Western Big Brother. The Taliban's repressive regime was over and the Afghan Constitution changed. In Articles 22, 43, 44 and 54, more acts of discrimination against women were criminalised and it was asserted that women are equal to men in the eyes of the law. However, the Penal Code from 1976 is still utilised which classifies adultery (or 'zina') as the only punishable crime out of rape, sexual harassment, sex slavery, human trafficking and many others. Even in cases of honour killings, perpetrators are usually given lenient prison sentences of around 2 years. The law takes a selective approach when faced with a law matter involving women: complaints of domestic abuse and child marriages are categorised as "private matters," yet when a young girl flees from a life of abuse, she is imprisoned for intention to commit adultery. In fact, half of the country's female prison population is detained for 'moral crimes' all of which centre on accusations of adultery. Many of these disrespectful, un-Christian and misogynistic acts are also extremely inconsistent with Islamic/Sharia Law (e.g. Holy Quran, Al nisa, Verse 124 and Al Hujurat Verse 13).

There is some light ahead for the brave and suffering in. The Law of Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) has been introduced into Afghanistan, however it is proving difficult to be incorporated into daily life and to penetrate the more conservative and rural areas of Afghanistan. The UNAMA HR is calling for the Afghan Government, religious leaders, communities, civil societies and international donors to take all possible measures to implement EVAW law immediately. This law would criminalise and prohibit sexual abuse and violence on women; child and forced marriages; the buying and selling of women for marriage ('baad' and 'baadal') and on the other hand enforce equality, education and health care for women. International and domestic charities are also very much involved in this uphill battle for equal rights. The Afghan Civil Society organisation strives for literacy programs to be set up for women to try counteracting the effects left on an entire generation from the Taliban rule - the current literacy rate of women is 14%. There is also a special program being set up in Kandahar where female shuras are being created to offer grassroots civic management of women. The idea is to meet twice a month in their respective districts in order to voice their grievances about their community and plan to bulwark against continued discrimination and abuse. A very important achievement is the Women's Income Generation Project which encourages women to learn skills in order to start their own businesses. The Khamak embroidery business is already underway - all profits are returned to the female workers. Without financial independence, women shall never reach equality. For this, we need education, skills, health care and ideally but not necessarily a supportive family.

In the midst of the obstacles faced by various women’s charities, President Karzai is currently negotiating with the Taliban. In 2009, Karzai reintroduced the Shia Family Law which curtails women’s custody rights and their freedom of movement. Karzai’s talks with the Taliban are extremely confidential, yet the situation indicates a possible division of the nation where the South will be ruled once more by the Taliban. Where does this leave the women of Afghanistan? The President does not appear to be a chauvinist – his wife is highly educated and granted many freedoms that many Muslim women in the Middle East could only dream about. Unfortunately, some suspect he is relying on the support of many ‘conservative’ and Taliban-influenced provinces for the 2014 election; of course the vote is more important than the quality of 15 million women’s lives. So, like its predecessors in the run for the “most dangerous place in the world for women,” Afghanistan shows very little real hope in the near future.

The forgotten story about Abdul Haq

Yesterday, on June 9th, a new book was launched by an extraordinary woman with experiences and insights that probably go beyond many people`s imagination of the possible - "The Afghan Solution: The inside story of Abdul Haq, the CIA and how Western hubris lost Afghanistan". Lucy Morgan Edwards worked as an aid worker in Afghanistan during the height of the Taliban regime in Kandahar, and further served as an election monitor during the 2002 Loya Jirga. Onwards, she wrote articles for the Economist and Daily Telegraph before she was appointed Political Advisor to the EU Ambassador in Kabul from 2004 to 2005. Her work has consisted of interviewing hundreds of Afghans about the events following 9/11 and the subsequent invasion of Western troops. Mainly, her book tells the story about Abdul Haq; one of the most famous Afghan commanders of the resistance movement against the Soviets, and well-known critic of the Taliban rule. After the invasion in 2001 and outbreak of civil war between the Taliban and more moderate fractions of the old mujahedeeen, Haq, who had fled to Dubai during the Taliban rule, returned via Pakistan in an attempt to build resistance to and topple the Taliban. Haq was one of the few warlords who had remained admired and well-respected among the Afghans after the brutality and violent greed of the mujahedeen civil war in the early 1990s. However, his attempt turned into a Hollywood 24-hour thriller as he was captured and killed by the Taliban shortly after he entered Afghanistan (Guardian October 28, 2001). Speculations have been going on about whether he was betrayed by the Pakistani ISI, and maybe also his alleged supporters in the CIA.

What is interesting and extremely important about Morgan Edwards book and the story of Abdul Haq is the attention towards someone who resisted both the Taliban rule and the American invasion; Haq`s approach to Afghanistan`s crisis after 9/11 deviated from the 'either-Taliban-or-Karzai idea' that so often seems to be the only option accounted for. Unfortunately, Haq`s wish for a pan-ethnic loya jirga and united solution to Afghanistan did not come true until after his death, and that in a far less united fashion than what he aimed for. At the early days of the invasion Haq had stated: "If they leave things up to us, it will only be a few months before the Taliban are toppled", with a further comment that civilian casualties caused by Western troops would only steel especially Pashtun support for the Taliban. Haq`s words seem to have a noteworthy truth attached to them, as the Western forces 10 years after the invasion still struggle to counteract Taliban insurgents and still strive to understand the reasons for the dysfunctional and highly corrupt features of Afghanistan's Western-style democracy, imposed after the 2002 Loya Jirga, which had the UN and US pulling the strings behind the scenes. According to Haq`s obituary (The Guardian, October 29, 2001) he was one of the few anti-Taliban faction leaders that had presented Aghanistan`s exiled monarch with a coherent political programme for the country; Haq`s political goal was a revival of the old Afghan monarchy under the authority of the highly popular king, Zahir Shah. However, Haq gained no support from the Americans.

Morgan Edward`s book serves as an important contribution to the discussion and understanding of why the West seem to have so seriously misunderstood Afghanistan. During the civil war in the early 1990s Haq warned: " For us, Afghanistan is destroyed. It is turning to poison, and not only to us but for all others in the world. If you are a terrorist you can have shelter here, no matter who you are. Day by day there is the increase of drugs. Maybe one day the US have to send hundreds of thousands of troops to deal with that. And if they step in, they wil be stuck. We have a British grave in Afghanistan. We have a Soviet grave. And then we will have an American grave". Haq`s warning seems at this point to have been a self-fulfilling prophecy. Moreover, Morgan Edwards says: "Unfortunately the West lost its best chance to eject the Taliban and bring stability to Afghanistan when it failed to understand the potential offered in 2001 by Abdul Haq". It is therefore maybe time that the West starts to listen more closely to those who know Afghanistan better than anyone else: the Afghan people. To read "The Afghan Solution" by Lucy Morgan Edwards might be a good way to start.

More Responsibility to be Allocated to Tribesmen

The Afghan National Army has experienced certain positive changes under Western military forces during the past 6 months, however evidence dictates that these changes remain superficial and temporary in effectiveness. With appalling attrition rates, continued 'crash-course' training for new recruits and corrupt leadership, it is quite apparent that the ANA stand as little chance of being a functioning, sustainable, legitimate enforcer of security today as they did two hundred years ago.
The Ministry of Interior has consistently failed to control and organise the forces under their command, especially the Afghan National Police who are much less respected than the ANA. The current police force receive such poor salaries that corruption is perceived as being the only way of survival. Many believe that the Upper House should take over responsibility of the ANP as transparent elections and promotions are more probable there, thus making non-corrupt and effective leadership of the ANP more achievable.
As we approach 2014 - the agreed departure date of Western forces from Afghanistan - it is hard to imagine that such thorough reforms of two broken security forces will ever occur at all, let alone in such a short time frame. Some propose that Afghanistan will be split - the North will be under Karzai control with subtle Western influence and the South will once again be under the Taliban. The expected conflict brought about by the separation will undoubtedly overwhelm security forces, possibly leaving the nation spiralling down at a much faster rate with less Western military supervision.
The other approach which attempts to ease the fragile Afghanistan into the 2014 transition is allocating more responsibility to local tribesmen. This would mean an Afghan Government that cooperates with former insurgents such as the Pashtuns and allows them a greater stake in their own country through financial incentives to secure and manage their own local region. The ANA could be organised into smaller divisions and placed in certain regions to oversee and offer support to the tribes. This analogy could also provide greater security to the porous and vulnerable Afghan-Pakistan border as many tribes operate there already and are at high risk of daily assassination. Through creating a strong network of regional security bodies and promoting a more self-determined nation of Afghan civilians with occassional input from a small but organised ANA, Afghanistan can hope to enjoy a better system of security and a more peaceful society.