The Past is Here to Stay: Listening to Afghan Voices on Justice and Reconciliation Afghanistan Analysts Network(AAN) / By Sari Kouvo /November 27, 2011 The abuses and violations suffered by Afghans during the conflicts a... Read more
Peace offerings: Theories of conflict resolution and their applicability to Afghanistan Afghanistan analysts Network (AAN) / January 28, 2011 Despite the recent deployments of more troops and greater military resources to Afgha... Read more
Afghanistan endgame: Body formed to pave way for Taliban talks The Express Tribune / January 28, 2011 akistan and Afghanistan have established a joint commission to work out modalities for direct negoti... Read more
Taliban 'receptive to overtures for peace' The Telegraph / By Duncan Gardham /January 28, 2011 The number of “expressions of interest from senior members of the insurgency” have “di... Read more
The Washington Afghan officials want to prol Post / January 26, 2011 Afghan justice and security officials want to adopt the U.S. practice of detaining suspected insurgents indefinitel... Read more
Human Rights Watch World Report: Afghanistan Human Rights Watch / January 24, 2011 While fighting escalated in 2010, peace talks between the government and the Taliban rose to the top ... Read more
Afghanistan: Who Benefits from Taliban Revisionism? Human Rights Watch / January 21, 2011 Farooq Wardmak, the Afghan education minister and a key ally of President Hamid Karzai, claims that t... Read more
Afghan Parliament Opening Delayed The Wall Street Journal / January 20, 2011 Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday delayed the incoming parliament's opening by a month ... Read more
Afghan Official Expects Court to Void Election The New York Times / January 18, 2011 Afghanistan’s attorney general expressed hope on Tuesday that a special court appointed by the presid... Read more
Kinder prison, swifter justice for US detainees in Afghanistan The Boston Globe / January 18, 2011 A few months after insurgents launched a rocket attack on Kandahar’s air base, US soldiers kicked down ... Read more

17 July 2011
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Statement of Afghanistan Watch on the International Criminal Justice Day   This year for the first time in world history, 17 July is celebrated as International Criminal Justice Day. The day More...
18 July 2010
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17 civil society actors, representing more than 200 civil society organisations, and several media organisations, unite before the approaching Kabul Conference to ask the Afghan Government to pass More...
10 December 2009
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Statement of Afghanistan Watch on the 10th of December the Universal Human Rights Day and Victims Day in Afghanistan The 10th of December is the Universal Day of Human Rights and officially More...
05 April 2009
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President Karzai has recently signed Qanon-e Ahwal-e Shakhsiah Ahl-e Tashaio’a, or the Law on Private Matters of the Shiites, a new legislation dealing with the private matters of the Shiite More...

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Haqiqat 34 contains news from Afghan print media with following details: Peace and Reconciliation with the Taliban: Sayed Yusuf Reza Gilani, the More...
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Haqiqat 33 contains news from Afghan print media with following details: Reconciliation and peace talks with the Taliban: The investigation into the More...

19 December 2011
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Speech of Director of Afghanistan Watch for the 10th Session of Assembly of States Parties (ASP), United Nation Head Quarter, December 16, 2011-New York Distinguished members of the Assembly of More...
13 September 2011
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For increasing research capacities inside the country, a 10 day theoretical training program called” research training for women” was conducted by Afghanistan Watch in Kabul. The training was More...
02 June 2011
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The “Consultation Conference with Civil Society Organizations and Victims of Mazar –e Sharif 1377 Massacre” was the title of another conference conducted by Afghanistan Watch at the regional More...
26 May 2011
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The “Consultation Conference with Civil Society Organizations and Victims of February 10, 1993 Massacre in Afshar, Kabul” was the title of a conference conducted by Afghanistan Watch in its More...
02 May 2011
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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 More...

A Step Forward or Backward? The Law on Private Matters of the Shiites in Afghanistan

pic_0016President Karzai has recently signed Qanon-e Ahwal-e Shakhsiah Ahl-e Tashaio’a, or the Law on Private Matters of the Shiites, a new legislation dealing with the private matters of the Shiite population of Afghanistan. The move has provoked an outcry among the Afghan civil society and the international community. A number of articles in the new law contradict the basic principles of human rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and our national obligations under international human rights conventions and treaties, particularly the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In a Taliban-style provision, this law conditions women’s movement outside her house to the consent of her husband. The law undermines the progress towards realization of human rights, empowers and institutionalizes a radically hard-line interpretation of the holy religion of Islam and sets a bad precedent for future conservative legislations and government policies.

The Afghanistan Watch has been following the debates surrounding the approval of the legislation in the National Assembly. It believes that the law is written in line with the most conservative interpretation of Shiite jurisprudence and many progressive and moderate voices coming out of the Afghan civil society, the Shiite religious scholars and from within the parliament during the debate over the draft law were ignored and sidelined. The views expressed in the law are dictated by the most conservative and a minority of the Shiite ulema in Afghanistan. The organization believes that enforcement of some provisions of the new law will be a setback for the promotion of women’s and children’s rights which have often been presented as the main goals of the international intervention and the post-Taliban political process in the country. This will also erode the hopes and aspirations of Afghan women and children after years of war and total exclusion under the Taliban for liberty, political and legal equality and improvement in their living conditions after nearly 8 years of democratic experiment.

As a member of Afghan civil society, the Afghanistan Watch is deeply alarmed that laws such as this can be passed by the democratically elected national assembly and singed into effect by the President.

Afghanistan Watch calls on the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Speakers and Members of both Houses of the National Assembly to reconsider this law in line with the commitments and obligations of Afghanistan under its Constitution and international human rights obligations.

The Afghanistan Watch also calls upon the international community, the UN, international human rights organizations and the diplomatic community in Kabul to consistently advocate and pressure the Afghan government and the parliament to respect universally recognized human rights values and norms.

April 5 2009

Kabul Afghanistan

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Based in Kabul, the Afghanistan Watch focuses on activities that promote justice, respect for human rights and a culture of accountability and transparency in the country. Recognizing the need for greater understanding of the perils and opportunities facing Afghanistan today, the organization aims to conduct in-depth research and publish reports and papers on issues relevant to its goals and values independently or in partnership with other national and international organizations.

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Website link: Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC)


 
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Aljazeera

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The report quoted Kabir Ranjbar, a member of parliament, as saying that "the approaches based on ethnicity, language and religion have been a main point of the Wolesi Jirga’s weakness and the main factor for approval of the incapable and inefficient ministers. If the [members of parliament] had considered the national interests during the process of confidence voting for the cabinet nominees, the consequent confusions would have been prevented."

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Middle East Institute Viewpoints: Afghanistan, 1979-2009: In the Grip of Conflict • www.mei.edu

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