The Rule of Law

Hilde writes: one of my contacts in Washington is the US Institute for Peace who are doing a lot of work in Afghanistan. Although this report is from 2007, it gives a good background to the current trends in Afghan public op, especially in view of the importance of building a viable judicial system whoich build on existing mechanisms of conflict transformation and for implementing the rule of law: http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2007/0816_afghan_opinion.html

Going pear shaped

Things are going from bad to worse in Afghaistan. Anti government elements (AGE in local spook speak) are in control in the East, the West and the South - and are getting pretty strong in Kabul. Only the Northern region is moderately safe. Meanwhile there are two threads to policy. Policy a is let the elections proceed and let Karzai rig the.

Policy A is overthrow Karzai and establish a new grand Khan.

Policy B is allowing Karzai to continue cocking things up and make the best of it.

Policy A comes with getting rid of Karzai before the elections of course. Interesting times.

Iran is trying to back Kabul into a corner

Iran’s long and complicated relations with Afghanistan are of growing concern for the Obama Administration, as it sends more troops to reinforce its military campaign in the south of Afghanistan against the Al-Qaida and the Taliban insurgency.

Afghanistan is in a tough spot. The country is reliant on the U.S. and NATO for its security and, at the same time, shares its longest land border with Iran.

Afghanistan has long pleaded with the U.S. and Iran not to carry out their longstanding strategic rivalry on its soil. For several years that request has been largely honoured.

Iran has also helped more than any other neighbouring countries with the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Since 2002, Iran has pumped millions of dollars into Afghanistan's western provinces to build roads, electrical grids, schools and health clinics.

The last thing President Karzai wants is to be forced into making a choice between Iran and the U.S.

Iran, a long-time supporter of the Northern Alliance, was instrumental in bringing about the fall of the Taliban in 2001. However, “Iran has become a more and more hostile power” according to the Afghanistan's ambassador, Said Tayeb Jawad. Iran was doing more than just bringing western Afghanistan into its sphere of influence. Iran has played both a constructive and destructive role in Afghanistan.

It has been reported that Tehran was financing and providing weaponry to Afghanistan's militant groups, specifically those groups fighting against the U.S. presence in the country. These new developments show that Iran has been increasing its operations in Afghanistan in an effort to gain influence with the contending insurgent factions and to hasten the departure of U.S. troops from the country.

On top of this, Iranian agents are dumping bags of cash in the laps of tribal leaders in Afghanistan's west, clearly intended to purchase influence and remind them: The Americans may be here for 10 or 20 years, but we will be here forever.

A call for a Cease-fire

The internment will begin on Monday with Royal family members and then on Tuesday the first President Daoud Khan in a State funeral, the following has come from Prince Nadir tonight, that was announced in the Afghan media today.

We, the surviving family members of Shaied Mohammad Daoud Khan, the first president of Afghanistan, call for an immediate weeklong ceasefire throughout our beloved country to remember and honor the memory of eighteen members of our family and the million and a half Afghan martyrs who have since lost their lives for the protection of the holy religion of Islam and for the freedom of Afghanistan. We pray for their souls.

We believe that the sacrifices made by all Afghans and their families should be recognized, honored and respected. We call upon all Afghans and the international community to show goodwill and to commit to our request.

Let us put our guns to the side, honor those who have suffered the loss of their loved ones during this painful thirty year struggle, and pray for the souls of our brothers and sisters who have made us proud to be Afghan.

Shaied Daoud Khan and countless other brave Afghans gave up their precious lives for a better future for the next generation.. As we pray for their souls, let us stand together to fulfill their hopes and dreams of a peaceful, united and prosperous Afghanistan.

On the eve of this new year (1388), as we mourn and release our family and all our martyrs back into the ground of this soil from which they’ve come and to which they return, let us bury with them the seeds of an intention; that this cease-fire be turned into the flowering of a lasting peace. In so doing, may they rest at peace and bring peace upon us all, at last.
A statement from the families of Shaied Daoud Khan and his brother Shaied Naim Khan.

Sentenced for 20 years for downloading a human rights article

A 23 year old reporter for a local newspaper (Jahaan Naw) and a journalism student from Afghanistan has been sentenced for 20 years in prison for allegedly circulating an article about women's rights.

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, had hoped that Afghanistan's top judges would quash his conviction for lack of evidence, or because he was tried in secret and convicted without a defense lawyer, Afzal Nooristani, to submit so much as a word in his defense.

Since he was arrested, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has spent almost 18 months in prison. During this time, he was sentenced to death in 5 minutes by Enayatullah Baleegh for allegedly downloading and distributing a report criticizing the treatment of women under Islamic Law. The motion was later withdrawn due to international pressure, giving Kambaksh the right to appeal the sentence.

That appeal however was quashed and Mr Kambaksh's case has been passed to the prosecutors' office for "execution of the sentence", which means he could be moved to Kabul's notorious Pul-e Charkhi prison, or north to Mazar-i-Sharif, where he was first found guilty. Mr Kambaksh’s lawer has even been threatened with murder.

Mr Kambaksh's case has highlighted the tension between the voices of conservative Islam in Afghanistan and the liberal international backers of President Karzai. Mr Karzai is left in a difficult position - not wanting to appear to bow to international pressure in what is a strongly Islamic country. Mr Kambaksh's best hope is now a presidential pardon, which will force president Hamid Karzai to choose between fundamentalists in his government and the rule of law.

The Need To Win

Tim Pendry sends his personal reflections on Afghanistan which are of interest.

YOU CAN FIND THEM ON THIS LINK

100 Taliban Killed- Hundreds Displaced

US and Afghan forces report that more than 100 Taliban members have been killed in the Southern province of Helmand. Three days of fierce fighting began after patrols came under attack from Taliban forces. The exact number of casualties is still not known.


However the attack has meant that more people have had to flee their homes in search of refuge in other parts of the country. The growing number of refugees in Kabul further highlights the deepening conflict between Taliban and foreign forces. Many people originally fled their homes in Helmand in search of temporary shelter in the Southern provincial capitals of Kandahar and Lashkar Gar, but now more are moving further into Kabul because of incresed instability and security dangers in the South.


The fighting has made it impossible for civilians to remain in their villages, which are used by Taliban as covers for attacking NATO and US forces. This is followed then by further airstrikes by allied forces on the villages where civilians are living. People are accused of co-operating with Taliban by the police, government and foreign forces and then further interegated by Taliban who claim that they are spies. As one man put it "We are under the feet of two powers."


Stopping insurgent forces is essential but the deaths of civilians and the uprooting of Afghan peoples lives must not be part of the process.