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Monitoring Human Rights
The AIHRC is mandated to monitor
the situation of human rights,
where the liberty of people have
been denied, restricted or
violated in police custody,
detention centers, prisons,
juvenile prisons and other
situations where human rights
are vulnerable. The Commission
also monitors freedom of speech
and the status of women and
children.
Between June 2003-June 2004, the
AIHRC made more than 134
monitoring trips to prisons and
detention centres through its
central and regional offices.
During these trips, Commission
staff examined facilities and
asked prisoners about the status
of their cases and their
treatment. The AIHRC then
assessed whether the
imprisonments were arbitrary and
whether or not prisoners
experienced torture during their
detention.
Among the prisons regularly
monitored are womens prisons in
Kabul, Jalalabad,
Mazar-e-sharif, Herat and
Kandahar, which are jointly
monitored by the Womens Rights
and the Monitoring and
Investigation Units.
Torture continues to take place
as a routine part of police
procedures. The AIHRC has found
torture to occur particularly at
the investigation stage in order
to extort confessions from
detainees. Forced confessions
are clearly in violation of the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) and the
International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Torture was found to be
especially prevalent in Herat
province. For example, two
brothers in Herat were
imprisoned on the charge of
stealing bicycles. They were
then beaten and hidden from the
AIHRC investigators, who
eventually found them in the
Herat Criminal Investigation
Office. As a result of the
torture, the brothers were
unable to walk. The AIHRC filed
complaints against the Herat
Criminal Investigation Office
with the Herat Deputy Governor,
Chief of Police and the Ministry
of the Interior. As a result of
the complaint filed by the
AIHRC, the Head of the Criminal
Investigation Department of
Herat was removed from his post.
Poor conditions within prisons
are another concern of the
AIHRC. Prisoners suffer from a
lack of space, lack of sunlight
and overcrowding. Food and
clean water also are scarce. In
Parwan prison, for example,
water is brought in by tankers
and stored in an open pool which
is used for drinking and
washing. Prisoners are
routinely denied medical care or
only treated within the prison.
Female prisoners have had to
give birth in detention centers.
In 2004, the Commissions
Monitoring and Investigation
Unit, with cooperation from the
Ministry of Justice, installed
complaint boxes in both the male
and female prisons in Kabul. Of
35 female prisoners, 28
submitted complaints and 136 of
623 male prisoners registered
complaints. Most of the
prisoners complained about
treatment by police and judicial
officials, about delays in their
cases and about a lack of legal
representation. Corruption in
the judicial system is also a
common complaint. To preserve
the confidentiality of the
complaints, the key to the
complaint boxes remains with the
AIHRC.
The Commission has also
identified the lack of prisoner
access to legal services as a
major factor in their
incarceration and is working
with other organizations to
provide defense attorneys to
prisoners who cannot afford to
hire their own.
The Monitoring and Investigation
Unit shares the results of its
monitoring with other human
rights and legal aid
organizations and some
monitoring visits are conducted
in coordination with UNAMA.
In the past year, the AIHRC has
won some improvements in the
prisons, including better staff
behavior towards prisoners,
regular food, separate
facilities for child and adult
prisoners and visitation rights
for the families of prisoners.
The AIHRC also has ended the
practice of shackling prisoners
ankles in the Kabul detention
centers. In the womens prisons
in particular, the AIHRC has
successfully pressed for
literacy and vocational training
programs and for kindergartens
for the children of women
prisoners. Another major
improvement is the registration
of detainees at detention
centres.
However, little improvement has
been seen in the overall prison
conditions and the handling of
prisoners cases by the judicial
system. In August 2003, by
Presidential Decree, the
Ministry of the Interior handed
over the administration of
prisons and jails to the
Ministry of Justice. While the
AIHRC supports this transfer of
prison administration as a
positive step in the reform of
the prison system, the transfer
process was not well planned and
resulted in chaos and a cutoff
of food rations.
The AIHRC also monitors human
rights violations within the
judicial system. Individuals
are often arrested and detained
without cause by district
attorney offices. For example,
in Panjshir, the District
Attorney held four people in
prison for 45 days with no
evidence of a crime. The AIHRC
intervened and won the release
of all four prisoners.
Prisoners are sometimes held for
a year or more before the courts
issue rulings in their cases.
As well, the deposition of cases
often is decided by bribes.
Those who pay the bribes are
released, those who do not
remain in prison. The
Commission has documented cases
where murderers are released
because they paid money.
Innocent people with no money,
power or access to influential
people remain in prison while
those who are guilty of crimes
are set free.
Long before evidence of human
rights abuses against prisoners
in Iraq at the hands of the U.S.
military emerged, the AIHRC
received and brought to the
attention of U.S. military
officials similar allegations in
Afghanistan.
The Commission has received 44
complaints of human rights
violations committed by
international coalition forces.
Eleven of the complaints were
related to the bombing of
civilians. The other 33
complaints included cases of
beatings, detention of innocent
people, and damage to houses,
injuries to people and a lack of
respect for Afghan culture
during coalition raids.
In the fall of 2003, a former
Afghan police colonel filed a
complaint with the Commission
detailing the beatings, sleep
deprivation, taunts and sexual
abuse that he was subjected to
during 40 days in custody at
U.S. military bases in Gardez,
Kandahar and Bagram. Like the
prisoners in Iraq, the victim
was repeatedly photographed,
often without clothes. He was
taken prisoner in July after
being accused of membership in
the Taliban and released in
August after he was found to be
no threat to coalition forces.
Following an interview with the
victim, the AIHRC informed U.S.
military officials of his
complaint. However, to the
Commissions knowledge, no
action was taken. After the
victims story appeared on the
front page of the New York
Times, the U.S. military says it
launched an immediate
investigation but nothing yet
has been heard from them about
this case. The results of an
investigation of the deaths of
two Afghans in American custody
at Bagram in December 2002 have
also yet to be released.
The AIHRC thus far has not been
allowed to monitor coalition
detention centers. In May 2004,
the AIHRC Chairperson, Dr. Sima
Samar, formally requested access
to detention centres in Bagram
and other detention centres in
the country. In addition, she
officially requested the
Presidents support in visiting
the detention centers. The
Commission has also requested
the appointment of a U.S.
military liaison to deal with
human rights abuses.
On a monthly basis, the AIHRC
Child Protection Unit visits
detention centres for children
which are called correction
centres. The AIHRC monitors
childrens detention centres in
Kabul, Herat, Parwan, Kapisa,
Gardez, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar
and Jalalabad.
Through these visits, the Unit
has been able to identify some
of the main problems and to
bring some improvements in
conditions at the centres. For
example, the quality of
education and health care for
children in detention has
improved through the
intervention of the AIHRC. The
Unit also successfully
established a kindergarten for
the children of women held in
the Kabul womens prison.
As well, the Child Protection
Unit assisted in the release of
more than 85 children who were
illegally detained or had
committed petty offences. The
AIHRC also won the separation of
child offenders from adult
offenders in prisons in
Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar.
In Kabul and in most of the
regional offices, the AIHRC has
held training and sensitization
programs for the police to try
to stop the torture and illegal
detention of children. As well,
the Childrens Rights Unit has
organized training sessions for
the police, Attorney General and
the judiciary regarding the need
for justice for children.
In response to complaints about
the behavior of military
commanders and other
authorities, the AIHRC has
undertaken a number of
monitoring missions to assess
human rights violations in the
regions and to make
recommendations. In many cases,
the victimization of local
residents is the result of the
involvement of commanders with
poppy cultivation, the seizure
of natural resources and other
illegal activities. Poverty and
the lack of reconstruction
activity have further
exacerbated these problems.
Mission to
Kirjan:
In August 2003, the AIHRC
received complaints about the
appointment of Haji Abdurrahman
as District Governor of Kijran
district in Uruzgan province.
The complaints alleged that
Abdurrahman had recruited
soldiers and established
military posts at public
expense; that bribes were being
taken to settle disputes and
that he had opium business
dealings with the Governor of
Uruzgan. A District Governor of
the neighboring district of
Charchina, Toren Aman, was also
accused of torture and
collecting illegal taxes from
residents.
After a government mission to
the area was unable to obtain
information, the AIHRC made the
decision to send its own mission
to investigate the situation.
The AIHRC team found that the
primary source of the conflict
and human rights violations in
the area was the collection of
taxes on opium production by
local authorities.
As District Governor,
Abdurrahman had requested that
the farmers in his district pay
one-fourth of their opium
harvest to him as a tax. Toren
made the same request of the
residents from his district.
However, they refused to pay the
tax and Toren was forced from
his job. Toren and his troops
then attempted to take control
of Kirjan district. Residents
complained to President Karzai
about both governors. Attempts
by the Governor of Kandahar
province to broker an agreement
failed and fighting broke out,
resulting in 30 people being
killed and 20 injured, including
a pregnant woman and her
daughter. Looting and
subsequent arrests occurred.
Following the mission, the AIHRC
recommended that neither
Abdurrahman nor Toren be allowed
to hold office. The AIHRC also
found that water shortages, lack
of education and health care and
a lack of job opportunities in
Kirjan district had contributed
to the dependence of the
population on opium production.
AIHRC recommended that
humanitarian organizations and
the government address these
needs. The mission resulted in
the dismissal of both Toren Aman
and Abdurrahman.
Mission to
Kahmard:
A mission to the Kahmard
District of Bamiyan took place
after the AIHRC received reports
that local residents were
protesting check points set up
by the local commander, Haji
Ahmad, who was the Chief of
Police. Residents were also
concerned about the lack of
competent administration, the
lack of security, poppy
cultivation, trafficking and
non-payment of police salaries.
The mission was conducted as a
joint effort by the AIHRC,
UNAMA, UNHCR, Bamiyan PRT and
the Bamiyan Governors office to
examine the controversies
surrounding the Ministry of
Interiors appointment of Haji
Ahmad as Chief of Police and
Allah Bomani as Kahmard District
Governor.
The mission concluded that the
majority of people held Haji
Ahmad responsible for human
rights violations and
harassment. While most people
were happy with Allah Bommani,
they felt that his
administration was very weak.
The mission recommended that
checkpoints established by Ahmad
be removed and that both Ahmad
and Bommani be dismissed and
also recommended the
acceleration of reconstruction
in the area.
Mission to
Herat:
In March 2004, a series of
incidents took place in Herat
which resulted in the death of
Mirwais Sadiq, the Minister of
Civil Aviation and the son of
the Governor of Herat, Ismail
Khan, in a fire fight between
the Minister and the men loyal
to him and the men working loyal
to the Chief Commander of
Military Base 17.
In retaliation, the soldiers of
Ismail Khan went on a rampage,
looting and burning homes,
including the Head of the
Provincial Court of Herat. As a
result of this rampage, 40
people were killed, 19 people
were injured, 296 disappeared
and 178 were arrested.
A joint mission made up of
government authorities and the
Commission went to Herat to
investigate and 157 people were
released from custody due to the
intervention of the Commission.
Monitoring human rights prior to
and during elections is one of
the major duties of the AIHRC.
For the election of delegates to
th e Constitutional Loya Jirga
in late 2003, the AIHRC provided
its regional offices with
instructions and procedures to
monitor the electoral process.
The goals of the AIHRC
monitoring were to ensure
respect for freedom of speech,
non-discrimination against women
and the political participation
of all people.
The AIHRC investigated numerous
complaints of intimidation and
threats around the election of
delegates and at the Loya Jirga
itself. The Commission has
contracted an independent
researcher to conduct a full
human rights analysis of the
election of the delegates to the
Constitutional Loya Jirga and
the conduct of the Loya Jirga to
ensure that future electoral and
government decision-making
processes are free from human
rights violations. This study
will be completed prior to
Afghanistans Presidential
elections in the fall.
As well, the AIHRC will play a
leadership role in monitoring
the Presidential and
Parliamentary elections.
Because of inadequate security
in the country, Presidential
elections were postponed from
June 2004 to September 2004 and
Parliamentary elections were
postponed until the spring of
2005. The AIHRCs
responsibilities during the
electoral process are two-fold:
first, the AIHRC will assess
whether or not the political and
security environments are
conducive to free and fair
elections. Second, the AIHRC
will participate in joint
election monitoring exercises
with civil society institutions.
The AIHRC is a part of the Joint
Electoral Monitoring Body
(JEMB), which is led by the
government of Afghanistan and
includes UNAMA, the European
Union and the International
Foundation for Election Services
(IFES).
Together with UNAMA, the
Commission is implementing a
Political Rights Verification
Program. The two organizations
have developed mechanisms
through which the principles of
freedom of speech,
non-discrimination and political
participation will be monitored
and investigated. With UNAMA,
the AIHRC has begun to actively
monitor the electoral process
and publish regular reports of
their findings, which will
continue until elections are
held.
The AIHRC is also working in
collaboration with JEMB on
public education around the
elections. The AIHRC has
recommended that there be a
public education campaign to
present voting as a right and
has criticized materials that
thus far have introduced voting
as a duty rather than a right.
A major concern of the AIHRC is
the involvement of armed persons
in the elections and their
likely negative impact on the
electoral process. Current
discussion involves strategies
to appoint electoral supervisors
and observers from the regions.
The AIHRC is also a part of the
unofficial monitoring efforts of
the Domestic Election Monitoring
Body, National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and Afghan Civil
Society Forum. In this role, the
AIHRC will help mobilize and
organize the participation of
civil society organizations in
election monitoring.
As well, the AIHRC has played a
leading role in setting up an
NGO, Fair and Free Election
Foundation for Afghanistan
(FEFA). Composed of several
different Afghan civil society
groups as well as the
Commission, FEFA lobbies for
reform of the election
legislation, raises awareness
about various election issues
and will monitor and observe the
electoral process from the
campaign to voting day.
A major priority for the AIHRC
and its Child Protection Unit is
combating child trafficking.
The AIHRC has been working to
assess the extent of
trafficking, to educate law
enforcement officials about
trafficking and to establish a
committee under the Ministry of
Labor and Social Affairs to
prepare a national plan of
action on child trafficking.
The AIHRC has also urged law
enforcement action to prevent
child trafficking and to locate
children who have been taken.
The AIHRC convened a meeting of
100 officials including the
chiefs of police from all 32
provinces, representatives from
the Ministry of the Interior,
border police, district level
police officers in Kabul, child
rights officers from the AIHRC
regional offices and members of
a network of NGOs working in the
field of child protection to
discuss strategies to stem child
trafficking.
As a result of recommendations
from the meeting, a
Ministry-level committee on
child trafficking was formed.
The Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs will lead the committee,
with the AIHRC participating as
an active member. Other members
of the child trafficking
committee include the Ministry
of Justice, Ministry of the
Interior, Ministry of Refugee
Affairs, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNAMA,
IOM and Save the Children
affiliates from Sweden, Norway,
UK, Japan and the U.S. This
committee meets once a month and
will soon issue a national plan
of action on trafficking. On
April 28-29, 2004, a workshop
was held to assess the
anti-trafficking activities of
each organization, evaluate gaps
and overlaps in child advocacy
work and make recommendations to
the national plan of action.
The AIHRC Child Protection Unit
has developed and published a
chart with guidelines on
measures that parents and
teachers can take to prevent
trafficking in both Dari and
Pashto. Four thousand charts
were distributed to all regional
offices and posted in schools,
district police offices and
other public spaces. Because of
the high demand for the chart
from child protection
organizations, it was recently
reprinted.
In addition, the AIHRC Child
Protection Unit in the spring of
2004 started a process of follow
up with the police and judiciary
on cases of persons charged with
child trafficking. Although the
Ministry of the Interior has
announced that forty-nine cases
of trafficking have been under
investigation, thus far not a
single case of trafficking has
been prosecuted. With its
monitoring program, the Child
Protection Unit intervenes as
soon as it learns of the arrest
of an alleged trafficker. With
this strategy, the Unit has
already been able to move
forward the prosecution of seven
alleged perpetrators by district
attorney offices. Later in
2004, the Unit will publish a
report on how the judicial
system handles cases of
trafficking.
Afghanistan is a party to most
of the core international human
rights treaties. These
instruments comprise a set of
standards that form the basis of
the UN human rights system and
are a part of international
law. Afghanistan has also made
a constitutional commitment to
abide by international human
rights treaties.
Article 7 of the Constitution of
Afghanistan states: the State
shall abide by the UN charter,
international treaties,
international conventions that
Afghanistan has signed, and the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
Ratifying a human rights treaty
imposes a number of obligations
on the State as the treaty must
be implemented in law and in
practice. It is usually
necessary for governments to
review laws, policies and
practices to ensure that they
are in compliance with treaty
obligations. All proposed laws
and policies should be checked
for compliance before they are
enacted and many of the treaties
have reporting obligations.
As an independent national human
rights institution, the AIHRC
has the function of promoting
the harmonization of national
law and practice with
international human rights
instruments to which Afghanistan
is a party and providing advice
and information to the countrys
human rights treaty reporting
processes.
Some of the treaties have
Optional Protocols that the
State party may choose to
ratify. Afghanistan has signed
the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography.
Due to the long period of armed
conflict, it has been many years
since Afghanistan lodged any
reports on its implementation of
the treaties it has ratified.
Therefore, in February 2004, the
AIHRC, together with the UN
Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR),
organized a training workshop
for one week on reporting on
human rights treaties.
Participants came from all
relevant government Ministries,
the AIHRC and NGOs. The
workshop was led by three
experts from Geneva and was held
at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, which coordinated the
event.
Following the workshop, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs
committed to a six year
programme of reporting to the
human rights treaty bodies, at
the rate of one report per year,
beginning with the report on the
International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) by
March 2005. The Governments
commitment to a programme of
treaty reporting was
subsequently confirmed by its
inclusion in the Governments
Workplan published as an Annex
to the Berlin Declaration.
A Working Group on treaty
implementation and reporting,
including the AIHRC, has begun
meeting under the auspices of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Human Rights and Womens Rights
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