• AREU: A Guide to Parliamentary Elections in Afghanistan • HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Women’s Participation in Afghanistan’s 2005 Elections • CRISIS GROUP: Afghanistan Elections: Endgame or New Beginning? • CSIS: In the Balance: Measuring Progress in Afghanistan • AFGHANISTAN JUSTICE PROJECT: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: 1978-2001 • HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity • PARAMETERS: Afghanistan Four Years On: An Assessment • US ARMY WAR COLLEGE: Afghanistan: Reconstituting a Collapsed State • UNDP: Afghanistan National Human Development Report: Security With a Human Face • UNRISD: The Politics of Gender and Reconstruction in Afghanistan • AIHRC: A Call for Justice: A National Consultation on Past Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan • WORLD BANK: Drugs and Development in Afghanistan AFGHANISTAN RESEARCH AND EVALUATION UNIT A Guide to Parliamentary Elections in Afghanistan August 2005 On September 18, the people of Afghanistan will once again head to the polls to choose the next round of leaders tasked with moving their country forward. This set of elections will be one more step in meeting the objectives of the 2001 Bonn Agreement — the country’s post-Taliban "road map" for peace—which called for "the establishment of a broad-based, gender sensitive, multi-ethnic and fully representative government" through national elections. The first round of elections, those for the Presidency, took place in October 2004 and, while not without flaws, were widely considered to have been a success, given the large numbers of Afghans who participated in the process. The next phase – often referred to as the parliamentary elections, although in fact they are for the lower house of the National Assembly (the Wolesi Jirga) and Provincial Councils – is scheduled for 18 Sep tember 2005. This leaves several further elections before the set-up of the numerous bodies called for in the 2004 Constitution is complete. The make-up of these new institutions and the processes by which each will be elected can be confusing. This guide is intended as a simple reference document that provides an explanation of the election process, the key issues that affect electoral procedures and the different actors involved. The main focus of this paper is the upcoming Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) and Provincial Council elections, but it also looks briefly at District Councils, the Meshrano Jirga (House of the Elders), and some of the lessons learned from the Presidential vote. Continue Reading HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Campaigning Against Fear: Women’s Participation in Afghanistan’s 2005 Elections August 2005 The Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections on September 18, 2005 will be a critical test of women’s freedom to participate in Afghanistan’s political life four years after the ouster of the Taliban—not only as voters, but also as candidates and elected representatives in every province. A credible election with meaningful participation by women candidates will be a success for Afghanistan and the international community, strengthening the foundation for more women to become active in public life, not only as elected representatives, but in civil society, government, the media, and business. A campaign period and election day riddled with threats, intimidation, and social restrictions will highlight a gap between rhetoric and reality on women’s rights and feed into the disappointment many Afghan women have felt at the slow rate of progress since the fall of the Taliban. While many women have courageously entered the public sphere despite social taboos and security threats, the intimidation and violence are increasing as elections near. The official campaign period begins on August 17, 2005, and Afghan women interested in political involvement will share the challenges of a poor security environment with their male colleagues. These include two formidable security problems: threats posed by warlords who want to expand their power at the local level, often through armed force and the abuse of power; and continuing violence in the south and east perpetrated by the Taliban and other insurgent groups that reject the elections altogether, including any participation by women Continue reading
CRISIS GROUP Afghanistan Elections: Endgame or New Beginning? July 2005 In September 2005 Afghans will go to the polls to elect the National Assembly and Provincial Councils in a vote that will be crucial in consolidating Afghanistan's fragile political transition. The opportunity for a major step forward is there, but so too is the risk that a lack of political will and forward planning will see the new institutions descend into paralysis and chaos. The executive must be prepared to share decision-making with a legislature, and devolve real political and fiscal powers to local administrations. A culture of impunity whereby stability and justice have been seen as mutually exclusive needs to be addressed along with an electoral system that excludes political parties and favours narrow ethnic interests at the expense of broad-based constituencies. The costs of allowing Afghanistan's political transition to falter are too high for the international community to ignore. Continue reading CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES In the Balance: Measuring Progress in Afghanistan July 2005 With the September parliamentary elections approaching, the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project released a report which examines developments made in Afghanistan’s reconstruction over the past three years. The report also makes recommendations for the way forward. Security is improved, and great strides are being made in governance and social well-being, but economic opportunities and justice lag behind considerably. The report also finds that international engagement underpins the Afghans’ sense of public confidence. This report is the result of analysis of information from media, public, and polling sources, as well as interviews with Afghans conducted by CSIS staff and by Afghan interviewers. Continue reading AFGHANISTAN JUSTICE PROJECT Casting Shadows: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: 1978-2001 July 2005 The Afghanistan Justice Project (AJP), an independent research and advocacy organization, on 17th July, released a 168-page report documenting war crimes by political leaders and armed factions during every phase of the war in Afghanistan, 1978-2001. The report is the result of more than three years of field research by the organization. The Afghanistan Justice Project noted that in September 2005, Afghanistan will hold parliamentary elections. The candidates for parliamentary seats include persons against whom there is credible evidence of responsibility for war crimes. Some are named in the report. Although there is no mechanism in place for excluding those persons from running for office, the Afghanistan Justice Project urges that the records of candidates should be open to public scrutiny. Continue reading
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Blood-Stained Hands: Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity July 2005 Numerous high-level officials and advisors in Afghanistan's current government are implicated in major war crimes and human rights abuses that took place in the early 1990s, according to this Human Rights Watch report. The 133-page report is based on extensive research by Human Rights Watch over the last two years, including more than 150 interviews with witnesses, survivors, government officials, and combatants. It documents war crimes and human rights abuses during a particularly bloody year in Afghanistan's civil war the Afghan calendar year of 1371, from April 1992 to March 1993, following the collapse of the Soviet-backed Najibullah government in Kabul. Continue reading
PARAMETERS Afghanistan Four Years On: An Assessment Summer 2005 In Spring 2004, Parameters published “Afghanistan: From Here to Eternity?” which explored the situation in Afghanistan in early 2003, or a little over one year after the Taliban regime was removed from power. The tone of the piece was guardedly pessimistic and in effect reminded readers that though there had been progress, the possibility remained that overenthusiastic and emotional responses by the international community in the follow-on phase of the campaign could scuttle that success. That article also laid out a number of challenges that would have to be addressed to avoid what the critics increasingly referred to as “another Vietnam.” In 2005, the situation in Afghanistan has progressed to the point where guarded optimism is justified. Unfortunately, the perception of the situation on the ground has become distorted through the prism of American partisan politics, particularly during the run-u p to the 2004 election. The focus of this rhetoric was and remains issues related to narcotics production and a number of spin-off arguments related to it. Afghanistan is apparently no longer looked at as “another Vietnam”; now it is perhaps “another Colombia.” Continue reading
U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE Afghanistan: Reconstituting a Collapsed State April 2005 Over 2 decades of incessant warfare destroyed Afghanistan as a functioning state, fracturing its institutions and devastating its economy. In the maelstrom of incessant internecine fighting in the 1990s, the Taliban clawed its way to power and installed a medieval regime, providing stability through brutality. The Taliban regime likely would have defeated the last of the resisting warlords and continued its rule had Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda not provoked the United States into a war with the Taliban as a result of September 11, 2001. The swift expulsion of the Taliban and al Qaeda militants resulted in yet another regime change, but it did not ameliorate the fundamental malaise afflicting Afghanistan―warlordism. Because of their power and wealth, Afghan warlords and their militias represent the greatest challenge to Afghanistan’s rehabilitation as a functioning state, but any strategy which seeks a direc t confrontation with them will likely ignite a war. Ultimately, resuscitation of Afghanistan lies with the Afghan people, and government policies must be geared towards garnering their loyalty and trust. Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Afghanistan National Human Development Report: Security With a Human Face February 2005 After 23 years of war, Afghanistan has now entered a period of stabilization conducive to the design and implementation of a new development vision. As the new Government sets out to devise long-term, sustainable policies, the first NHDR for Afghanistan proposes an ambitious vision: putting all Afghan people equally at the forefront of all new policies, both as the ends and the means of democracy and development. The report uses a human security lens to look at the linkages between safety, dignity and livelihoods. For too long, the problems of Afghanistan were seen as being the result of a political conflict that required military solutions. The NHDR expands the notion of “security” in Afghanistan to cover not only freedom from violence and human rights abuses, but also the ability of the Afghan people to access basic needs. The report argues that while many gains have been made, the country could still fall in to a cycle of conflict and instability unless the genuine grievances of people – the lack of jobs, health, education, income, dignity, opportunities for participation, etc. – are dealt with adequately. The report analyses the local roots of insecurity today, and makes recommendations for policies and actions required from the new Afghan Government, civil society and the international community. Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT The Politics of Gender and Reconstruction in Afghanistan February 2005 The central objective of this paper is to put the discussion of women’s rights in Afghanistan in the context of the multiple transitions entailed by the process of post-conflict reconstruction: a security transition (from war to peace), a political transition (to the formation of a legitimate and effective state) and a socioeconomic transition (from a “conflict” economy to sustainable growth). These transformations do not occur in a social vacuum but build upon existing societal arrangements that condition and limit the range of available opportunities. The first section contextualizes current attempts at securing women’s rights in the troubled history of state-building and state-society relations in Afghanistan. The second section discusses the implications of the far-reaching changes in social relations brought about by years of war and displacement following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Th e third section focuses on processes of institutional development and reform since the Bonn Agreement in 2001. The conclusion draws attention to crippling disjunctures between different facets of post-conflict transition. Continue reading
AFGHANISTAN INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION A Call for Justice: A National Consultation on Past Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan January 2005 While Afghanistan is taking firm steps to create a stable and democratic society the National Consultation on Transitional Justice reflects the hardships and sufferings of the Afghan people in the past 23 years of armed conflict and indicates their understanding of and desire for justice. The majority of people throughout the national consultation introduced themselves as victims of human rights violations during the conflict. They believed that the crimes have persistently occurred throughout the last two and half decades of war and continue even today. The people are of the opinion that continued impunity has given the perpetrators the opportunity to commit further abuses with no fear of prosecution. However the public has a profound perception of justice and a large number of people support the adoption of a series of measures, such as criminal justice and removing war criminals from government positions. For Afghanistan’s lasting democratic growth to be feasible victim’s dignity must be restored and the perpetrators must be held to account for what they have done before. Continue reading
WORLD BANK Drugs and Development in Afghanistan January 2005 This research paper analyzes the linkages between drugs and development in Afghanistan. It argues that the opium economy — including its nexus with insecurity, warlords, state weakness, and poor governance — constitutes a central development problem for the country. The Afghan drug industry is unprecedented in international experience in terms of its relative economic size, its penetration of the polity, economy, and society, and the insecure and lawless environment in which it has thrived. While international experience can provide some useful lessons, Afghanistan’s own largely unsuccessful experience in anti-drug efforts suggests the problem is of a different order of magnitude. Continue reading
Compiled by Robert Hartfiel Human Security Research is produced by the Human Security Centre at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at UBC. The Human Security Centre produces the annual Human Security Report and is funded by the governments of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. For more information on human security visit the Human Security Gateway, an online research and information database that contains a broad range of human security-related resources. To subscribe to Human Security Research , send an email to hsc.list@ubc.ca with 'subscribe HS Research' in the subject field or click here. To unsubscribe, please reply to this message with 'unsubscribe HS Research' in the subject heading. |
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