کابل پرس

Prominent policewoman another casualty for women's rights in Afghanistan

Amnesty International — 2013-09-17T15:52:08Z

The killing of one of Afghanistan's most senior woman police officers is the latest setback for women's rights in Afghanistan, Amnesty International said.

Lieutenant Negar, 38, died on Monday morning in hospital after two unidentified gunmen on a motorbike shot her in the neck on Sunday near police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the capital of restive Helmand province. She had been an outspoken advocate for the protection of women who challenge the use of violence against women and girls.

Other women in the public eye – including her predecessor, an Indian writer and two representatives of the Ministry of Women's Affairs – have been killed in Afghanistan in the last year, and a woman MP was recently held hostage by the Taliban.

“Women's rights have come a long way in recent years, and may have reached a tipping point. There are more women in positions of authority, increased access to education, and welcome new laws to protect women and girls from violence. But as Afghan women gain voice and power, they face new and increasing threats. Some defenders of women's rights say they are once again beginning to self-censor, fearing new reprisals,” said Polly Truscott, Deputy Asia Pacific Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“At the same time we fear that Afghan and foreign leaders are becoming inured to sheer numbers of attacks on high-profile women, combined with the every day violence against women and girls, but there is so much more that can be done to protect and promote women's rights in Afghanistan.”

President Karzai passed the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law by decree in 2009. However, not only are many of its provisions still not fully implemented, but since then some have attempted to scrap the law altogether.

“The Afghan authorities must do everything in their power, with international assistance, to protect women's rights,” said Truscott.

“This must include the full implementation of the 2009 law to eliminate violence against women, and the training of authorities at all levels to ensure it affects public policy in practice.”

According to Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, in recent years, violence against women “is a widespread and ever increasing phenomenon” across the country.

For well over a year, there have been many reported cases of beatings, kidnappings and killings of women and girls across Afghanistan – particularly in rural areas.

Women and girls are attacked by their partners, relatives, some security personnel, and armed groups, including the Taliban, sometimes in broad daylight.

“Violent crimes against all women, including the shooting of Lieutenant Negar must be swiftly and fully investigated, and whoever is responsible brought to justice in fair trials and without the death penalty,” said Truscott.

Afghanistan: Talks with the Taliban must focus on justice and human rights

Amnesty International — 2013-06-19T17:29:28Z

Human rights, including women's rights, must be integral to any peace deal with the Taliban said Amnesty International today as the USA announced that it was to start direct peace talks with Afghanistan's Taliban armed group.

The call comes as Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai announced that his country would boycott the peace talks unless they were “Afghan-led”, and on the heels of NATO handing over responsibility for security in the country to Afghan forces.
The first meeting is due to take place imminently in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban have recently set up an office.

“Any agreement with the Taliban must include clear red-line commitments that they will guarantee the rights of all Afghan women, men and children,” said Polly Truscott, deputy Asia-Pacific Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“The peace process must not allow members of the Taliban or anyone else to be granted immunity from prosecution for serious human rights abuses and war crimes.”
The peace talks must uphold the rule of law, and not deny justice to victims of human rights abuses and war crimes – whether perpetrated by the pro-government forces or insurgent groups. Human rights and justice should not be sacrificed for the sake of military and political expediency, Amnesty International said.

The organization also called on the Afghan government to repeal the 2007 National Stability and Reconciliation Bill. Under this legislation, people who committed serious human rights abuses during the past 30 years – including massacres, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, and public executions – would be immune from criminal prosecution. Taliban fighters who agree to cooperate with the Afghan government would also be immune from prosecution.

Afghan civil society groups – in particular women's groups – have demanded that the Afghan people's human rights and well-being not be compromised in any reconciliation talks with the Taliban. But their voices have largely been marginalized.
Only nine women have been appointed to the 70-member High Peace Council, the Afghan government's body charged with leading proposed peace and reconciliation talks with the Taliban and other armed groups. And even these women are sidelined from key peace negotiations the council is undertaking.

“The inclusion of women in the peace talks must be genuine and meaningful, with their priority concerns fully reflected, in line with UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security,” said Truscott.
The Taliban have had a terrible record of human rights abuses both while they were in government and as insurgents. Today in areas under their control, as when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban have severely curtailed the rights of girls and women, including the rights to education, work, freedom of movement, political participation and representation.

As insurgents, Taliban fighters have targeted and killed civilians whom they consider to be “spies” or “collaborators” of the Afghan government and the international forces, and have carried out abductions, often killing their captives.
The Taliban have also made little effort to distinguish between civilian and military targets and have launched hundreds of indiscriminate attacks, including suicide bombings and roadside bomb attacks, in which hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed or injured.

Civilian casualties have increased by 24 per cent in the first five months of 2013, with 3,092 civilians killed or wounded, according to the UN.
Insurgent groups were responsible for 74 per cent of casualties in the reporting period, with their use of improvised explosive devices particularly to blame.

Afghanistan: Urgent need for justice after killing of female official

Amnesty International — 2012-07-13T18:13:39Z

Background

The assassination of a prominent female official is a major setback to the fragile advances in human rights in Afghanistan, Amnesty International said as it urged the government to bring those responsible to justice.

Hanifa Safi, Director of the Ministry of Women Affairs in Laghman province, eastern Afghanistan was targeted in Mehtarlam city when a magnetic bomb was placed on the vehicle in which she, her daughter and husband were travelling.

Safi and her husband were killed and 11 people injured including her son, daughter and driver.

The killing of Safi comes shortly after video footage surfaced of a young Afghan woman, named in media reports as 22-year old Najiba, being shot dead on “charges” of adultery, reportedly by a Taleban insurgent.

Laghman provincial authorities have accused the Taleban of today's attack, but so far no-one has accepted responsibility.

“Hanifa Safi was clearly a target of individuals or groups determined to undermine the fragile gains made for women's rights in Afghanistan.” said Horia Mosadiq, Amnesty International's Afghanistan Researcher.

“This is not the first such incident - a number of Afghan women in public roles have been assassinated over the past 10 years.

“The targeting and killing of civilians is an appalling act that violates the right to life and constitutes a crime under international law.”

Hanifa Safi is the second provincial head of women's affairs to be killed since Safiye Amajan, former head of the Kandahar province women's department, was shot dead outside her home in 2006 by members of an armed group thought to be linked to the Taleban.

High-profile Afghan women and human rights defenders are routinely attacked.

“The typical pattern which follows such incidents is failure by the authorities to adequately investigate the case and bring perpetrators to justice,” said Horia Mosadiq.

In the Tokyo International Donors Conference for Afghanistan on 8 July, the Afghan government committed to build a stable state based on the “rule of law, effective and independent judiciary and good governance”.

“Such commitments will remain meaningless if those responsible for violence against women in Afghanistan are able to escape justice,” said Mosadiq.

“The Afghan government - with international support - must fully implement the National Action Plan for the Women and the 2009 law on Elimination of Violence against Women.”

In May this year, Lal Bibi, a young girl from Kunduz province, revealed that she had been gang raped by a local police commander and his men.

In the last ten years, the Afghan government has largely failed to bring the perpetrators of human rights abuses, particularly against women - including those in public life - to justice. In the cases of Lal Bibi, Najiba and Safiye Amajan and others, the perpetrators have yet to be arrested and prosecuted.

“The Afghan government must - in line with the country's international legal obligations as well as its Constitution - protect all Afghan people, including women human rights defenders targeted for their work,” said Mosadiq.

Amnesty International said that as the Afghan government pursues a political settlement with the Taleban and other insurgent groups, the Afghan government and its allies must ensure that human rights, including women's rights, are not compromised or traded away in expedient deals.

Background

Afghan women in public life and women human rights defenders are at the frontline in protecting human rights in the country. They face intimidation and attacks, particularly by powerful elements in society, some of them members of the government, others allied with the Taleban and other anti-government forces.

Several Afghan women, some who have held high-profile positions, have been attacked since the ousting of the Taleban in 2001:

In March 2010, a female member of the national Afghan Parliament, Fawzia Kofi, was injured by gunfire, attacked by unknown gunmen while travelling from Jalalabad to Kabul.

In April 2010, Nida Khyani, a female Provincial Council member, was left in critical condition after being attacked in a drive-by shooting in Pul-e-Khumri, the provincial capital of Baghlan in northern Afghanistan.

In April 2009, Sitara Achekzai, a member of the Kandahar provincial council, was killed in Kandahar. The Taleban claimed responsibility for her death alleging that she was “spying” for the Americans.

In September 2008, Taleban gunmen shot dead Malalai Kakar, Afghanistan's most senior policewoman. She was head of Kandahar's department for crimes against women.

In 2007, Zakia Zaki, director of Radio Peace in Parwan province, and known to be vocal against warlords, was shot dead while sleeping aside her two young sons. Zaki had previously received several death threats after criticising local warlords and the Taleban.

In September 2006, Safiye Amajan, then the Kandahar provincial head of the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kandahar, was repeatedly shot outside her home by gunmen on a motorcycle reportedly linked to the Taleban.

Taleban leader's orders to reduce civilian casualties “hypocritical”

Amnesty International — 2011-11-09T18:29:00Z

Claims from Afghanistan's Taleban leadership that the movement is trying to minimise civilian casualties do not match the group's actions, Amnesty International said today.

In a message to mark the religious festival of Eid, the Taleban leader, Mullah Omar, issued a detailed list of steps his commanders should take to stem the rising number of civilian deaths, the vast majority of which are caused by the Taleban and other insurgent groups.

Mullah Omar implied that the majority of those casualties were caused by Afghans being caught in the crossfire between the Taleban and international forces. He made no mention of Taleban attacks that have targeted civilians or have indiscriminately harmed large numbers of civilians.

“The Afghan people would welcome any genuine effort to reduce civilian casualties,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director.

“However, Mullah Omar's message seems hypocritical, as it is more about propaganda and less about actually protecting civilians. He suggests that the majority of civilian casualties are accidental and could be avoided if Afghans kept away from foreign troops.

“He doesn't order his commanders to halt targeted assassinations, or stop using suicide bombers or improvised explosive devices in civilian areas.”
Although civilian casualties caused by NATO have dropped, aerial bombardment, particularly from unmanned drones, has caused public resentment.

Recent UN figures show that insurgents are responsible for 80 per cent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Amnesty International has documented how the Taleban and other insurgent groups have regularly hid behind civilians, knowingly putting them in danger, and have increasingly attacked busy civilian areas, including hospitals, schools, and mosques. The Taleban killed a headmaster of a girl's school in May this year, and insurgents have also attacked and killed female MPs.

There are also reports that the Taleban, as well as other groups, are increasingly using children as fighters or even as suicide bombers.

The insurgents have also stepped up the planting of IEDs. And they have targeted both Afghan civilians working for the government and their families. Their victims include the 11 year old son of a policeman who was hanged as a “spy”.

In his Eid message, Mullah Omar ordered his fighters to stop threatening civilians, report civilian casualties to their superiors, investigate reported violations and punish those found guilty of abuses.

However, Sam Zarifi says much more needs to be done. “The Taleban leader seems to suggest that certain categories of civilians are legitimate targets. This is simply not true.” he said.

“International humanitarian law stipulates that nobody should target civilians, regardless of their political allegiance. The Taleban and other armed groups in Afghanistan are familiar with the laws of war and use them when they need to, but their current strategy seems to rely on systematically violating these laws by jeopardizing civilians.”

Amnesty International has called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the conflict in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Istanbul conference: Regional cooperation urged to defend rights

Amnesty International — 2011-11-01T18:51:20Z

The Afghan government must work with neighbouring countries to protect human rights while facing an increasingly bloody insurgency, Amnesty International said today as a conference in Istanbul brought together officials from across the region.

Heads of state from Afghanistan and Pakistan joined other regional officials and key partners – including the USA and NATO – at the conference to discuss a road map for Afghanistan's security handover, planned for 2014.

“The security of Afghan people is inextricably intertwined with that of the wider region, and any road map must ensure improved protection and promotion of human rights across the region,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Programme Director.

“Particularly, the stability and prosperity of the region depends on authorities on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border taking action to prioritize human rights – especially women's rights – in the run-up to and after the NATO handover.”

Amnesty International's recent assessment of the state of human rights in Afghanistan shows that some progress has been made in the decade since the US-led military intervention began. This includes enacting new human rights laws, a decrease in discrimination against women and better access to education and health care.

But progress has faltered on justice and policing in the country, and in improving conditions for the more than 450,000 people displaced by the conflict. Civilian deaths are on the rise, with the vast majority of civilian casualties now attributed to the Taleban and other insurgent groups. Afghans living in areas heavily affected by the insurgency have seen a serious deterioration in their living conditions.

While NATO forces have committed to build up the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces to protect Afghan people, serious and persistent challenges remain.

A UN report last month documented widespread torture in detention centres run by the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security. Amnesty International has for years raised concerns about such ill-treatment of detainees.

Peace negotiations with the Taleban and other insurgent groups have also been shrouded in secrecy, with the Afghan people, including civil society, human rights activists and even the Afghan parliament, not adequately informed about progress.

“If peace talks with the insurgents are to result in a genuine, legitimate process, more transparency is crucial. It is unacceptable that Afghanistan's own population is kept in the dark about the negotiations,” said Sam Zarifi.

“It is also essential that women's rights are not traded away during reconciliation talks with the Taleban and that Afghan women are meaningfully represented at the negotiating table.”

Amnesty International has outlined key areas where Afghan authorities and their international partners must stand firm in negotiations, to defend the limited improvements in human rights in recent years.

These include upholding advances in women's rights, as well as ensuring freedom of expression for all, as the country has seen a burgeoning community of independent journalists in recent years. The Afghan government must also work with the International Criminal Court to investigate those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan.

“It is absolutely essential for the road map drawn up by Afghanistan and its partners to draw a red line around the human rights improvements made so far. These important advances are non-negotiable and must form the basis for future progress,” said Sam Zarifi.

A conference in Bonn next month will bring together hundreds of delegates to discuss the international community's role in promoting Afghan stability after the troop pull-out in 2014.

Afghanistan: NATO Summit must protect basic human rights

Amnesty International — 2010-11-18T14:52:07Z

Amnesty International is urging NATO leaders to protect human rights and ensure security for the people of Afghanistan as they prepare for the 2010 NATO Lisbon Summit.

The organisation has sent letters to NATO leaders urging them to improve accountability for Afghan and international military forces, tackle arbitrary detention and torture and ensure human rights guarantees during any talks with the Taleban.

“As NATO begins to discuss its withdrawal from Afghanistan, it's crucial to explain to the Afghan people exactly how the international community will follow through on its promise to protect and promote their human rights,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Programme Director.

“These promises seem about to be discarded without fanfare, but the need for improving the human rights situation in Afghanistan is even more urgent now”.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that the 2010 Summit will mark a fundamentally new phase in NATO's operation in Afghanistan, as Allies will launch the process by which the Afghan government will take the lead for security throughout the country.

In letters to NATO leaders, Amnesty International has identified three concrete steps to improve governance, uphold the rule of law and human rights that would enhance security and stability for the Afghan people.

1. Improve the accountability of international and Afghan military and security forces
The Taleban and other insurgent groups are responsible for the vast majority of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, but that does not excuse the continuing lack of accountability and compensation for casualties caused by NATO and Afghan forces.

The current lack of accountability fuels and fosters resentment among Afghans that international forces are above the law and unaccountable for their actions, particularly when it comes to civilian casualties.

NATO continues to lack a coherent, credible mechanism for investigating civilian casualties. Non-binding guidelines adopted in June 2010 by NATO regarding civilian compensation need to be implemented as part of the existing rules of engagement.

2. Ensure no arbitrary detention or transfers to torture
The United States continues to arrest and detain hundreds of Afghans without proper judicial process. NATO countries continue to hand over detainees to the Afghan intelligence agency, National Directorate for Security (NDS), which has record of perpetrating human rights violations, with impunity.

The increase in the scope of fighting in Afghanistan as a result of the troop surge earlier this year is likely to lead to a rise in the number of people detained. The US government should immediately grant all detainees held by US, whether in Bagram, Guantánamo Bay or any other US detention facility, access to legal counsel, relatives, doctors, and to consular representatives, without delay and regularly thereafter.

The Afghan government and its international partners should seek mechanisms to ensure fair trials for those in detention, including the option of mixed tribunals to try those apprehended in counter-insurgency operations by either Afghan or international forces.

3. Guarantee human rights protections during reconciliation talks with the Taleban
Amnesty International calls on delegates to the NATO Summit to ensure that human rights, including women's rights, are not traded away or compromised during any political process, including reconciliation talks with the Taleban in Afghanistan and that, in line with the demands of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, Afghan women are meaningfully represented in the planning stages and during the reconciliation talks.

“The implementation of these three steps would help signal that the interests of the Afghan people are the focus of the NATO governments and the international community,” said Sam Zarifi. .

The NATO Summit will convene in Lisbon on 18-19 November 2010. The Summit provides members with the opportunity to evaluate and shape the strategic direction for NATO activities, launch major new initiatives and forge partnerships with non-NATO countries. There have only been 24 Summits since NATO was established in 1949.

Taleban should be prosecuted for war crimes in Afghanistan

Amnesty International — 2010-08-10T11:52:29Z

AFGHAN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES RISE 31 PER CENT IN FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2010

The Taleban and other insurgent groups should be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes, Amnesty International said today, following the release of a UN report showing a rise in targeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan by anti-government fighters.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan leapt by 31% in the first half of 2010, driven largely by the Taleban and other insurgents' rising use of improvised explosive devices, and their increased targeting of civilians for assassination, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Attacks by the Taleban and other anti-government forces accounted for more than 76% of civilian casualties and 72% of deaths.

In the first half of 2010, the executions and assassinations of civilians by the Taleban and other insurgent groups increased by over 95% to 183 recorded deaths compared to the same time last year. The victims were usually accused of supporting the government.

“The Taleban and other insurgents are becoming far bolder in their systematic killing of civilians. Targeting of civilians is a war crime, plain and simple” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director. “The Afghan people are crying out for justice, and have a right to accountability and compensation.”

“There is no practical justice system in Afghanistan now that can address the lack of accountability. So the Afghan government should ask the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have been committed by all parties to the conflict.”

Afghanistan is a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Amnesty |nternational has been told that tribal elders in various villages of Kandahar , Zabul, and Khost provinces have been fleeing rural areas, fearing systematic targeting by the Taleban.

“The elders are threatened and if they don't cooperate with the Taleban they are killed,” said a Kandahar journalist. “Then the Taliban will just tell the village that the elder was an American spy and that is why he was killed.” The journalist asked not to be identified out of fear of Taleban retaliation.

Amnesty International is urging the international and Afghan forces to ensure they comply with their legal obligation to protect civilians from harm, especially those who provide them with information about anti-government groups or cooperate during military operations.

According to UNAMA, NATO-led and government forces caused 29% fewer casualties than the previous year, which has been attributed to policy changes placing greater priority on civilian protection, borne out in a 64% decline in casualties caused by aerial attacks.

Amnesty International welcomes the reported drop in deaths caused by NATO-led forces, but sounded a note of caution. “Pro-government forces were responsible for at least 223 deaths in six months, and NATO still has no coherent way of accounting for casualties,” said Sam Zarifi. “Special Forces in Afghanistan are still failing to be open about their actions when being called to account over civilian casualties.”

The UNAMA report singles out Special Forces in Afghanistan for acting without accountability, and calls for greater transparency over their operations, and for more information on forces are now operating under a new integrated command structure, so that casualties can be properly investigated and justice delivered to victims.

Amnesty International report focusing on the deaths of two brothers in a Kandahar night raid in 2008: ‘Getting away with murder? The impunity of international forces in Afghanistan '

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA11/001/2009/en

Amnesty International background paper and releases on the Kunduz airstrike of 4 September 2009

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/afghanistan-german-government-must-investigate-deadly-kunduz-airstrikes-20091030
Amnesty International Report, 10 June 2010: 'As if Hell fell on me': The human rights crisis in northwest Pakistan http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA33/004/2010/en

AFGHAN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES RISE 31 PER CENT IN FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2010

UNAMA

10 August 2010 - Tactics of the Taliban and other Anti-Government Elements (AGEs) are behind a 31 percent increase in conflict-related Afghan civilian casualties in the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said today in releasing its 2010 Mid-Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.

Among those killed or injured by the Taliban and other AGEs were 55 per cent more children than in 2009, along with six per cent more women. Casualties attributed to Pro-Government Forces (PGF) fell 30 per cent during the same period, driven by a 64 per cent decline in deaths and injuries caused by aerial attacks.

“Afghan children and women are increasingly bearing the brunt of this conflict. They are being killed and injured in their homes and communities in greater numbers than ever before,” said Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

From 1 January to 30 June 2010, UNAMA Human Rights Unit documented 3,268 civilian casualties including 1,271 deaths and 1,997 injuries. AGEs were responsible for 2,477 casualties (76 per cent of all casualties, up 53 per cent from 2009) while 386 were attributed to PGF activities (12 per cent of all casualties, down from 30 per cent in 2009).

Analysis by UNAMA Human Rights Unit identified two critical developments that increased harm to civilians in the first six months of 2010 compared to 2009: AGEs used a greater number of larger and more sophisticated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) throughout the country; and, the number of civilians assassinated and executed by AGEs rose by more than 95 per cent and included public executions of children.
“The devastating human impact of these events underscores that, nine years into the conflict, measures to protect Afghan civilians effectively and to minimize the impact of the conflict on basic human rights are more urgent than ever. All those concerned must do more to protect civilians and comply with their legal obligations not to attack civilians,” said Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for UNAMA.

IEDs and suicide attacks killed 557 Afghans and injured 1,137 in the first six months of 2010. IEDs alone accounted for 29 per cent of all civilian deaths in the period, including 74 children, a 155 per cent increase in IED-related deaths of children in the same span in 2009.

Aerial attacks by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) remained the most harmful PGF tactic, causing 69 of the 223 civilian deaths attributed to PGF in the first six months of 2010 (31 per cent) and injuring 45 Afghan civilians. However, civilian deaths caused by PGF aerial attacks decreased 64 per cent from the same period in 2009, reflecting growing implementation of ISAF's July 2009 Tactical Directive regulating the use of air strikes and other measures to reduce civilian casualties.

On a regional basis, civilian casualties grew the most in southern Afghanistan in the first six months of 2010. More than half of assassinations and executions occurred in the southern region, where more than one hundred Afghan civilians were killed in such incidents. Overall, conflict-related civilian deaths in the south increased by 43 per cent. Civilians assassinated and executed included teachers, nurses, doctors, tribal elders, community leaders, provincial and district officials, other civilians including children, and civilians working for international military forces and international organizations.

“This intensified pattern of assassinations and executions reinforced the widespread perception of Afghan civilians that they are becoming more and more the primary target in this period of conflict,” said Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

Releasing the 2010 Mid-Year Report, UNAMA underscored the 7 July 2010 statement of the United Nations Secretary-General that stressed ensuring greater compliance with international law by all concerned remains a “huge common challenge” in Afghanistan. Basic human rights and international humanitarian law principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that apply to all parties to an armed conflict, requiring them to minimize civilian loss of life and injury must be reinforced at this critical period.

UNAMA Human Rights Unit issued recommendations in the report including:

• The Taliban should withdraw all orders and statements calling for the killing of civilians; and, the Taliban and other AGEs should end the use of IEDs and suicide attacks, comply with international humanitarian law, cease acts of intimidation and killing including assassination, execution and abduction, fully respect citizens' freedom of movement and stop using civilians as human shields.
• International military forces should make more transparent their investigation and reporting on civilian casualties including on accountability; maintain and strengthen directives restricting aerial attacks and the use of night raids; coordinate investigation and reporting of civilian casualties with the Afghan Government to improve protection and accountability; improve compensation processes; and, improve transparency around any harm to civilians caused by Special Forces operations.
• The Afghan Government should create a public body to lead its response to major civilian casualty incidents and its interaction with international military forces and other key actors, ensure investigations include forensic components, ensure transparent and timely compensation to victims; and, improve accountability including discipline or prosecution for any Afghan National Security Forces personnel who unlawfully cause death or injury to civilians or otherwise violate the rights of Afghan citizens.

Open letter to delegates of the International Conference on Afghanistan, Kabul, 20 July 2010

Amnesty International — 2010-07-18T03:47:11Z

“Afghan women have the most to gain from peace and the most to lose from any form of reconciliation compromising women's human rights. There cannot be national security without women's security, there can be no peace when women's lives are fraught with violence, when our children can't go to schools, when we cannot step on the streets for fear of acid attacks.” Mary Akrami, Director of the Afghan Women Skills Development Centre, January 2010.

HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE GUARANTEED DURING RECONCILIATION TALKS WITH THE TALEBAN AND OTHER ARMED GROUPS

HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE GUARANTEED DURING RECONCILIATION TALKS WITH THE TALEBAN AND OTHER ARMED GROUPS

As plans for reconciliation and reintegration of armed groups, including the Taleban and Hezb-i-Islami, become consolidated at the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul on 20 July, Amnesty International calls on delegates to ensure that human rights are guaranteed and embedded in all reconciliation processes with the Taleban and other armed groups.

Afghan civil society groups, in particular women's groups, have loudly voiced their demand that any peace talks, or “reconciliation”, must not become euphemisms for bartering away the human rights of another generation of Afghans. Policymakers have to show that they will not sacrifice the well-being of the Afghan people at the altar of political and military expediency.

In the official communiqué, participants at the London Conference on Afghanistan in January 2010 welcomed the plans of the Government of Afghanistan “to offer an honourable place in society to those willing to renounce violence, participate in the free and open society and respect the principles that are enshrined in the Afghan constitution, cut ties with Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and pursue their political goals peacefully.” The Participants also welcomed the Afghan government's “commitment to reinvigorate Afghan-led reintegration efforts by developing and implementing an effective, inclusive, transparent and sustainable national Peace and Reintegration Programme”.

The resolution adopted at the conclusion of the National Consultative Peace Jirga held in 24 June 2010, noted the “People of Afghanistan demand a just peace which can guarantee the rights of all citizens, including women and children. For the purpose of social justice, the Jirga urges that laws be applied equally on all citizens of the country.”

A draft copy of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme noted as part of its key principles that: The Peace and Reintegration Programme must be “consistent with the Afghan Constitution” and that “The rights of individuals including protection for the rights of women and minorities, as enshrined and articulated by the Afghan Constitution, will not be infringed upon by the reintegration program.”

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict are a positive step forward and declarations to protect human rights as part of any peace process are welcome but Amnesty International emphasises that the rights of the Afghan people must never under any circumstances be negotiated away. Amnesty International believes that that peace without justice or human rights is not real peace and could ultimately lead to further conflict and that the route to real and lasting security and is through the promotion of human rights and rule of law.

Amnesty International's research in neighbouring Pakistan has established that ‘peace deals' with the Taleban and other insurgent groups, when they have excluded verifiable benchmarks of respect for human rights, have led to increased human rights violations in areas under Taleban control and a significant escalation in conflict and insecurity.

In this context, delegates to the conference must commit to, and in practice ensure, that human rights are not subject to negotiation, beyond the issue of how to best respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including women's rights, in full accordance with international law and standards.

It is vital therefore that not only human rights are embedded into any reconciliation strategy but that a robust monitoring mechanism is applied to ensure that human rights are not violated during or after the reconciliation process.

In order to ensure that human rights—and especially, women's rights—are protected and promoted within the reconciliation and reintegration plan, Amnesty International calls on the Afghan and international delegates to the conference to implement in policy and practice the following three steps:

1. PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS, INCLUDING WOMEN'S RIGHTS, DURING NEGOTIATIONS

The Afghan government and its international partners pledged to advance human rights, including women's rights, following the 2001 international intervention to oust the Taleban regime. Since the fall of the Taleban there have been some advances in respect for women's rights and gender equality, including the establishment of the Ministry for Women's Affairs, a Constitution that grants women equal legal status to men, improved access to education and representation of women in parliament.

These hard won gains, however, could be seriously compromised if the Government of Afghanistan and its NATO/ISAF partners weaken their commitment to protect and promote women's rights in exchange for short-term military and political agreements with the Taleban and other insurgent groups.

Today in areas under their control, as when in government, the Taleban have severely curtailed the rights of girls and women, including the denial of education, employment, freedom of movement and political participation and representation. The Taleban and related insurgent groups in Afghanistan have shown little regard for human rights and the laws of war, deliberately targeting civilians, aid workers, and facilities like schools (particularly girls' schools). According to UN figures, the Taleban and other insurgent groups were responsible for two thirds of the more than 2,400 civilian casualties in Afghanistan last year, the bloodiest year yet since the fall of the Taleban.

Amnesty International calls on delegates to the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul to ensure that:

• Human rights, including women's rights, must be guaranteed and monitored in all reconciliation strategies. Both during any process of reconciliation and at its conclusion, all human rights, must be respected and protected, and abuses must be promptly and effectively dealt with. As first step, the Afghan government and insurgent groups must both commit to Afghanistan's human rights obligations under international human rights law and domestic law;

• A proportion of funding earmarked for the Reconciliation and Reintegration Programme is used to develop a mechanism to ensure the ongoing promotion and protection of human rights, including women's rights;

• Afghan women are meaningfully represented in the planning stages and during the reconciliation talks. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, in particular Resolution 1325 on women peace and security and related resolutions must be implemented in policy and practice. Gender parity should be sought in all negotiating teams, including at high-levels in decision-making bodies, and at the very least a 25 per cent quota for women should be set, consistent with constitutional guarantees for women's representation. The inclusion of women in the peace talks must be genuine and meaningful and their concerns fully reflected;

• The rights of minorities are guaranteed during the reconciliation process. Ensure that the reconciliation negotiations are inclusive of all ethnic and minority groups in Afghanistan and that the current constitutional guarantees for minorities are not undermined during all stages of the reconciliation process;

• Any reconciliation process includes concrete verifiable benchmarks for the parties' conformity with their human rights obligations, for instance by documenting: trends in the school attendance, especially of girls; trends in women's access to health care; trends in maternal mortality and infant health; ability of aid workers and civil society activists—in particular women's human rights defenders—to operate in areas under the respective control of the parties.

2. END IMPUNITY FOR SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND WAR CRIMES AND IMPROVE GOVERNANCE

Despite clear and repeated calls by Afghans for truth and accountability for the country's history of serious human rights abuses, only a handful of individuals have been prosecuted for serious violations of human rights and the laws of war during three decades of conflict ranging from the time of the Soviet invasion and subsequent Communist rule (1978-1989), through the civil war period (1989-1996) and the Taleban era (1996-2001).

Little headway has been made towards the December 2005 Action Plan on Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, which sought to promote national reconciliation and address past abuses. The Afghan government and its international supporters jointly committed in the 2006 Afghanistan Compact to implement the Action Plan, but have failed to implement many of its concrete proposals, primarily vetting human rights abusers and removing them from positions of power. On the contrary, the Afghan parliament sought to undermine the Action Plan by passing the “National Stability and Reconciliation” bill, aimed at providing immunity from prosecution to suspected war criminals.

Under this legislation, people who committed serious human rights violations and violations of the laws of war, including massacres, widespread enforced disappearances, and systematic use of torture, rape, public executions and other forms of ill-treatment would be immune to criminal prosecution if they pledge cooperation with the Afghan government. Taleban figures who agree to cooperate with the Afghan government would also be immune to prosecution.

Amnesty International calls on delegates to the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul to work with the Afghan government to ensure:

• Immediate implementation of the 2005 Action Plan for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, in particular its provision for a truth-seeking mechanism to document past human rights in Afghanistan, while ensuring that such a mechanism operates alongside rather than substitutes any judicial proceedings. Its recommended activities should be fully implemented within an agreed time-frame;

• Repeal of the National Stability and Reconciliation bill (also known as the Amnesty bill);

• Support for the Special Advisory Board to the President for Senior Appointments to bar those suspected of having committed war crimes, crimes against humanity or serious human rights abuses from holding senior government posts.

3. MONITOR FORMER COMBATANTS AND UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW

Since 2001, several programs have attempted to reconcile and reintegrate Taleban and other members of anti-government groups who agree to lay down their arms and support the Afghan government's rebuilding efforts. As the Afghan government and international community discuss initiating another such program, they should clarify whether other programs have been effective.

The Afghanistan National Independent Peace and Reconciliation Commission was established by Presidential decree in May 2005. Under the program, former combatants pledge to live peacefully and according to the laws of the Afghan Constitution. They are then offered a safe conduct letter. The Commission claims to have reconciled more than 7000 insurgents including former Taleban members. The commission also claims to have reconciled and assisted in the release of almost 800 prisoners including Afghans who had been held at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) program ran from 2003 – 2006 and claims to have disarmed more than 63,000 and reintegrated more than 53,000 former combatants. However the DDR process did not have a way of verifying that they individuals taking part in the process were actually former combatants. Additionally, the DDR process lacked a long-term plan to monitor the conduct of the former combatants. Amnesty International's research suggests that many former combatants who took part in the DDR process eventually rejoined the insurgency.

The on going Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups program (DIAG) aims to disarm and disband illegal armed groups, collect weapons, and deliver development projects to communities in order to provide employment opportunities. The program claims to have disbanded close to 700 illegal armed groups since 2005 but it is estimated that 2000-3000 illegal armed groups still exist in the country.

However as numerous reports and reviews of these programs have stated, all of the programs have suffered from weak management, insufficient resources, and a lack of capacity to monitor the activities of the former combatants. The programs have lacked national and international resolve and have been largely ineffective.

Furthermore, measures to combat terrorism must be carried out in accordance with international human rights law and standards. In this context, Amnesty International calls on the Afghan government to ensure transparency and due process in determining the innocence or guilt of any detainees held on suspicion of taking part in the insurgency or engaging in criminal activity.

Arbitrary arrest and detention by the police and other official security agencies, as well as private militias working with Afghan and international security forces, are widespread. By arbitrarily detaining people or holding people in secret detention the Afghan government is not only violating their rights but failing in its duty to charge and try those suspected of involvement in attacks on civilians.

In addition, it is believed that more than 800 detainees are being arbitrarily detained, without charge or trial, at the new US-run detention facility in Bagram and other US military facilities outside the protection of international human rights laws and domestic laws. Some have been detained for several years and denied their due process rights, including access to lawyers and habeas corpus review.

Several measures should be adopted now to improve respect for the rule of law.

Amnesty International calls on delegates to the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul to work with the Afghan government to ensure:

• An end to the widespread practice of arbitrary detention, particularly by the NDS, and that all detainees are lawfully held, are promptly charged or released, and do not suffer torture or other ill-treatment;

• All detainees suspected of violations of international human rights law or the laws of war must be brought to justice in fair trials, without recourse to the death penalty.

• An end to all arbitrary detention on Afghan soil by foreign forces.

Afghanistan: Journalists caught between government, Taliban

Amnesty International — 2009-08-12T13:29:32Z

Days before the Afghan presidential elections, journalists from thirteen provinces in Afghanistan have told Amnesty International that they had recently been threatened by Afghan government officials because of their critical reporting.

At the same time, the Taleban and other anti-government groups have also stepped up attacks against journalists and blocked nearly all reporting from areas under their control.

“Afghans have made government corruption and failure to implement the rule of law as key aspects of the current election campaign, but some government officials want to respond to criticism by silencing the journalists who monitor government conduct and provide vital information to the voting public,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.

In some cases, government officials have initiated criminal proceedings against journalists for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression and information. In other cases, government forces have even directly attacked journalists. For instance, in July 2009, five journalists were beaten by police officers in Herat for reporting on a public demonstration and police corruption.

One reporter from Ghazni, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, told Amnesty International, “People working on the Karzai election campaign are calling me and other journalists and threatening us if we report on corruption or anything bad that Karzai's government is doing. Taleban and other groups contact me and threaten me, telling me I must stop writing any positive news stories about the elections because they don't want people to support the elections. I am caught between these two sides.”

Another journalists from southern Afghanistan who also didn't want to be named added “If government officials are threatening me, then who do I complain to? I have to self-censor because otherwise I will be killed.”

“Afghan journalists have demonstrated that they are willing to face tremendous challenges in order to give a voice to the Afghan people, but instead of being supported by the government, they are facing increasing pressure from officials,” said Sam Zarifi.

There has been little official effort to investigate murders and physical attacks on journalists. Government institutions - in particular the National Directorate of Security, have attempted to reduce the media's independence.

“President Karzai, and all the presidential candidates, should immediately and publicly commit to defending Afghan journalists, both from the Taleban, but more importantly, from the government itself,” said Sam Zarifi. “It's vital that the Afghan government upholds the rule of law and its commitment to media freedom by urgently investigating these cases.”

Amnesty International has produced a ten-point action plan calling on the government of Afghanistan to fulfill its international human rights obligations, including upholding the right to freedom of expression and media expression. Amnesty International said that at a time when Afghans are facing increasing insecurity, prioritizing human rights and the rule of law can serve to strengthen stability and security throughout the country. Specifically, Amnesty International called on the Afghan government to:

• Fully and effectively investigate and prosecute all those responsible for attacks on journalists, human rights defenders and others exercising their right to freedom of expression;
• Commit to ensure that no government agencies, and in particular the NDS, violate freedom of expression;
• Introduce legislation facilitating public access to information from governmental institutions.

To view the full ten point action plan click here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA11/010/2009

Background
Freedom of expression, which flourished after the fall of the Taleban in 2001, has eroded as a result of increasing threats and attacks by the government and anti-government forces.

The government has improperly prosecuted several journalists on charges of violating religious sensibilities under pressure from the unofficial but highly influential Ulema Council (council of religious scholars). Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, Ahmad Ghous Zalmai a journalist and former spokesman for the Attorney General and Mullah Qari Mushtaq were each sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for publishing a Dari translation of the Quran without the Arabic text.

Since 2007, Taleban and other anti-government groups have increased attacks against Afghan journalists. The most recent victim was Jawed Ahmad, an Afghan journalist who was gunned down in the southern city of Kandahar in March 2009. On 7 June 2008 Abdul Samad Rohani, an Afghan journalist working for the BBC in Helmand province, was abducted and shot dead the next day, possibly as a result of his investigation of the narcotics trade. In May 2008, Afghan television journalist Nilofar Habibi was stabbed at the doorstep of her home in Herat, apparently for not wearing a burqa. In June 2007, unknown gunmen shot and killed Zakia Zami, director of the private radio station Radio Peace in Parwan province. She had been critical of local warlords, who had warned her to close the station. In March 2007, the Taleban beheaded journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi and killed his driver Sayed Agha in Helmand province.

Amnesty International 2008 Report Released

Amnesty International — 2008-05-29T06:30:24Z

Amnesty International recently released it's 2008 Report on the State of the World's Human Rights. Afghanistan appears prominently. The initial numbers introduce a pretty bleak story:
Life expectancy: 42.9 years, Adult literacy: 28 percent, Death penalty: Yes, Under-5 mortality, nearly 25%. Presiding over all this is Head of state, Hamid Karzai, and his hand-picked slate government ministers and local governors.

Afghanistan is well into it's seventh year of Western military occupation and attempts at re-construction. While there are pockets of improvement, in too many cases, there are indications of a drift back toward totalitarianism and increasing official corruption. A dissatisfied population, faces enduring, if not worsening situations of hunger, unemployment, poor medical care, a dysfunctional police and justice system, and an incompetent educational system. Infrastructure, like water, sanitation, transportation, and electricity are woefully inadequate or non-existent.

Graft, bribes, embezzlement, excessive consultant fees and bloated salaries for international aid workers have sucked millions of desperately needed dollars away from the most needy sectors like teachers, educational supplies, police, and medical facilities. The general population is discouraged at seeing many of the individuals who allegedly perpetrated crimes against humanity during the Afghan Civil War, and who aided and abetted the Taliban reign of terror are in positions of power, with little possibility of justice being done.

The Amnesty International Report Follows:

Abuses by the Afghan government

Justice system
In June an international conference highlighted serious and systematic flaws in Afghanistan's administration of justice, including the Ministry of Justice, courts, prisons, the police, the army and the Afghan intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), despite several years of international support to reform these institutions.

The NDS mandate continued to be opaque as the presidential decree that outlines its powers remained classified. In practice, the NDS appeared to continue to exercise extensive powers including detaining, interrogating, investigating, prosecuting and sentencing people alleged to have committed crimes against national security.

The lack of separation of these functions violated the right of suspects to a fair trial, contributed to impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations and undermined the rule of law. There were consistent reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees held by the NDS.

Other serious failings that continued to undermine the effective administration of justice included: a judiciary hampered by some unqualified judicial personnel; a poorly trained and paid police force; the threat to judicial independence through pressure from armed groups; and unfair trial procedures, including violations of the right to call and examine witnesses, and the denial of defendants' rights to legal defence and access to information.

The lack of confidence in or access to the formal justice system resulted in reliance on informal justice systems, especially in rural areas where up to 80 per cent of cases were reportedly resolved using informal justice mechanisms.

Impunity

A culture of impunity continued, boosted in February by the introduction of the Amnesty Bill, which absolves the government of responsibility for bringing to justice suspected perpetrators of past human rights violations and crimes under international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. In December, President Karzai stated that his administration did not yet have the capacity to arrest and prosecute many of those responsible for past and continuing human rights abuses. Those accused of such abuses included members of parliament as well as provincial government officials.

There was no progress on the implementation of the Action Plan on Peace, Justice and Reconciliation in Afghanistan launched in February 2006.

Death penalty

Fifteen people were executed in October, the first executions for three years. One person sentenced to death allegedly bribed his way out of the execution; the 15 were gunned down as they attempted to flee the execution. The execution was immediately followed by a 10-day hunger strike by some prisoners in Pol-e Charkhi prison. The prisoners said that the executions were not based on fair and transparent trials, and that some were politically motivated. Between 70 and 110 people were believed to remain on death row.

Abuses by international forces

Killings of Civilians

International military forces reportedly caused the deaths of several hundred civilians. Some may have been victims of indiscriminate attacks in aerial bombardments and other operations that may have violated international humanitarian law. After several high-profile incidents in mid-2007 involving civilian deaths caused by international military forces, ISAF forces instituted new rules of engagement. It remained unclear what impact this had, although there were regular reports of disproportionate civilian casualties as a result of international military operations.

•On 4 March, following a suicide attack on a US convoy on the Jalalabad highway in Nangarhar province, US troops opened fire indiscriminately along a 12km stretch of road killing at least 12 civilians and injuring 35 people. Investigations by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) found that US forces had used indiscriminate and excessive force. The US military referred the case to its Naval Criminal Investigative Service citing the need for further investigation.

Torture and other ill-treatment

ISAF forces continued to transfer detainees to the NDS, despite allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by the NDS. Attempts by international forces to monitor transferred detainees were inconsistently applied.

In addition, forces involved in the US-led OEF continued to transfer people to the NDS and to US-run detention facilities, including at Bagram airbase near Kabul. US authorities transferred more than 100 detainees from Bagram and Guantánamo to the newly refurbished D-Block of the high security Pol-e Charkhi prison outside Kabul. It was not clear who had oversight of the D-Block. About 600 detainees were believed to remain in Bagram at the end of the year.

Abuses by armed groups

Abductions and killings

Armed groups, including the Taleban, Hizb-e Islami and al-Qa'ida, deliberately targeted civilians as part of their ongoing struggle with the Afghan government and international military forces. This included killing people perceived to be working or co-operating with the Afghan government or international military forces. Mullah Dadullah, a Taleban commander, commented that kidnapping was a “good tactic”and encouraged Taleban fighters to use it more. There was a sharp rise in kidnappings across southern and south-eastern Afghanistan.

• Four Afghan provincial court employees were abducted by the Taleban while travelling in Andar district, Ghazni, on 24 July. Their bodies were found later by Afghan authorities.

• Taleban forces abducted 23 Korean nationals on 19 July while they were travelling through Ghazni. Two of the hostages were killed; the rest were released after six weeks' captivity.
• Taleban forces abducted five Afghan and two German nationals on 18 July in Wardak province.One of the Afghans escaped and one of the Germans died in captivity. The remaining hostages were released in October.

Suicide attacks

Armed groups carried out some 140 suicide attacks against military and civilian targets, killing around 300 civilians.

• Up to 80 people were killed during a suicide bomb attack on 6 November at a ceremony in Baghlan province. Scores of people were injured. Some of the deaths and injuries may have been caused by guards of members of parliament present at the ceremony who apparently opened fire after the initial bomb attack.

• On 17 June, 24 people were killed and 35 injured by a suicide bomber aboard a bus transporting Afghan police trainees.

Killings following quasi-judicial processes

The Taleban and other groups unlawfully killed people following quasi-judicial processes.

• On 30 September, Taleban fighters seized Zainullah, a 15-year-old key maker, from the bazaar where he worked in Sangin district, Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. They accused him of being a spy and hanged him from an electricity pole with a note warning that others caught spying would suffer the same fate.

Freedom of expression

Severe restrictions on freedom of expression remained in place. Several journalists were arrested or intimidated and killed. Members of the AIHRC and representatives of national human rights organizations also faced threats.

The Journalists' Independent Union of Afghanistan registered 53 cases of violence against journalists in 2007 by the Afghan government and Taleban insurgents. In six of the cases a journalist was killed.

• Zakia Zaki, who ran the private Peace Radio, was killed by gunmen in her home in the central province of Parwan on 5 June.

• Kamran Mir Hazar, a journalist for Radio Salaam Watandar and editor of the internet news service Kabul Press^?, was arrested twice, apparently for criticizing the government, and subsequently released without charge.

Violence against women and girls

Women's rights continued to be eroded in many areas. Women working for the government faced threats and several survived attempted assassinations.

• Massoma Anwary, head of the Department of Women's Affairs in Ghor province, survived an assassination attempt in November.
A decrease in the number of attacks against schools allowed some schools in insecure areas to reopen and there was an overall rise in the number of children attending school. However, fears about safety meant many girls could not go to school. According to the AIHRC's second report on economic and social rights, published in August, 36.1 per cent of school-aged girls were not attending schools due to issues of accessibility, including security.

This Amnesty International report re-iterates commonly known issues in Afghanistan. Increasing numbers of books, movies, bloggers, news stories, and media reports are bringing the world to a realization that attempts to create a functional democracy and framework for human rights in Afghanistan have been terribly inadequate. Much of this has been blamed on the mis-management of U.S. authorities and its shift of aid and expertise to the invasion of Iraq. The U.S. faces a new election, and American public opinion has moved significantly away from the current administration that oversees the Afghan disaster. With the upcoming elections in both Afghanistan and the U.S, it is hoped that the Amnesty InternationaI 2009 Report on Afghanistan will show marked improvement with a new day in American political leadership.

— Editorial Staff

کابل پرس

Prominent policewoman another casualty for women's rights in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Talks with the Taliban must focus on justice and human rights

Afghanistan: Urgent need for justice after killing of female official

Table of contents

Background

Taleban leader's orders to reduce civilian casualties “hypocritical”

Afghanistan Istanbul conference: Regional cooperation urged to defend rights

Afghanistan: NATO Summit must protect basic human rights

Taleban should be prosecuted for war crimes in Afghanistan

Table of contents

AFGHAN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES RISE 31 PER CENT IN FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2010

Open letter to delegates of the International Conference on Afghanistan, Kabul, 20 July 2010

Table of contents

HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE GUARANTEED DURING RECONCILIATION TALKS WITH THE TALEBAN AND OTHER ARMED GROUPS

Afghanistan: Journalists caught between government, Taliban

Amnesty International 2008 Report Released

Table of contents

Abuses by the Afghan government

Impunity

Death penalty

Abuses by international forces

Torture and other ill-treatment

Abuses by armed groups

Suicide attacks

Killings following quasi-judicial processes

Freedom of expression

Violence against women and girls