On Monday, May 2, 2011 Afghanistan Watch organized a Consultation Conference with Victims of 24 Hut Uprising of March 1979 and Civil Society organizations based in Herat. The event was held at the conference room of the Regional Office of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Herat.

The event brought together some 47 participants of different social, historical and political groups in Herat. They included participants and witnesses of the uprising as well as authors, cultural figures and representatives of civil society organizations with knowledge and keen interest in the history of the region.

The conference was a key component of Afghanistan Watch’s ongoing efforts to document and investigate the popular uprising of 15 March 1979 in Herat against the Soviet-backed government of Hizb-e Democratik Khalq or People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan(PDPA). Since November 2010, when Afghanistan Watch opened a field office in the city of Herat it has been making systematic efforts to document and establish the truth of the 24 Hut uprising and the government response to those participating in the bloody revolt. During the past months, the organization through its dedicated team in Herat has been collecting hundreds of testimonies of victims and witnesses of the uprising. In addition to these crucial personal stories, information and evidences have been gathered from a number of secondary sources.

The main purpose of the consultative conference was to discuss various aspects of the uprising with participants and victims of the uprising as well as analysts, authors and members of the local civil society organizations.

The conference was opened by Niamatullah Ibrahimi, Program Director of Afghanistan Watch who introduced the participants to the organization’s documentation program, goals and methodology. In his opening remarks, he stressed the need for investigating, documenting and remembering painful periods of the history of war and violence in the country.  He explained how the discussions within the conference would help shed light on different aspects of the 24 Hut Uprising and supplement and strengthen information obtained through personal stories of the victims and witnesses of the uprising.

Two important sessions of the conference were opened by remarks of Mr. Abdul Qadir Rahimi, the Head of Regional Office of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Herat. Mr. Rahimi himself a native of Herat and a witness of the uprising, opened the sessions on Background and Reasons of the Uprising and the Government Response toward the Participants of the Uprising with his personal experiences as well as broad historical analysis of the situation at the national level. Colonel Majidi and Colonel Waziri both leaders of a revolt within the military division 17 in Herat that played a key role in support of the popular uprising within the province opened sessions on the Nature of 24 Hut Uprising and How to Confront the Legacies of the Uprising respectively. The two speakers opened the sessions with remarkable personal stories and observation of the environment before and during the uprising.

In each session short speeches by the main speakers were followed by open discussion by all participants. These discussions revealed different and sometimes contradictory narratives of the uprisings and its legacy that continue to provoke intense feelings until the present day. Despite some differences, the participants stressed the importance of documenting and telling and remembering stories of painful incidents like the 24 Hut.

The conference was concluded following a discussion of the relationship between peace and justice. This session was opened by a presentation of Sayed Fahim, Transitional Justice Officer of the AIHRC in Herat. Mr. Fahim discussed two important documents: the Action Plan for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation and the Amnesty Bill passed by Lower House of the National Assembly of Afghanistan in 2007. He discussed how the two documents are representatives of two approaches with regard to coming to terms with the legacies of war and conflict in the country.

The final discussions centered on what should and can be done to document and learn from the history of war and conflict in the country. The participants praised documentation initiatives taken by civil society organizations like Afghanistan Watch and called for expansion of such efforts to cover other parts of the country.