Afghanistan
Covering events from January - December 2002
AFGHANISTAN
President of the Transitional Administration:
Hamid Karzai
Death penalty: retentionist
International Criminal
Court: not signed
There were significant improvements in the human
rights situation following the establishment of a new government in late 2001.
Reconstruction of institutions responsible for enforcing the rule of law was
ongoing, but essential institutions, including the police, prisons and
judiciary, were undermined by a lack of resources and a tenuous security
situation. Grave human rights abuses and armed conflict continued. Hundreds of
people were arbitrarily detained and held in poor prison conditions. Impunity
remained entrenched and perpetrators of human rights violations largely went
unpunished. Violence continued with factional fighting between regional
commanders and armed militias. Mass graves were discovered. Despite the lifting
of restrictions on their freedom of movement, women feared for their security
and were subjected to acts of violence, rape, public harassment and
intimidation. Civilian deaths mounted as a result of continued US-led military
air strikes and ground operations. Ethnic violence and retribution killings left
a vast number of people internally displaced. Around 1.9 million refugees
returned from neighbouring states, some under pressure from host countries, to
live in an unsustainable and unstable post-conflict environment. The death
penalty was imposed after trials that fell short of international fair trial
standards.
Background
The six-month Interim Administration of Afghanistan inaugurated in December
2001 was in place until the convening of a traditional grand assembly or
Emergency Loya Jirga in June. The Loya Jirga, originally intended
to accord national legitimacy to the peace process, failed to open up space for
democratic debate and entrenched in power many against whom there were
allegations of massive human rights abuses. Reports of political intimidation,
violence and insecurity surrounded the Loya Jirga. The Afghan monarch,
Mohammed Zahir Shah, withdrew his candidacy shortly before the Loya Jirga
to support Hamid Karzai, who was elected President. The new Transitional
Administration differed only slightly from the Interim Administration, retaining
several powerful cabinet posts in the hands of those from the Tajik-dominated
United Front.
In February Civil Aviation Minister Abdul Rahman was killed
at Kabul airport and in July Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir was shot dead in
Kabul. In September President Karzai survived an assassination attempt in
Kandahar.
The central government had no real control outside Kabul
following the departure of the Taleban, resulting in increased
lawlessness, factional fighting and repression, and continued human rights
abuses. Despite numerous calls to expand the UN-mandated peace-keeping
operation, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was only present
in Kabul.
The administration was mandated to form a constitution, army
and legal system before the election of a new government through the
Constitutional Loya Jirga by December 2003. However, efforts to rebuild
Afghanistan's devastated infrastructure, institutions and civil society were
hampered by the precarious security situation. Many people in the country called
for an increase in aid and rapid fulfilment of promises for assistance from
donors.
Impunity and the administration of justice
Impunity
remained entrenched. Reports of violence, torture, including rape, and
ill-treatment by armed militia, regional commanders and police continued. US
coalition forces allegedly funded and rearmed militias and those regional
commanders crucial to helping their "war on terror" despite concerns about
abuses by these groups. AI received information about "informal" or "private"
jails supervised by commanders not authorized to carry out such activities,
raising fears about the arbitrary nature of detention by parallel systems of
"law enforcement" frequently run by armed militias outside the ambit of the rule
of law.
The police, prisons and other institutions essential for the
implementation of the rule of law were hampered by a shortage of funds, lack of
training for personnel, and a lack of command and control structures that would
help to ensure accountability. Extortion and arbitrary detention by police,
fuelled by a lack of pay, were reported in many parts of the country. Torture
during police interrogation was common. People were detained for long periods
without a court appearance. Living conditions for detainees and working
conditions for prison wardens were poor. The German Project for Support of the
Police in Afghanistan provided support and coordination for training a new
police force. However, by the end of the year no donor had stepped forward to
provide such support for the reconstruction of the prison system.
- In November Afghan police used excessive force and fired into a crowd of
unarmed students demonstrating for better living conditions at Kabul University.
At least two students were reportedly killed and more than 20 injured.
- "Nasir", a man in his mid-twenties, was arrested in April and held in Kabul
Central Jail. During interrogation he was beaten and received electric shocks on
his toes. He was held in detention for seven months without a court
appearance.
In November a judicial commission was established to
oversee the rebuilding of the dilapidated justice system but had made little
progress by the end of the year.
AI welcomed the establishment of the
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in June, although lack of
political support from sections of the central government, and administrative
and organizational difficulties, meant it failed to make significant progress.
The AIHRC's mandate included overseeing a process of national consultation on
transitional justice, instituting a program of human rights education, and
monitoring and investigating human rights abuses. The UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan, mandated to monitor and investigate human rights abuses, was often
silent or appeared inactive on these issues.
Little action was taken to
bring to justice perpetrators of human rights abuses committed over the past 23
years or to identify a transitional justice strategy on war crimes. Military
commanders suspected of past grave human rights abuses were integrated into the
Transitional Administration.
The first and only attempt to date to bring
to justice a former Mujahideen commander accused of grave human rights
violations fell far short of international fair trial standards, highlighting
the inadequacies of the current justice system to cope with such cases. Abdullah
Shah, a commander from Paghman, was brought to trial in September, and later
called for a retrial in October. No defence lawyer was present. Twenty-three
written complaints formed the bulk of the evidence but there was no opportunity
for cross-examination. Following the retrial Abdullah Shah was sentenced to
death. President Karzai had not made the final decision on his death sentence by
the end of the year.
In the debate about what to do regarding mass graves
in Afghanistan, important questions were raised about the need for effective
witness protection programs and about what should be prioritized for
investigation.
The mass grave in Dasht-e-Leili, near Shibarghan desert,
contained the remains of hundreds of Taleban prisoners who reportedly
suffocated to death while being transported in sealed containers from Kunduz to
Shibarghan prison near Mazar-e-Sharif in 2001. In May the UN conducted a
preliminary investigation at the site with the assistance of the
non-governmental organization (NGO) Physicians for Human Rights. Three bodies
from the grave were exhumed and autopsies conducted, which found injuries
consistent with death by asphyxiation. The United Front under the command of
General Abdul Rashid Dostum was implicated in these deaths by witnesses. Several
of the witnesses were themselves reportedly later harassed and subjected to
torture, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killing. The UN was called on to
protect the site until a full investigation could be completed, following
accusations that evidence had been disturbed.
Death
penalty
At least five people were sentenced to death, charged with
murder, by courts whose procedures did not conform to international fair trial
standards. No executions were known to have been carried out.
Women's
rights
Taleban decrees that restricted women's movement to the
home were lifted with the inauguration of the Interim Administration. However,
sexual violence by armed factions and public harassment linked to cultural
beliefs continued to restrict women's movement, expression and dress. Fears for
their personal security prevented women from participating fully in civil
society and denied them the opportunity to exercise their basic rights. This was
heightened in areas outside Kabul, where security was administered by local and
rival commanders. In Mazar-e-Sharif, rape, other sexual abuse and violence
against Pashtun women were reported following the fall of the
Taleban.
Repressive decrees that restricted women's movement and
participation in civil society were proclaimed in Herat, an area governed by
Ismail Khan, and women's NGOs increasingly suffered discrimination and
intimidation.
Discrimination against women in the form of political
intimidation was widely reported. Seven women school teachers from Pul-e-Chumri
were dismissed because of their political activity during the Loya Jirga.
The former Women's Affairs Minister, Sima Samar, was intimidated for her
outspokenness in the Loya Jirga. She was summoned to a Kabul court in
June on apparently politically motivated blasphemy charges that were later
dropped.
Violence against women by both state and non-state actors
continued. The violence took the form of rape, forced marriages, kidnappings,
and traditional practices discriminatory towards women in settling tribal
disputes. Women were unable to seek legal redress through the judicial system,
which remained ill-equipped and deeply discriminatory. The traditional
jirga/shura, an informal justice system, continued to operate, often
resulting in discriminatory outcomes. The majority of women in prisons were
detained for violating social, behavioural and religious
codes.
Killings of civilians and reported violations of
international humanitarian law
US-led military action in Afghanistan
targeting the Taleban and al-Qa'ida continued throughout the year.
An unknown number of civilians were reportedly killed during the US-led bombing
campaign that began in October 2001. The exact number of casualties was not
independently verified owing to a lack of independent investigations and public
information. As a result, a lack of accountability for the civilian death toll
caused by US-led military operations continued.
- On 1 July an estimated 48 civilians died and more than 100 were injured when
US warplanes bombed a wedding party in Kakarak village, Dehrawad district in
Uruzgan province. The US Department of Defense first blamed an errant bomb for
the civilian deaths. US officials later stated that the warplanes responded when
they came under attack; local witnesses said it was celebratory gunfire, a
tradition in Afghan weddings. The US authorities admitted that civilians were
killed and dispatched an investigation team, but the results were not made
public.
Civilians were also reportedly killed by armed Afghan groups
engaged in disputes over territorial control in eastern and northern
Afghanistan.
US-led ground forces continued to raid villages and
reportedly detained civilians mistaken for al-Qa'ida or Taleban
soldiers, and failed to disclose full information on the circumstances of the
arrests.
- On 17 March, at least 31 men were arbitrarily arrested and detained when US
soldiers raided a compound near Kandahar. They were subsequently released when
it was established that they were civilians. The detainees alleged they were
ill-treated by US soldiers. They said that they were punched and kicked while
their hands were tied behind their backs and hoods placed over their heads, and
that US soldiers walked on their backs as the detainees lay on their stomachs.
It was alleged that the detainees had their body hair shaved by US military
officers. For the next few days between 10 and 18 detainees were held in cages
measuring 5m by 10m, with buckets for toilets.
Some of the hundreds of
Afghans and men of other nationalities who had been detained were transferred to
the US base in Guantnamo Bay, Cuba. They were held there in virtual limbo with
neither prisoner of war status nor the protection afforded to criminal suspects
under international human rights standards. (See also USA
entry.)
Prisoners associated with the conflict
Hundreds
of suspected members of the Taleban and al-Qa'ida were arbitrarily
detained by Afghan authorities and remained in prisons throughout the country
without charge or trial. There were serious concerns about reported
ill-treatment of these prisoners. Reports of overcrowding, inadequate medical
treatment and food shortages exacerbated fears about poor prison conditions. A
series of releases of detainees began in April, which helped to relieve
overcrowding.
Ethnically motivated violence and internally displaced
persons
Fears over ethnic violence and retribution killings kept
thousands of refugees from returning to their homes. People fled their homes in
northern Afghanistan where violence and factional fighting plagued the region
after the fall of the Taleban. Ethnic Pashtuns faced widespread abuses,
including killings, sexual violence, extortion, looting and the burning of
houses. The three main armed groups in the north and their militias were
implicated in the violence.
Dozens of such incidents were reported in
Balkh, Samangan and Sar-e-Pul in January and February. Pashtuns were also
reportedly attacked in Badghis and Kunduz and in Herat province. Numerous
attempts by the authorities and the UN to bring peace and security in the north
were undermined, and Pashtun communities and displaced families remained
vulnerable to persecution. Families fleeing human rights abuses and violence
contributed to an estimated 700,000 internally displaced people within
Afghanistan.
Refugees and asylum-seekers
Up to two million
refugees returned to Afghanistan following the collapse of the Taleban
government, despite ongoing conflict and insecurity in the country. The
situation in Afghanistan was not conducive to the promotion of voluntary
repatriation.
More than 1.6 million Afghans returned from Pakistan and
over 350,000 returned from Iran, many under the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation program. Erosion of protection standards in Iran
and Pakistan, and considerable pressure on the refugee population to leave,
undermined the voluntariness of return. Non-neighbouring states took advantage
of this to return Afghan asylum-seekers. Australia signed a bilateral agreement
with Afghanistan's Interim Administration and the United Kingdom and France
signed tripartite agreements with the Transitional Administration and UNHCR
offering cash incentives for the voluntary return of Afghan refugees and
asylum-seekers.
The lack of infrastructure and functioning health and
education systems, and continued human rights violations, insecurity and drought
continued to be major problems affecting the reintegration of the large number
of people returning. In June UNHCR reported a shortfall of funds for the return
operation. This raised serious concerns about the sustainability of returns and
called into question the implementation of the principle of
non-refoulement.
Humanrights
UN ORGAN
Relief
Amnesty
