The eleventh issue of Haqiqat/Truth Newsletter includes coverage of key developments in the country’s newspapers. It includes more than 75 items selected from the Afghan media including 30 related to corruption, 20 on negotiation with the opposition groups, 16 on elections transparency and 11 on transitional justice.

Corruption:  This part includes 30 topics which indicate the importance and attention of media in regard with this subject. Attorney General’s  disclosures, presentation of list and accusations against a number of cabinet members with corruption have raised hopes regarding the betterment of current situation and reduction of corruption in the country. The conviction of the Mayor of Kabul and his release after arrest has sparked debates whether or not the government is serious in fighting corruption. Authorities of international community have brought to discussion topics to battle corruption. These authorities have demanded greater transparency in the conclusion of agreements and the manners of their assistance to Afghanistan. At the same time, Afghan authorities also consider international community’s assistance contaminated with corruption and demand reforms and changes in west’s methods of operation regarding Afghanistan.

Negotiation with government opponents: The issue of negotiation, and its manner, with government opponents is still in a vague condition. Western countries’ view regarding Afghanistan’s new strategy with Taliban and perceptions of hidden agreements of western countries particularly of Britain with Taliban has put to challenge this process.  Till now, government’s repeated request for this negotiation has faced the insurgents’ particularly Taliban’s rejection.

Transparency: We are seeing a declining media interest on the electoral process. UN’s support of the bygone election process and issuance of resolution in this regards, are the after-effect of this elections. Similarly, announcement of provincial elections and investigation of complaints of this election have not completely ended and news are published in this regard.

Transitional Justice: Removal of top Taliban’s name from the black list and negotiation with them are followed with objections. Similarly the western countries demand the introduction of a cabinet free of war criminals and warlords by putting pressure on Karzai. Though the same authorities demanding the enrollment of top Taliban in the government who are  also accused of war crimes. These topics had different analysis on the process of transitional justice in the country.

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The tenth issue of Haqiqat/Truth Newsletter consist 70 topics from the printed media of Kabul. Quantitatively these topics are related to four close themes. Transparency and Corruption each consisting 20 topics, negotiation with government opponents with 18 topics and transitional justice with 12 topics.

Election Transparency: Election Commission’s decision based on nullification of some portion of votes of the candidates and carrying on the second round of election, emplacement of the two top candidates on this decision and challenges in carrying on the second round of election are themes of this topic. Possibilities of fraud in the second round and the Dr. Abdullah’s declaration of not participating in the second round of election had different reaction among media in Afghanistan. United Nations’ endeavor for negotiation and mediation between the two top candidates and Independent Human Rights Commission’s recommendations for these candidates are also points for deliberation here.  Finally with the declaration of Abdullah’s withdrawal from participating in the second round of election, the Independent Election Commission, relying on the Constitution of the country declared Karzai as the winner of the second round which was also supported by the international community.

Corruption: Proceeding the election and Karzai’s victory, its time for appointing the new cabinet and Karzai’s action based on his promises to battle corruption in the country. Analysis followed the steps taken by Karzai for this aim and challenges before the new cabinet. Ending corruption and bring fundamental changes in justice system of the country are among the recommendations by the connoisseur and media. Now a part of media supporting the government has criticized the deadlines given by the West to end corruption, and considers that corruption in Afghanistan is extensive and breath taking result can be obtained in few months.

Negotiation with government opponents:  Media has giving attention in this part to the recommendation of the western countries for negotiation with government opponents, having different analysis and evaluations. According to media this package includes the bifurcation of Taliban in different categories and plans to absorb and give part to Taliban in the government. Furthermore in new plans of negotiation with Taliban, paying money to absorb government opponents has been mentioned as a fruitful way to deal with this group.  According to media, some of the countries have allocated 1/3 billion US Dollars for this plan. Here, the commission for strengthening peace has also mentioned the result they have gained in this regard and considers using the experience of this commission as a fruitful way to absorb government opponents.

Transitional Justice: In continuance of election and political transformation in Afghanistan, several nations and international organization defendant of human rights have asked Karzai to avoid the entrance of warlord and war criminals in the cabinet and government. Now what is the definition of warlords according to these authorities?  According to a part of media, the western countries in order to filter some of the local actors have taken this issue as a pretext to avoid their entrance in the government.

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Like the previous issues of the newsletter, this issue also contents a collection of articles published in the printed publications of the country. A total of 70 articles have been selected for this issue number that include, 30 articles regarding elections transparency, 20 articles on corruption, 15 articles related to negotiations with the insurgents and 5 articles about transitional justice.

Transparency of the election: in this issue of the newsletter, news and comments regarding fraud in the first round of election and going to the run- off have been published. Coalitions of candidates, international community ‘s welcoming of the second round election, opportunities and challenges ahead of the second round election and preconditions proposed by one of the presidential candidates have been covered in this issue. Issues related to post –election situation when Karzai was announced as the president for the second term have not been covered. They will be included in the next issue.

Negotiations with insurgents: Karzai’s talks supporting negotiations with the opponent armed groups especially the Taliban, Western countries proposals in this regard and the Taliban reactions are the major topics of this issue.

Corruption: Karzai’s talks regarding elimination of corruption during his election campaign as well as the emphases placed by the international community that linked elimination of corruption to the flow of international aids into the country brought about various comments and analyses.  The international community by introducing a schedule for elimination of corruptions urges for a quick end to all types of corruptions. While the Afghan government criticizing the international community, blames the aiding countries to be the real problem in this regard. During recent days, corruption has been the main topic for the countries media. In this issue of the newsletter, we have selected 20 articles regarding corruption which is something unprecedented in all other issues of the newsletter. It is likely, that in the 10th issue of Haqiqat/ the Truth most of the articles will cover the corruption.

Transitional Justice: during elections transitional justice was overwhelmed by election campaigns and corruption related topics. But after the elections results were announced and the international community as well as the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan urged on exclusion of the warlords from the new cabinet, transitional justice attracted huge media coverage. Unlike other issues of the newsletter, in this issue we have selected more articles regarding transitional justice and probably, will increase number of the articles in the next issues.

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We have the pleasure to share the Eighth issue of the Haqiqat/Truth Newsletter. This issue covers more 70 pieces of news and analysis selected from the Afghan media including 50 on the elections, 12 on negotiations with the armed opposition groups, 8 on corruption and only 2 pieces on transitional justice. In special pages of this issue, we have included transcript of an interview with Mr. Mawlawi Arsalan Rahmani a member of the Upper House of the National Assembly and an important figure in negotiations between the Afghan State and the armed opposition groups. Mr. Rahmani had served as Deputy Minister of Higher Education in the Taliban Government. During the interview Mr. Rahmani has talked about the National Reconciliation Charter of the National Assembly and negotiations and reconciliation with the armed opposition groups and the challenges and difficulties involved.

Elections Transparency: The contents of this section are mostly related to the controversies surrounding the second round of elections. The conduct of the Electoral Complaints Commission (EC), reports of fraud in the first round of elections, concerns of repetitions of the same irregularities in the second round and the conditions set forward by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah for participation in the run-off were the most pressing issue for the Afghan media during this period.

Negotiations with the Armed Opposition Groups: In this section, we have included two news stories:: one on the militants surrendering to the Government and second on opinions of Turki Al-Fisal former Saudi Arabia Intelligence Chief. Other contents of this section are mostly related to various viewpoints regarding negotiations with the armed opposition groups.

Corruption: Of the eight pieces in this section, one is related to conviction by court of the former head of the Labour and Social Affairs Department in Herat. The rest covers news and analysis regarding challenges and the creation of a database by the Afghan Government which could be an important step forward in fighting corruption in the country.

Transitional Justice: Like the previous issues, the issue of accountability has not attracted much media attention. Only two analytical pieces are included in this section.

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This issue contains more than 70 news items selected from Afghan media. Almost sixty of the news items are about transparency of elections and the remaining are about other three issues. Eight of them are discussing negotiation and reconciliation with Taliban, three are about corruption and only one of them is about transitional justice that relates to two mass graves recently found in Bamyan province.

Elections Transparency: In this section most of the reports are concerned with investigation of the electoral complaints by the ECC. Besides, some public gatherings in support of the preliminary results and some protests against it are reflected in the Afghan media.

Negotiation with the Opposition Groups: Regarding this issue few news items were published. The important point in this section was the hope by governors of Logar and Wardak provinces regarding Taliban who would join the government.

Corruption: In this section there was no particular news in Afghan Media but three short analyses about corruption in the government offices.

At the end of Truth magazine, as usual we have included an interview with Dr Sima Samar, Head of Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan. Miss Sima Samar has talked about the process of transitional justice in Afghanistan. She has talked about the failures and achievements of this process in the country. Besides, national reconciliation and compromise are the important parts of the interview.

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This issue also reviews four issues of transparency in the election, transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with Taliban and corruption in the Afghan media. Two exclusive interviews with Sibghatullah Sanjar, Head of Policy and Transitional justice Focal Point of President’s Office and Hafiz Mansoor, Editor in Chief of Payam Mujaheed Weekly and former member of Jamiath Islami Afghanistan are also included. The subject of interviews is justice and reconciliation.

Election Transparency: Just like five previous issues election transparency was a burning issue in the Afghan media during the past two weeks. The partial final election result was announced and Hamid Karzai is leading with 54 percent of votes. However the final and ultimate election results are still pending.

The core subjects raised during past two weeks about election transparency were: how to count votes, investigation of complaints by Elections Complaints Commission, formation of a coalition government, Paris meeting, predictions about the final election results and reactions from Karzai’s rivals.

Transitional Justice: The issue was reflected in the Afghan media on one occasion during this period. The news is related to Karzai’s press conference that was held right after the declaration of preliminary election results in Kabul. Karzai called the criticisms about the presence of war criminals in his government an outdated issue and regarded these criticisms as a conspiracy by the enemies of the people of Afghanistan.

Negotiation and Reconciliation with Anti-government forces: Lately an agreement has almost been emerging between international community and the government of Afghanistan about negotiation with the opponents of government. However the core issue is how the process should be carried out and how can the opponents be encouraged to come to a negotiation table. The media also pointed out different aspects of negotiations particularly lack of results and highlighted the lack of a comprehensive strategy for the negotiation with the Taliban.

Corruption: There was no burning and core issue about corruption during past two weeks. Different issues related to corruption have been highlighted in the media during the past two weeks.  Almost all have criticized government of Karzai of corruption and are quantitatively similar to the previous weeks.

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You are reading the fifth edition of the Haqiqat/Truth biweekly newsletter. Like previous editions, it includes news from Afghan Media on four issues of transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with anti-government forces, elections transparency and corruption. At the end of magazine two interviews with presidential candidates are also included.  The important contents of fifth edition are as follows:

Transitional Justice: In transitional justice section the news about discovery of mass grave in Bamyan and the statement of spokesman for Mr. Karzai’s Electoral Campaign Office are included in this edition as reflected in the media.

Negotiation with anti-government forces: Similar to transitional justice there were few news about negotiation with anti-government forces in the Afghan Media during past two weeks. There have been no significant developments in this regard. The emphasis of some authorities in the government about negotiation with anti-government forces and International Peace day are the news published in Afghan media.

Election Transparency: Election Transparency has once again been the burning issue of Afghan Media during past two weeks. There have been concerns regarding the process of counting votes, announcement of resutls, evidences and complaints collected about fraud in election, statements by presidential candidates and assessment of electoral observers.

Corruption: The essential topics published in Afghan Media during past two weeks about corruption were different and scattered. All the criticism about corruption has been subject to state institutions and existence of corruption in Herat and Sarepul municipalities and approval of Counter Corruption Charter are the most important news of this section.

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The fourth issue of Haqiqat/The Truth contains a lot of news and reports on election transparency and during this period transitional justice received very little attention. Efforts have been made to pick up news and analysis related to four key issues of transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with anti-government groups, elections transparency and corruption.

Transitional Justice: The issue of transitional justice received very little attention in the media during the period of fourth issue of Haqiqat. The only point in this regard is the return of General Dostum from Turkey to Afghanistan. The Afghan media has covered issues that were believed to be most important during the past two weeks.

Negotiation and Reconciliation with Taliban: The issue of negotiation and reconciliation with Taliban also received little attention in the media. The issue of negotiation and reconciliation was almost forgotten as the elections and its related violence dominated reporting and analysis in the Afghan media. This lack of interest can probably explained by the fact that offers of negotiation has so far been made unilaterally by the Afghan government and some foreign countries which has so far faced rejection or indifference by the insurgents.

Election Transparency: Concerns and issues regarding transparency in the elections were widely reflected in the media during the past two weeks.   The mass media strongly pushed for a transparent election. However as we were getting closer to the election, concerns regarding transparency and integrity of the process increased. In this regard some cases of fraud and election problems are reflected in the media.

Corruption: The media had little focus on corruption during past two weeks. In many cases corruption is said to be the only cause of failure in the government of Afghanistan after the collapse of Taliban. Media and political commentators highlighted that the success of next government can be measured against its success in fighting corruption in the state offices.

Interviews: An interview with two presidential candidates, Dr. Ramazan Bashardost and General Shahnwaz Tanai is also included in this issue. The questions during the interviews focused on the four constant topics of Haqiqat Newsletter i.e. transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with anti-government forces, election transparency and state corruption. The candidates offer two different perspectives on issue of transitional justice and accountability for past crimes.  Dr. Ramazan Bashardost believes the process of transitional justice is very important to be implemented as it is the right of those who were oppressed during war in the past. On the other hand General Shahnwaz Tanai presents a pessimistic view and says it is impossible to implement transitional justice in the current situation of Afghanistan.

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The third edition of biweekly Haqiqat/The Truth is published for its readers with a little difference with the two previous issues. The difference includes two notes or short analyses on the issues of Transitional Justice and corruption, interview with two presidential candidates and a report added to this edition. Like the two previous editions, the most important and significant issues are transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with the anti‐government forces, corruption and elections transparency that were in the published or unpublished media. During the last two weeks, elections transparency and negotiations and reconciliations with the anti-government forces covered most of the articles in the print and electronic media of Afghanistan. Corruption stood on the third rank while Transitional Justice the last. What was chosen for this issue are important topics in four sections as such:

Transitional Justice: This part although had the least material in the media during the last two weeks, it did have the most significant issues. The Afghan media has reviewed transitional justice fate during five years term of next government. The ethnic issue of transitional justice has created anxieties in some of the Afghan media. Misusing and taking political advantages from transitional justice is another concern that media has reviewed and has put some questions about the fate of transitional justice. Transitional justice can not be implemented without peace is another question put by some of the media. Overall, we can say that raising transitional justice needs more work and time therefore the next government must do its best to pursue this social issue. This is the focal point of media during past two weeks in this regard.

Reconciliation and Negotiation with the Anti‐Government Forces: In the past two weeks many of the media at the section on the negotiation and reconciliation with the opposition, specifically pointed to the negotiation and reconciliation with the Taliban as the armed opposition forces and the point was raised by governmental authorities and the presidential candidates. Opening of the negotiation by America and Britain with the Taliban seemed an important part in this regard. The possibility of fraud in the election followed by negotiation with the Taliban is another concern put forward by media. The failure of negotiation with the Taliban in Bala Murghab in Badghis province is raised as the start of defeat in reconciliation process which was once experienced in Musa Qala. The final reaction of media about reconciliation and negotiation propositions by some of the candidates, government of Afghanistan, British and American authorities have been of different position. Some called it positive; some wrote it to be hoopla for nothing and some had neutral viewpoint.

Elections Transparency: During the past two weeks the main topic of most of the print media in Afghanistan focused on elections transparency. Anxiety about the fraud in election was the main point of many print media. Pursuing tens of complaints during the election campaign are other issues, media has reviewed.

The dispute between the campaign teams of Hamid Karzai and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah was the hot topic on the comments of Sattar Murad, Head of Dr. Abdullah’s campaign team who had said in an interview with a UAE Newspaper that they will not sit silent if Abdullah loses the election and will organize violent demonstrations. The statements ignited hot discussions in media and especially between campaigning team of Hamid Karzai and Dr. Abdullah.   Deployment of international observers to monitor the election was another issue. And finally all the media emphasized the transparency in holding the elections.

Corruption: Some presidential candidates highlighted corruption. The media has also reviewed corruption during the past two weeks. In the meantime the large amount of expenses by candidates during their campaign for presidential election was mentioned as a kind of corruption and was considered as a catalyst to expand corruption in case these candidates won the election. Some newspapers have called corruption as the stimulating factor of terrorism and emphasized on rooting it out to get rid of the terrorism danger. Bribery and misappropriation in the state agencies are named as the widespread type of corruption and proposed the government to take special measures in this regard.

An interview with two presidential candidates, Ahmad Bashir Bizhan and Frozan Fana is also included in third edition of biweekly Haqiqat/the Truth.

They are interviewed about four main issues: transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with the anti‐government forces, corruption and elections transparency. The two interviews are combined as the topics were common. A report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) is also included in this edition. AAN is one of the of Afghanistan Watch's partners.

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You are reading the second biweekly edition of Haqiqat/The Truth. Like the first edition, it includes excerpts from news, article and reports in the Afghan media related to four main issues:  transitional justice, reconciliation and negotiation with the anti-government forces, corruption and elections transparency. During the last two weeks, negotiations with the anti-government forces attracted a lot of attention followed by transitional justice, or broadly speaking the question of how to deal with past crimes.

The following key developments are included in this edition:

Transitional Justice:

As in the previous edition, most of the discussion related to past crimes and transitional justice focused on the killing of Taliban prisoners in Dasht-e Laili in late 2001. In a press conference, Dr. Sima Samar, Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and Kei Eide the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan expressed concerns that alleged war criminals are on the final list of presidential and provincial councils elections. Another interesting development took place at an elections gathering in Helmand in which a participant started throwing his shoes at Shahnawaz Tanai, a presidential candidate and former minister of defense in the 1980s and accused him of committed crimes in the past.

Reconciliation and Negotiation with the Anti-Government Forces:

This section covers news and articles related to plans of presidential candidates and international calls to negotiate with the Taliban and other anti-government forces. It appears there is a shared agreement amongst the candidates on the need for negotiation and political settlement. Karzai has promised to call a national jirga to initiate the process.

Elections Transparency:

Concerns related to lack of transparency in the electoral process and exploitation of public resources in campaigning for Hamid Karzai have consistently appeared in the Afghan electronic and print media over the past two weeks. Political commentators and journalists have talked about potential chances for fraud and irregularities.

Corruption:

Most candidates have highlighted corruption in the Afghan state agencies as a major national issue. Most of them present it as a major failure of President Karzai over the past eight years. Dr. Ashraf Ghani consistently describes the government as the fifth most corrupt in the world. News and articles related to a new government strategy to fight corruption are also included. Some authors have pointed fingers at foreigners accusing them of being more corrupt than the Afghan government.

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