DOCUMENTO OF CSHRN (Afghan Civil Society) 23/1/09

Documento diffuso nel gennaio 2009 da Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN)

Postato il

Venerdi' 23 Gennaio 2009

In the name of God

Input of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network regarding the human rights situation in Afghanistan for the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations
The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) works in the field of capacity building and coordination among civil society organisations and state institutions. In order to have a positive effect on the Afghan law, CSHRN undertakes important efforts to ensure that international human rights standards are integrated into the Afghan law. For this purpose, CSHRN wants to disseminate the culture of human rights, to underline the importance of democratic principles, to promote rule of law and to establish a well functioning civil society. CSHRN has started to this end debates in Kabul and in several provinces of Afghanistan. Through its regional offices in Herat, Mazar and Jalalabad, CSHRN was able to establish a well funded analysis of the human rights situation in these regions.
CSHRN conducted workshops in Kabul as well as in the regions through its regional coordination offices on human rights on the provincial level in the beginning of this January. The information of this document was gathered from these workshops. The focus of this report is the role of civil society in the Afghan state with regard to the promotion of human rights.
This report was officially submitted to the government of Afghanistan, Dr. Rangin Datfar Spanta Minister of Foreign Affairs and chair person of the committee on UPR in Afghanistan.
The condition of civil society in Afghanistan
According to the existing legislation, there is no obstacle for the establishment of human rights NGOs in Afghanistan. The current legislation is based on the Afghan constitution that supports the establishment of civil society as an important actor for social development.
After having gone through many years of war, Afghanistan remains today a country, where many internal conflicts are ongoing, mainly with regard to issues such as ethnicity, language, ideology, and culture. Civil society in Afghanistan is badly impaired by these conflicts. That is why the Afghan civil society needs to first understand and know its role, to build its capacity regarding planning and implementation of programs and to strengthen its influence on the Afghan authorities.
With the end of the Taliban regime, Afghanistan got the great opportunity to establish a capable civil society able to play an important role for the promotion of human rights. Afghan intellectuals and Afghan civil society actors believe that a democratic state, built on human rights, can not be created without civil society making use of its role and its potential. Civil society can play an essential role in the process of state building as well as peace building in the country. To a certain extent, the international community has supported the strengthening of civil society in Afghanistan. However, the support of the international community has been very much concentrated on the government. Therefore, civil society organizations felt themselves in a way isolated. In particular during the last two years, civil society organizations working in the field of promotion of human rights, worked under very difficult conditions. A lack of fundamental infrastructure, capacities, security, and economic support are the main reasons for these difficulties. CSHRN as an umbrella organization for human rights NGOs received support from the Danish and the Swiss governments to coordinate activities amongst human rights civil society actors. But considering the huge needs the support is not enough.
According to the legislation, the state of Afghanistan should provide conditions which allow for a moral and economic support of civil society. However, since the collapse of the Taliban, such conditions and support of the state to civil society have not yet been created.
There are several examples to underline this statement:
Recently, Human Rights Watch released a report about Afghanistan, in which 50 cases of violations against journalists were reported to have occurred during the last year. 13 of these cases were registered as being intended at preventing the journalists from carrying out their tasks. The majority of these violations, 20 out of the total number of cases, were carried out by the government. AIHRC has registered 47 similar cases.
According to reports released by the National Journalist Union, an organization called “Watch for Media” and AIHRC, the access to information has become very limited in Afghanistan. The high level authorities of the state don’t disclose information to civil society and the media due to a lack of accountability.
The increase of extremism in the country, for which the government bears a strong responsibility as it causes extremism within its institutions, also contaminates civil society.
Some of the cabinet members believe in and support democracy and human rights, while others categorically reject human rights values, democracy and the establishment of a capable civil society. In one TV spot, broadcasted by Tolo TV, the Minister of Culture and Information called freedom of speech a nonsense concept enforced by western governments. Such comments clearly demonstrate the lack of commitment on part of the government regarding human rights and freedom of speech.
There is a lack of follow up in legal prosecutions of cases where human rights activists and organizations became victims of crimes, for example the attack on the All Afghan Women Union office and on Tolo TV, the arrests of journalists, the killing of a number of journalists, for example ,Ajmal Naqhshbandi, Samad Rohaani, Zakia Zaki, Shekeba Amaj Sanga. Those cases have not been followed up and the persecutors are still unknown. The government shows no serious commitment to follow up and solve these cases.
Civil society organizations do not receive any subsidies from the state.
The lack of sufficient support to civil society in Afghanistan by the international community is one of the reasons explaining the rather passive role, civil society is playing today.
According to a decree from the president, civil society organizations are not entitled to receive funds from the international community. Some may argue that this decision is indented to prevent the interference of foreign countries the internal affairs and the national security of Afghanistan. But this decision actually aims at limiting the increase of the number of civil society actors because it restricts the support of the international community to civil society in Afghanistan.
The lack of a constructive and sustainable dialogue between the state and civil society is one of the main reasons why human rights issues are not tackled in Afghanistan. In this regard, civil society can pave the way for a useful dialogue with the government for conveying the message of Afghan citizens. Some of the government institutions consider civil society as being adversary to them. This misunderstanding is caused by a lack of dialogue.
After the collapse of the Taliban, an encouraging atmosphere for the rehabilitation of civil society was created. At the beginning however, a lack of standards necessary for the establishment of civil society organizations and a lack of thematic and managerial capacities prevented civil society from acting enough efficiently and transparently. The situation is getting better; nevertheless, there is still a need for further improvements.
Today there are 1285 NGOs registered with the Ministry of Economy, of which 460 are actively reporting to the Ministry of Economy.
The role of civil society in the promotion of human rights in Afghanistan
During the past seven years the achievements of the Afghan civil society have remained below the expectations of the people in Afghanistan due to the reasons mentioned above. Despite the difficult conditions, there are however several important and remarkable achievements of civil society organizations to be pointed out.
In the field of development and promotion of human rights:
Advocacy: Civil society organizations played a remarkable role in integrating in ensuring the integration of human rights values into the current legislation of Afghanistan. The following examples show that civil society played an important role in the development of the Afghan legislation: The Afghan constitution into which human rights principles are integrated, the new media law which is one of the most progressive in the regions from a point of view from human rights, a draft law on prevention of family violence, a law on juvenile justice, the labor law, the law about political parties, the law about the election, and the laws on NGOs.
The human rights concept was to some extent also included into the curriculum of primary schools by the Ministry of Education. Human rights NGOs are eager to expand this inclusion to all school levels
Joint working groups among civil society and parliamentarians were established
Joint working plans and dialogues amongst civil society and parliamentarians were established
CSHRN in coordination with parliamentarians will continue to work in the field of advocacy in the upcoming three years
Declarations, press conferences and their effects and the reactions from people
CSHRN as an umbrella organization for human rights NGOs is constantly reacting to different events and to decisions from the state and international organizations concerning human rights issues in Afghanistan. The reason for these statements is to support human rights and to protect the rights of victims of violations. These statements are used by the national and international media and influence the decisions of state institutions. The most important statements are the following ones:
Two statements concerning the killing of Afghan journalists Ajmal Naqshbandi and Samad Ruhani in Helmmand
Statement concerning the Paris Conference
Statement concerning a national dialogue on human rights
Message of CSHRN about the regional Jirga
Statement regarding the attack on Tolo TV and condemnation of the inhuman behavior of police towards journalists
Statement on the killing of innocent people in Herat province
Statement on the case of Parvez Kambaksch, an Afghan journalist from Balkh Province
Three statements concerning freedom of expression: the killing of a young Afghan women journalist, the limitation for free media and the ban of Indian TV series
And so on
Those statements and messages can be read on the CSHRN website: www.cshrn.af
Researches
Civil Society organizations conducted a number of important researches in the field of human rights of which we want to mention some.
An analysis about Afghan traditions not in accordance with human rights standards
Analysis about family violence
Analysis on access to justice for women
Analysis on the political participation of women
Analysis on the economic independence of women
Analysis on corruption
Study on the problems of Afghan immigrants in other countries, refugees and displaced persons
And so on
Some of these researches have been used by national and international organizations. The study on the problems of Afghan immigrants in other countries, refugees and displaced persons has for example been used by the Ministry of Returnees as well as by UNHCR in Afghanistan.
Awareness raising of human rights
Educational workshops, seminars, an academic symposium, human rights schools, human rights dialogues, publication of newsletters, journals, books, and manuals, training of trainers, radio programs, TV programs, websites, round tables about the situation on human rights, right of children, women rights, peace building and elimination of violence are the main awareness raising mechanism of civil society in Afghanistan. There are several radio and TV programs from civil society organizations which promote human rights, democracy and rule of law.
Protection of human rights
In order to work in the field of protection of human rights, civil society provides legal services for the Afghan population. But civil society faces in this field still a lack of capacity. Equally, the lack of a constructive coordination between the state and civil society poses a problem in this field. To enhance the skills of the Afghan apparatus concerning human rights is a very important issues. Civil society can play a crucial role in this area, but unfortunately, the lack of coordination and mutual support and understanding between the state and civil society poses a major obstacle for a balanced human rights protection in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, civil society works in the following fields in Afghanistan:
In the field of access to justice civil society mainly works on providing legal advocacy for human rights victims. (Afghanistan is a country that very much lacks human rights advocates.
It organize educational programs for law and order state institutions. This activity of civil society is though very much limited to big cities such as Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.
Legal aid centers were organized to advice Afghan people on their rights. In this field, Afghanistan still faces major problems.
Documentation of human rights violations is provided by civil society. This is done in some provinces, where it is more or less safe to work, but compared to the number of violations, the work carried out is not at all sufficient.
Having in mind the difficulties of civil society, such as the lack of security, the limited rule of law, and the existence of strong traditions not in line with human rights, civil society cannot yet play the role it is expected by the Afghan population. Nevertheless, it can be said that civil society plays an important role with the support of the international community in the following areas:
Awareness raising amongst the Afghan population with special focus on women
Reduction of violence against women and a reduction of forced marriages
Promotion of freedom of speech
Promotion of democracy
Promotion of the role of media as a tool for the provision of information about human rights through a collaboration between media and human rights activities.
Capacity building of human rights NGOs, in which field CSHRN has played a major role
Establishment of an informative network for different human rights activities in Afghanistan
Establishment of networks and groups in the field of advocacy on human rights issues in Afghanistan.
The role of the state in the implementation of human rights
After seven years in which Afghanistan was confronted with new political and social opportunities, the human rights situation remains still unacceptable. Lack of security, weakness of the rule of law, and a lack of economic facilities for human rights actors are the main reasons for the unsatisfying human rights situation. In the field of political rights the Afghan state achieved some results: two elections (presidential and parliamentarian) carried out, more than 80 political parties registered, and freedom of political participation of citizens established are elements of these achievements. In the field of civil rights, freedom of expression can be mentioned as well as important achievements in the field of freedom of media. Recently however, some of these achievements were slightly restricted by the government.
Compared with the achievements in the field of civil and political rights, the Afghan state does not have a lot of achievements to show in the field of economic, social and cultural rights. Regarding access to education and access to health care, some improvements have been witnessed, but by no means enough. The national development strategy is worth to be qualified as a big achievement for the Afghan as well as the international community.
Recently, CSHRN organized an academic symposium on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, during which Afghan intellectuals and academics as well as researchers analyzed the human rights situation in the following way:
According to civil society and the Afghan intellectuals the Afghan state has not succeeded in the field of human rights protection and promotion. Part of the work by the state was only done because of the pressure of the international community and the active role, the international community played. The lack of commitment to human rights by some state authorities presents one of the most serious challenges for the promotion of human rights.
The Afghan state, which was legitimized through elections and political participation of Afghan citizens, can not provide economic, social and cultural security or services to Afghan people. This means that the Afghan citizens go to vote but no improvement of their situation results of this. This badly damages the role of the state and the international community in Afghanistan.
Lack of rule of law, the expansion of corruption, increase of production of narcotics, impunity of war criminals, lack of practical programs for returnees and displaced persons are the main reasons for human rights violations in Afghanistan.
Increase of the level of poverty in the society and a lack of development opportunities for Afghan citizens, in particular in the remote areas, are another disregard for the economic human rights of Afghan citizens. Obviously, the role of civil society has not yet been recognized by the Afghan state and this has a negative effect on the dialogue between citizens and state.
The transitional justice program, which is a precondition for justice, has so far not been implemented and criminals continue to benefit from impunity. People are afraid of a repetition of crimes against humanity as the prevailing impunity does not deter people from violating human rights.
The existence of warlords is another threat for justice, security, stability, and peace in Afghanistan.
The new constitution of Afghanistan recognizes international human rights as a main source for legislation, but due to a lack of proper programs and planning by the state, the implementation of human rights in Afghanistan and the integration of the international human rights into the national legislation are still pending.
Politicization of human rights is another major challenge for the implementation of human rights. Human rights are misused by political parties. This can happen because of a lack of justice, what enables warlords to hold on to political positions in Afghanistan.
Violence and discrimination against women are other major human rights violations. Because of the lack of proper opportunities for women in the field of economic, social, political and cultural developments women in Afghanistan are heavily dependent on men and enjoy only very limited access to human rights. The state of Afghanistan has so far not been able to provide useful and practicable strategies to improve the situation of the women in the above mentioned field.
Children, who form a big social group in Afghanistan, are also subjects to grave human rights violations. Out of 13 million children in Afghanistan 6.5 millions do not have access to education. A considerable number of these children are street children, who are begging in the streets. Many children carry out manual labor which is too heavy compared to their physical capacities. Equally, some of these children become the victims of rape.
Another important challenge regarding the implementation of human rights is the misinterpretation of the religion of Islam in Afghanistan. Islamic fundamentalists engage in demonstrating that human rights are against Islamic values. By this they intend to damage human rights values in Afghanistan. The lack of a constructive dialogue amongst religious clerics, the Afghan state and human rights actors is the main reason for this.
Conclusions
As one of the main actors in the field of social developments and promotion of human rights, civil society in Afghanistan should receive international and national support. Unfortunately, it has to be said that the role of civil society is not appreciated and seriously considered by the Afghan state; civil society is a non recognized actor in the field of human rights by the state, whose role should be activated. The support of the international community and the respect for civil society by the Afghan state are an important factor in activating the role of civil society in the field of human rights. The Afghan people need a state that respects human rights and is committed to the development of civil society. Persons who do not believe in human rights values should not have access to main political functions in Afghanistan. It is a pity to say that the kinds of people who do not believe in human rights are sitting in the government. This greatly limits the role, human rights can play in Afghanistan and the possibilities that they are implemented.
The creation of a constructive, sustainable and useful dialogue between civil society and state is essential for the promotion and general application of human rights. Civil society as mediator between citizens and state can play a very important role in conveying messages of Afghan people to the Afghan state.
Civil society of Afghanistan hopes to be able to play a more active role in the promotion of human rights in Afghanistan with the support of the international community. Such a support to civil society should be one of the major points on the agenda of the international support in Afghanistan.
Civil society hopes that human rights monitoring according to the international human rights standards as well as the constitution of Afghanistan will be implemented in a sustainable way and that the results of these monitoring programs will be made accessible to the public by the Afghan media.
CSHRN hopes that this paper proves to be an useful source of information about the human rights situation in Afghanistan on behalf of civil society for the UPR report of t Afghanistan. CSHRN hopes that this paper will be included into the UPR report. The information contained in this report has been gathered by CSHRN after discussion with its partners in Kabul as well as in the provinces.
CSHRN appreciates the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in establishing a dialogue with civil society organizations in order to include the messages of civil society into the UPR report.
With the best regards of the CSHRN Steering Committee and the CSHRN Executive Secretariat.

The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN), consisting of nearly 60 organizations, was established in August 2004 as an umbrella structure to coordinate human rights activities among local non-governmental organizations. CSHRN works to promote human rights and to strengthen civil society in Afghanistan. CSHRN carries out activities in more than 20 provinces of Afghanistan.

CSHRN Address: Kaart-e- 3, Sixth Municipal District's Street
Contacts: 0776619567 0700077815 0700260942, 004532698812
nn_cshrn@yahoo.com; wazirahmad_khorami@yahoo.com; mms@humanrights.dk