Decree of the Presidency of the Interim Administration of
Afghanistan on the Establishment of an Afghan Independent Human
Rights Commission
Date:
6/June/2002
Whereas,
the Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending The
Re-Establishment of Permanent Government Institutions (hereinafter,
the Bonn Agreement) provides that: The Interim Administration
shall, with the assistance of the United Nations, establish an
independent human rights commission, whose responsibilities will
include human rights monitoring, investigation of violations of
human rights, and development of domestic human rights
institutions,
Now
therefore
and to these ends,
-
There
shall be an Afghan independent human rights commission
(hereinafter the Commission) established in Afghanistan, in
accordance with the provisions of the Bonn Agreement, and the
terms, conditions and membership set out in Annexes One and Two,
attached.
-
The
present decree shall enter into force on the date of its
adoption, and shall thereafter be published in the official
gazette, together with its annexes.
Wasalam
______________________________________________________
Hamid Karzai,
Chairman of the Interim
Administration
Annex One of Decree
Terms of Reference of the
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
Article
One
There
shall be an Afghan independent human rights commission (hereinafter
the Commission) established in Afghanistan, with the support of
the United Nations. The Commission shall serve for a fixed term of
two-years from the date of its appointment, subject to the
provisions of Articles Fourteen and Fifteen, below.
Article
Two
The Commission shall be
charged with developing a national plan of action for human rights
in Afghanistan, and with human rights monitoring, investigation of
violations of human rights, development and implementation of a
national programme of human rights education, undertaking of
national human rights consultations, and development of domestic
human rights institutions, in accordance with the terms of the Bonn
Agreement, applicable international human rights norms, standards,
and conventions, and the provisions of this decree and annex. It
shall carry out these functions in all of Afghanistan.
Article
Three
The
Commission shall be composed of 11 (eleven) full-time members
appointed on the basis of their individual human rights expertise,
personal and professional integrity and competence, demonstrated
independence, commitment to the cause of human rights, and public
credibility, one of whom shall be designated as Chairperson by the
Interim Administration. The membership of the Commission shall
include Afghan women and men, persons drawn from each of the
principal ethnic and religious groups of Afghanistan, both from
inside the country and in the Afghan Diaspora, and from Afghan
refugee and internally displaced communities. All members shall be
Afghan nationals.
Article
Four
The members of the
Commission shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Interim
Administration, in close consultation with relevant ministries of
the Interim Administration, members of the Special Independent
Commission for the Convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga, and
representatives of Afghan civil society, including Afghan human
rights organizations.
Article Five
Members of the Commission shall serve for a term of two years from
the date of their appointment. During their tenure, they shall not
be subject to removal by any external authority. The Commission
shall promulgate its own internal disciplinary rules, regulations
and procedures, including requirements for a quorum and procedures
relating to the preservation of confidentiality.
Article Six
The Commission shall have its headquarters in Kabul, and shall as
well establish and maintain regional satellite offices in Qandahar,
Herat, Mazar-i Sharif, Faizabad, Jalalabad, Gardez and Bamiyan. The
Commission shall determine whether, when and where to open
additional offices, with a mind to ensuring the widest possible
national coverage and public accessibility within available
resources.
Article Seven
The Commission shall be supported by a full-time professional
secretariat, staffed by Afghan human rights specialists and
qualified support staff. The Commission shall appoint a Director to
head the staff and be responsible for the daily management of the
work of the Commission and its offices. The Director shall, in
turn, be responsible for the appointment of all other staff, in
accordance with criteria, terms and procedures to be developed by or
under the authority of the Commission.
Article Eight
All Commission members and staff shall be immune from all criminal
prosecution and civil liability for words spoken, acts performed or
omissions committed in the good faith performance of their mandated
professional duties for the promotion and protection of human
rights. Persons appearing before the Commission in order to offer
evidence or testimony shall be entitled to immunity from civil or
criminal liability only for the act of providing such evidence or
testimony, except where that person is charged with giving false
testimony or fabricating evidence. All national authorities and
official institutions shall be required to afford full cooperation
to the Commission, and to facilitate its work in carrying out its
mandated functions. The national authorities shall be responsible
for providing adequate security for the members, staff, witnesses,
premises, materials and property of the Commission, wherever these
may be found.
Article Nine
The Commission shall be mandated to monitor the situation of human
rights throughout the entire country, to investigate allegations of
violations of human rights, and to develop recommendations for the
building and strengthening of national human rights capacities and
institutions. It shall work with partner institutions to develop
and implement human rights education activities including through
the incorporation of human rights into national educational
curricula at all levels, and in the mass media. It shall as well
undertake national consultations and propose a national strategy for
transitional justice and for addressing the abuses of the past. It
shall submit opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports to
local, regional and national authorities, promote the harmonization
of national law and practice with international human rights
instruments to which the Afghanistan is a party, provide advice and
information to the countrys human rights treaty reporting
processes, assist in the development and implementation of national
human rights education programmes, and cooperate with the United
Nations and other international organizations on all matters within
the Commissions competence.
Article Ten
The Commission shall be empowered to freely consider any questions
falling within its competence, whatever the source of the proposal
or referral, and shall have the right to initiate its own enquiries
and investigations. It shall receive, hear and consider complaints
and petitions concerning both individual cases and general
situations, whether bought before it by individuals, their
representatives, third parties or organizations, and shall be
entrusted to address such cases and situations, variously, and in
accordance with its own judgement, by seeking amicable settlement
through conciliation, issuing decisions, or those confidential
procedures which it may see fit to adopt; by informing petitioners
of their rights and available remedies within the national legal
system and international mechanisms and how to access them; by
referring them to the courts or transferring them to other competent
authorities; and, or by making recommendations to the authorities
for remedial legal or administrative reform. The Commission shall
develop its own rules and procedures for these purposes, giving due
regard to the need to ensure gender sensitivity and physical,
social, cultural and linguistic accessibility.
Article
Eleven
The Commission shall have
the power to hear any person and obtain any information, evidence
and documentation necessary to assess situations and cases falling
within its competence. It shall further have the power to require
that the evidence of any witness, whether written or oral, be given
under oath or affirmation, in the manner required for the
presentation of evidence before the courts of Afghanistan, and to
administer such oath or affirmation. It shall have the power to
summon any person resident in Afghanistan to appear before the
Commission in order to give evidence, provide testimony, produce
documents or deliver material evidence, to examine such persons as
witnesses, and to compel them to produce documentary or material
evidence in their possession or under their control. The Commission
shall have the authority to admit or exclude the public from any
part of an enquiry, in particular where this is necessary in order
to protect the safety or reputation of any persons.
Article
Twelve
The Commission shall
develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with
organizations and representatives of Afghan civil society, including
non-governmental organizations, community based groups, and others.
It shall publish a comprehensive yearly report on the state of human
rights in Afghanistan. It shall as well publicize its opinions and
recommendations, undertake regular public information activities,
and address public opinion directly and through the media.
Article
Thirteen
The Commission shall
develop its own budget, as well as transparent and efficient systems
for its financial management, ensuring the acquisition and
maintenance of adequate infrastructure, funding, staff, premises,
and materials necessary for the independent performance of its
mandated responsibilities. It shall seek the technical and financial
support of the United Nations and international donors for its
activities during the transitional period, as defined in the Bonn
Agreement.
Article
Fourteen
The Commission itself
shall have sole authority for determining rules and procedures for
the removal of members and staff for reasons relating to capacity or
actions incompatible with their duties, and for the actual removal
of such members or staff in accordance with such rules and
procedures. In all cases where the removal, resignation or death
of a member results in a vacancy, the Commission shall itself
appoint the necessary number of new members to fill such vacancies,
in accordance with its own rules and procedures. Any new members
appointed to fill such vacancies shall serve for the balance of the
original two-year mandate of the Commission.
Article Fifteen
Prior to the termination
of the mandate of the Commission, as defined in Articles One and
Five, supra, the Commission shall develop and present to the
Constitutional Commission and the Constitutional Loya Jirga a
proposal and plan for the Commissions transformation into a
constitutionally entrenched permanent independent Afghan human
rights commission, in accordance with the United Nations Principles
Relating to the Status Of National Institutions for the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights (The Paris Principles,
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 48/134 of 20 December
1993, annex).
Annex Two of
Decree
Persons
Appointed As Members of the
Afghan Independent Human
Rights Commission
1.
Amina Safia
AFZALI
2.
Suraya
AHMADYAR
3.
Hangama
ANWARI
4.
Haneef ATMAR
5.
Ali Ahmad
FAKUR
6.
Humaira
NIAMATI
7.
Ahmed Fahim
HAKIM
8.
Zia LANGARI
9.
Abdul Salam
RAHIMY
10.
Abdul Razique
SAMADI
11.
Masoom
STANEKZAI
