Human Rights Watch has issued a report on impunity for war crime and other human rights abuse by the strongmen in Afghanistan.
The United States has long talked respect for human rights:
[U.S. Army] Col. Brian Tribus, spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support training and assist mission, said the international coalition remains “unwavering in our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of respect for the human rights and dignity of all people in Afghanistan, including detainees.”
Rights group: New Afghan government must end torture, killings by warlords, Stars and Stripes
Where, from the beginning of our invasion and occupation, and from our pressure on the Afghan government, respect for human rights has consistently been undermined, with a continual short-term focus on security at any price.
A grim account of deaths, robbery, rapes and extrajudicial killings, Today We Shall All Die, details a culture of impunity that the rights group says flourished after the fall of the Taliban, driven by the desire for immediate control of security at almost any price.
“The rise of abusive political and criminal networks was not inevitable,” the report said. “Short-term concerns for maintaining a bulwark against the Taliban have undermined aspirations for long-term good governance and respect for human rights in Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan officials sanctioned murder, torture and rape, says report, Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian
Short-term concerns for maintaining a bulwark against the Taliban have undermined aspirations for long-term good governance and respect for human rights in Afghanistan. After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the US government and its allies decided to arm and fund commanders loosely aligned as part of the Northern Alliance13 to fight the Taliban. Many of these commanders had well-documented records of human rights abuses in Afghanistan’s post-Soviet civil war. The Northern Alliance’s political representatives dominated the 2001 Bonn Conference, which laid the foundation for a process that prioritized accommodating commanders and warlords over accountability.14
Through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military Special Forces, the United States enlisted local militias as partners in what they saw as their primary aim of pursuing elements of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.15
“Today We Shall All Die”: Afghanistan’s Strongmen and the Legacy of Impunity, Human Rights Watch
Gunmen killed at least 6 people, in an attack on a Sufi center in Kabul.
Attackers with guns fixed with silencers killed six people after storming a Sufi place of worship in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday evening, according to a government statement.
Several men attacked the religious building in the western part of the capital during evening prayers, said the statement released by the Ministry of Interior.
Five people were wounded. The gunmen escaped the scene, and police arrested five suspects on Saturday evening in connection with the attack.
Six killed in gunmen attack on Sufi place of worship in Kabul, Reuters
Afghanistan is regarded as a birthplace of Sufism, and some of the order’s most important figures originated here. Rumi, a 13th century theologian and poet, is believed to have been born in the northern city of Balkh.
When Afghanistan was ruled by the Taliban government in the late 1990s, many Sufis were driven underground or prosecuted. Some Islamic extremists regard the Sufis’ practices, which can include meditating, singing and dancing, as heretical.
In recent years, extremist groups in Libya and Pakistan have destroyed Sufi sites. But Saturday’s slayings were believed to be a first in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's ancient Sufi order shocked by deadly attack, Los Angeles Times
The most religiously-oriented forms of sectarian violence, relatively rare in Afghanistan, seem to be increasing.
The New York Times Magazine has a long profile of Afghan police operations in Baraki Barak, rural, but not far from Kabul.
The Afghan Police are on the front lines of both fights that matter in Afghanistan: one to defeat the Taliban, the other to gain the loyalty of the people. It is the same conundrum faced by the police in conflict zones from Iraq to El Salvador: To deliver services, there must be security; to deliver security, there must be services. And in too much of Afghanistan today, there is neither. In Baraki Barak, 30 of Qasim’s 200 officers were killed in the last year, representing one of the highest police death rates in all of Afghanistan.
Nationwide, of the 5,588 security personnel who died in 2014 — the deadliest year on record — 3,720 were police officers, double the number of soldiers killed on the job, according to an internal report that a Western official provided to me. (He asked to remain anonymous because he did not want to publicly contradict the lower numbers published by the Afghan government.)
The Hardest (and Most Important) Job in Afghanistan, New York Times
Partial plot spoiler, but Major Mohammad Qasim, portrayed favorably through the piece, is under different circumstances by the end.
The New York Times also has a portrait of women police officers in Afghanistan.
Parveena almost got away.
She was on her way home from a visit to her parents in a remote corner of eastern Afghanistan with her children by her side and a small group of women. Two men, their faces covered by kaffiyehs, pulled up on a motor scooter.
“Who is Parveena, daughter of Sardar?” said one, looking at the group of women, their faces hidden behind blue burqas.
No one answered. One of the men took his Kalashnikov and used the muzzle to lift the burqa of the nearest woman — in conservative Afghan society, a gesture akin to undressing her in public. It was Parveena, who like many Afghans used only one name. She grabbed the muzzle, according to her father and her brother, and said, “Who is asking?”
But the gunmen had seen her face, and they fired 11 bullets into her.
Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against Culture, New York Times
The effect of western-backed cultural change is questioned.
Now, as Western troops and money flow out of Afghanistan, the question is just how much the encounter with the West and its values has really changed the country, and whether any of the foreign ideas about the status of women took hold.
Seema Ghani, unrelated to the president but a family friend, has an opinion piece at Al Jazeera, saying that international donor priorities, wanting quick results and instant gratification, has been a hurdle to empowering women in Afghanistan.
Economic empowerment of Afghan women has been a mantra of the international community involved in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban at the end of 2001. Thirteen years on, while progress in Afghan women's predicament is undeniable, the ambitious objective of economic empowerment of women leaves much to be desired.
The latest US scheme, under the name PROMOTE, was announced late last year as a comprehensive package of assistance to the tune of $216m for Afghan women. The US government is lobbying other western donors to also contribute funds to the same programme. This money will be disbursed in four areas: leadership development, economic empowerment, governance, and strengthening civil society.
...
Afghanistan's donor countries want quick results and instant gratification for the funds they disburse. But only long-term plans can achieve sustainable success. Therefore, the future sustainability of Afghan women's progress - and indeed, Afghanistan's progress - depends on fundamental improvements on aid effectiveness.
During PROMOTE's assessment process earlier in 2015, women were called on at their own offices occasionally for consultation. Most other consultations with Afghan women were held at the famous Barons Hotel in Kabul, a hotel popular among expat consultants with suites costing up to $20,000 per month.
Afghans were told that due to security threats in the city, the PROMOTE assessors had to meet with women in the highly secure Barons'. Some Afghan women refused to attend consultation meetings, realising that despite claims of "lessons learned", PROMOTE was being launched along the same old pattern; donors using vast chunks of the funds pledged for Afghanistan to cover their own expenses.
Afghan women's progress trumped by donors' priorities, Al Jazeera
Catherine Powell, at the Council for Foreign Relations, recommends U.S.-centric donor efforts to empower women in Afghanistan.
Although Afghan women and girls have made strides in education, the economy, health care, politics, and broader civil society since the 2001 U.S.-led intervention, these advances remain fragile. As Afghanistan transitions to a new presidency and the drawdown of U.S. troops continues through 2016, now is the time for the United States to take action, in coordination with Afghanistan and its partners, to cement and extend gender-equality gains, close the gaps, and prevent reversal. Despite a decreasing military footprint in Afghanistan, the United States has a unique ability and obligation to continue supporting Afghan efforts to improve women's security and leadership opportunities through diplomacy, defense, and development aid.
Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy Catherine Powell recommends several policies that would allow the United States to secure and broaden these gains, including interagency coordination led by the National Security Council, joint leadership of the Afghan Gender Task Force by the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and the ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, and prioritized goals of improving women's security and investing in women's rights and decision-making authority.
The advancement of women and girls correlates with gains in stability, security, and development. Given the mutual interest of the United States and Afghanistan in fighting terrorism and extremism and promoting economic sustainability, the United States should bolster gender equality before the drawdown is complete and continue working with Afghanistan to maintain these gains in the future.
Women and Girls in the Afghanistan Transition, Council for Foreign Relations
Wazhma Frogh, of the Women Waging Peace Network, responds to the New York Times article on women police.
While the challenges that are listed by the New York Times articles are one side of the story, the other completing side tells a different tale. Despite the cultural barriers, lack of services, and inadequate facilities, we still have over 3,000 women serving in the police force and Ministry of Interior. These women chose to become police officers despite the risks that this job entails. Women’s organizations, activists, and civil society have pushed for reforms and support mechanisms for the female police. The Ministry of Interior has its first Female Police Integration Strategy accompanied by a five-year implementation plan. We were behind the creation and development of the Strategy, and now we’re monitoring the implementation so that the challenges of female police are addressed at the highest level.
I want to thank the US Congress for allocating $50 million dollars to support the women in our country’s security forces.
Network Member Responds to New York Times Article on Afghan Policewomen, Inclusive Security
The Intercept reports on U.S. payments for civilian deaths and damage in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military has paid nearly $6 million to civilians killed and injured in combat operations over almost 10 years of war in Afghanistan, according to the latest numbers released by the Army.
These sums, known as condolence payments, are among the ways the U.S. military compensates civilians for deaths, injuries or property damages that occur during fighting.
The new numbers come from spreadsheets that the U.S. Army Central—the Army branch of U.S. Central Command—posted recently to its Freedom of Information Act website.
Newly Released Records Show US Paid $6 Million for Civilian Harm in Afghanistan, The Intercept
The reporting includes a list of payments made, with dollar amounts and the reasons given.
The payments presented here are not a comprehensive accounting of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, but scrolling through these mundane indignities can offer a small window into thousands of fractured lives and personal tragedies.
Our Condolences, Afghanistan, The Intercept
Avalanches have killed above 200 people, in the Panjshir valley, north of Kabul.
An Afghan provincial official says that the death toll from a massive avalanche in a mountainous valley near the capital, Kabul, rose to 198 as bulldozers and other machinery began clearing roads and rescue teams reached remote villages that have been cut off for almost a week.
Najimudin Khan, deputy provincial police chief of Panjshir province, 60 miles from Kabul, said Sunday that as rescue workers dig through the snow, they are uncovering more bodies, including women and children.
Large parts of Afghanistan have been covered in snow as a major storm interrupted an otherwise mild and dry winter.
Death toll from Afghanistan avalanche rises to nearly 200, Al Jazeera
Parliament is back in session.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has inaugurated a new session of parliament.
In his opening address on March 7, the president praised the country's security forces. He said insurgents who had tried to take over several Afghan provinces had been defeated by soldiers and police officers.
Ghani said he will soon introduce more cabinet nominees to parliament for their approval. Lawmakers have already rejected some of the president's nominees for the 25 cabinet positions on grounds they held dual citizenship or had incomplete education documents.
Afghan President Inaugurates New Session Of Parliament, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty