Introduction
How should
Afghanistan, a newly emerging democracy, cope with the legacy of the
repressive authorities, armed groups and individuals? How can we
redress the past abuses without creating new injustices? How can we
peacefully integrate both the victims and the perpetrators?
Afghanistan is a society confronted with a legacy
of severe human rights abuse. How it responds to this situation and
transitions into a new more democratic order are the concerns of
transitional justice.
Transitional Justice Defined
Transitional justice considers the problems a
society faces when transitioning from a repressive regime to a more
democratic order or from a civil war with clops states to peace and
state building. These problems are varied. For example, the new
government (current) must distinguish itself from the old. It must
decide on how to punish former armed groups and individual
perpetrators of human rights violations. Swift and severe punishments
may undermine democratic principles, but relying on the rule of law
and justice may be slow and leave those who were committed with the
grave violation of human rights unpunished. The government must also
decide how to deal with followers of the groups and individuals who
violated the peoples rights, including public officials, bureaucrats,
administrators, and armed groups of old system and regimes. Similarly,
the government must deal with how to reform the judicial and
enforcement systems and decide whether to replace former police
officials and change the laws. Citizens who suffered from violation of
human rights may demand compensation, and the government must
determine what is appropriate.
And finally Transitional Justice refer to the
development, analysis, and practical application of a wide variety of
strategies for confronting the legacy of past human rights abuses in
order to create a more just and democratic future.
Developing a strategy of transitional justice will
be not an easy task, it will defiantly combines with, enormous
challenges and difficulties, security both for staff and those who
comes in contact with commission, weak judicial system, lack of
protection systems, presence of deep family linkages between victims
and abusers are the main challenges which will arise in the process of
transitional Justice.
Developing
a national strategy of Transitional Justice should be looked at as a
process related to the promotion of the rule of law and linked to
reform and to the development of security, good governance and an
effective judiciary system.
Vision
The objective of this national program of transitional justice is to
enhance respect for human rights and national reconciliation in the
country. This will be done through investigation, recording and
publication of the truth and through the establishment of
accountability for the past crimes such as crime against humanity and
gross violations of human rights in accordance with international law,
Islamic principles, Afghan tradition and the will of the people of
Afghanistan.
Goals
Background
The enthusiasm for peace and justice in Afghanistan was visible in
the first National Human Rights Workshop in Kabul on March 9, 2002.
During the workshop members of civil society, elders, community
representatives and international experts gathered to outline the
strategies for the promotion and protection of human rights, justice,
and the rule of law in Afghanistan. Mr. Hamid Karzi, Chairman of the
Interim Authority, spoke of dealing with violations of the past his
opening speech to the workshop.
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) was created
and mandated to develop a mechanism and a national strategy for
transitional justice. The AIHRC will try its best to highlight the
importance of reconciliation. It will also explore the traditional
methods of confronting the past and promoting accountability in order
to mold any transitional justice strategy to the particularities of
Afghanistan. The commission will make final decision on which strategy
or mechanisms to recommend the government only after a national
consultation. It is up to the people of Afghanistan, not the
Commission, to decide which mechanism to employ to deal with the past
abuses of human rights.
The
Plan of Action
The initial plan
will be divided into two parts as follow:
-
Documentation and Collection of Evidence: To map, and collect
the evidence of violations that have caused suffering of the
civilians in Afghanistan in order to identify the nature of crimes.
To archive the documents for historical reference. To develop a
database of information on past crimes.
-
Conducting National Consultation on Transitional Justice:
To give the ownership of the transitional justice
process to victims and to the people of Afghanistan. To find the
fact and truth of past crimes of human rights, and to develop a
mechanism for justice which the majority of the population supports.
The
process will go through an evaluation period every three months to
ensure that the Plan is effective in achieving its goals.
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