Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

This author has written 1073 articles

Why did CSHRN choose Herat city to work on reducing family violence?

By Malek Sitez This question has been raised many times since CSHRN started to work on organizing a campaign to reduce family violence in Herat city. A lawyer, who is responsible for the ministry of justice in Herat, asked this question during the human rights symposium in Herat. This question is understandable as violence is not only an issue in Herat but in all of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been suffering from domestic violence for many years, in particular since 1992 when the civil war and sectarian conflicts began. To explain the reasons I need to divide my article into two parts, describing the problems as well as the opportunities existing in Herat city regarding family violence. At the end of this article I will draw a picture of the current work of CSHRN in the region. Problems: Islamic fanatics and their bad influence on family violence. Between 1994 and 1996 Herat became one the most important targets of Islamic fundamentalists and Taliban. The Taliban captured Herat city after Qhandahar. During the Taliban period, the people of Herat, above all women and children, badly suffered from a lack of fundamental freedoms. The role of women became a very passive one and man's domination in families reached a very high level. This unbalanced role of men and women turned into an important reason for family violence in Herat. Bad and incorrect interpretation of Islamic values regarding the role of women. The fanatic Taliban and Mujahedin parties misinterpreted Islam for the sake of their strategy and ideology, particularly with regard to the role of women in society. They wanted to show that women were a passive part of the Herat society, destined to serve men. “It is big shame to respect women!” This culture does not only predominate in Herat, but…

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Read more about the article Access to information is a strategic priority for CSHRN

Access to information is a strategic priority for CSHRN

Access to information is one of the main needs of the Afghan society. Widespread corruption, lack of attention to the demands of citizens for information during the past elections, lack of useful, strong, relationship of confidence relationships between Afghan citizens and the Afghan state are the main negative results of this lack of information in Afghanistan.During the past six years, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) organized a number of dialogues related to access to information and its role in the Afghan society. To work on this issue, CSHRN organized an analytical symposium on access to information on 29 May 2009 in Mazar-e-Sharif.The participants of the symposium discussed access to information and proposed ways on how to implement it in Afghanistan. During the symposium, Afghan intellectuals presented analytical articles, illustrating different perspectives on the role of access to information and democratization. During the symposium, the participants suggested CSHRN to work on a draft law on access to information. Consequently, a working group of four persons was elected to work on a such a draft. The members of the working group are: Mr. Sayeed Mohammad Islami, a famous religious scholar, Mr. Rahim Ibrahim, a professor of journalism at Balkh University, Mr. Taqhi Wahedi, an well known Afghan writer and human rights activist, and Mr. Kawa Sahab, a law expert. The working group in Mazar-e-Sharif elaborated a first draft law on access to information during the eight months following the symposium.Having the first draft law on access to information, CSHRN started to discuss this draft with civil society, state institutions and Afghan intellectuals and academics all over the country.CSHRN has defined five steps in its action plan on dialogues for the law on access to information:1- Step: The working group on the law of access to information presented…

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Civil Society and Human Rights Network in partnership with ICCO in Conflict Transformation

By: Ahmad Seyar Lalee During of the two past years CSHRN/ICCO collaborate constructively in the field of conflict transformation. Both institutions organize constructive dialogues with each other concerning the role of civil society and human rights. The main purpose of the cooperation between two partners is to support civil society in strengthening of security, stability and peace in Afghanistan. That is the main reason of designing the cooperation agreement on “ Conflict Transformation ” program. According to the cooperation agreement of CSHRN organized the first consultative seminar amongst civil society organizations on the way of tackling conflict transformation on 26 th of February of 2009. The seminar facilitated and collaborated by international experts of Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) in this seminar the participants decided to work on an educational manual on the theoretical as well as practical components of conflict transformation. According to the seminar a working group of civil society actors was elected to provide the educational manual so- called conflict transformation manual. The working group worked during the past 8 months in the different fields of conflict in Afghanistan the working group also made an analyze on internal and external elements of conflicts in Afghanistan. The working group worked in a close discourses with CSHRN members. CSHRN Executive Secretariat coordinated the activities of the working groups in order to prepare necessary meetings of the working group with Afghan intellectuals, sate institutions, some international organizations and the Afghan national human rights institutions. On December 2009 the working group presented the draft of the educational manual to the second consultative seminar of CSHRN members. The goal of the seminar was to discuss the draft of manual afterwards to approve the draft of the manual. The manual will be printed and used by the civil society and…

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Radio Programme on International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

The radio programme on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Afghanistan is debating the role of the international conventions on humanitarian law in the current situation of Afghanistan and their implication for the international and national military operations. The programme consists of two parts: analysis and debate. An international lawyer with expertise in international law prepares an analysis of the situation. Then the moderator of the radio programme asks questions from the guests invited in the program according to this analysis. The main focus of the programme is to deliberate questions regarding the killing of innocent people during military operations, the conditions of prisoners of war, the conditions in the prisons controlled by international military troops in Afghanistan, the role of the international community in monitoring IHL in Afghanistan, the role of the Afghan state and the international community regarding IHL and … The programme is aired once a month by Good Morning Afghanistan with the collaboration of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "نــــــــگاه ژرف" رشته برنامه های تحلیلی پیرامون گفتمان های ارزشی در پیوند با فرهنگ حقوق بشر ۱۰٫۰۱٫۲۰۱۱ برنامۀ بیست و سوم: "سازمان ملل متحد فهرست سیاه دهشت افگنان را کوتاه تر کرد" پژوهش از ملک ستیز، پژوهشگر امور بین المللی مجری برنامه: حشمت الله رادفر     چندی پیش، سازمان ملل متحد اعلان داشت که فهرست سیاه نام های دهشت افگنان را کوتاه تر کرده است. این تصمیم پس از دادخواهی زیاد دولت های ایالات متحدۀ امریکا، بریتانیا و افغانستان اتخاذ گردیده است. در یک پیامی که در زمینه به نشر رسیده است آمده است که سازمان ملل متحد این تصمیم را برای تحکیم، امنیت و ایجاد فضای صلح آمیز اتخاذ کرده است. سازمان ملل متحد بر بنیاد منشور خویش، یک نهاد جهانی است که بر اصل احترام به ارزش های انسانی و…

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International Humanitarian Law Promotion In Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a country that suffered from different kind of conflicts during the past 35 years. Around one million Afghans have been killed and approximately two million others became physically and psychologically disabled. During the war the infrastructure of Afghanistan had been damaged badly that caused about five million Afghans to become refugees and displaced persons. During the war, the conflict parties haven't respected the international humanitarian law; as a result many Afghans became the victims of such phenomenon. After the Taliban collapse, the international military forces organized a lot of operations against the international terrorism in Afghanistan . According to civil society organizations, during the military operations many civilians became the casualties and victims during the war against terrorists in the country. Some international troops in Afghanistan have organized their presence in Afghanistan . They arrested a number of Afghans and detainees. Sometimes the reports show that the prisoners' even innocent civilians have become the victims of torture & inhuman behaviors. The Civil Society & Human Rights Network has decided to promote the culture of international humanitarian law in Afghanistan based on Geneva conventions. The goal of the program is to promote accountability and transparency of the Afghan state and the role of the international actors in the field of international humanitarian law. Based on the project an educational manual on international humanitarian law will be developed trained and promoted in Afghanistan. The educational manual deals with tree components. The first component is thematic issue; the manual will cover the conventions and international mechanisms on international humanitarian law. The second component covers the issue of role and responsibilities of states and international actors in Afghanistan . Here, the role of civil society is also covered by the educational manual. The third component, deals with methodologies of implementation…

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The Voice

CSHRN produces together with the private radio channel ‘Good Morning Afghanistan' (GMA) since 2004 a weekly 30 minutes emission on human rights. It is called “The Voice” and is broadcasted in Dari and Pashto. ‘The Voice' addresses crucial issues of human rights in Afghanistan by educating the general public on human rights, but also by investigating severe cases of violations of human rights. It does this by having experts giving educational programs, by facilitating discussions between Afghan citizens, parliamentarians, intellectuals and civil society organisations on important human rights issues, by presenting investigative programs and following up on the violations with state actors. ‘The Voice' can be received through all of Afghanistan. By producing ‘The Voice', CSRHN and ‘Good Morning Afghanistan' aim at strengthening the rule of law through promoting respect for human rights in Afghanistan and at contributing to the development of the Afghan civil society. All the emissions of ‘The Voice' can be listened to in the archive of ‘Good Morning Afghanistan'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- کمپاین روز جهانی صلح 24,09,2012   ۲۱ سپتامبر یا روز جهانی صلح، همه ساله در جهان تجلیل می شود. از این روز درافغانستان نیز تجلیل می گردد. جنگ ویرانگر بیش از سی سال درافغانستان آثار تکاندهنده و خاطرات تلخ را در این کشور بجا گذاشته و ادامه ی آن نیز هر روز خاطره تلخ دیگری را در این سرزمین رقم می زند. با این وصف مردم افغانستان بیشتر از هر زمان دیگر به صلح وآرامش نیاز دارند. این در حالیست که افغانستان درحال حاضر نیز تلخترین وتکاندهنده ترین رویداد های قتل، کشتار، انفجار و بی امنیتی را به تجربه می نشیند. اما پایان جنگ چه وقت خواهد بود؟ مردم این سرزمین چگونه میتوانند به صلح وآشتی دست یابند و به جنگ نقطه ی پایان بگذارند؟ این موضوع را دربرنامه امروز به بحث وبررسی گرفته…

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The Voice

CSHRN produces together with the private radio channel ‘Good Morning Afghanistan' (GMA) since 2004 a weekly 30 minutes emission on human rights. It is called “The Voice” and is broadcasted in Dari and Pashto. ‘The Voice' addresses crucial issues of human rights in Afghanistan by educating the general public on human rights, but also by investigating severe cases of violations of human rights. It does this by having experts giving educational programs, by facilitating discussions between Afghan citizens, parliamentarians, intellectuals and civil society organisations on important human rights issues, by presenting investigative programs and following up on the violations with state actors. ‘The Voice' can be received through all of Afghanistan. By producing ‘The Voice', CSRHN and ‘Good Morning Afghanistan' aim at strengthening the rule of law through promoting respect for human rights in Afghanistan and at contributing to the development of the Afghan civil society. All the emissions of ‘The Voice' can be listened to in the archive of ‘Good Morning Afghanistan'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- کشته شدن ۲۰ تن از مردم ملکی در ولایت کندز توسط یک قوماندان محلی 10,09,2012   یک قوماندان محلی در ولایت کندز بعد از آن که شماری ازافرادش توسط افراد ناشناس به قتل رسید، ۲۰ تن از افراد ملکی را از خانه هایشان بیرون نموده و هدف قرارداد. دراین رویداد ۱۳فرد ملکی دیگر زخمی شده اند.  از سوی دیگر در یک حمله انتحاری طالبان مسلح در ولسوالی دربابای ولایت ننگرهار نزدیک به ۸۰ تن از مردم ملکی کشته و زخمی شده اند. بحث این هفته برنامه صدا به هدف قرار گرفتن مردم ملکی از سوی نیروهای طرفدار دولت و نیروهای مخالف دولت اختصاص داده شده است. مهمانان گرامی دراین بحث: ۱- خانم شینکی ذهین کروخیل نماینده مردم درمجلس نماینده گان. ۲- رحیم الله رامح نماینده عدالت انتقالی درکمیسیون مستقل حقوق بشر افغانستان. ۳- محمد…

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Youth’s Cultural Radio Program

An Afghanistan youth's cultural network has been established in 10/October/2009. The general aim of the youth's cultural network is to promote the understanding of the Afghan youths about the cultural rights of the Afghan citizens in order to protect these rights. To this end, a network for a dialogue on social and cultural issues among students of different afghan universities has been created. This network will anchor the culture of human rights among students and strengthens the cooperation and understanding among students from different cultural and geographical backgrounds. The cultural youth network is support in the technical and coordination field by CSHRN, financially by the Denmark 's Cultural Centre for Development and all the activities in the regions are carried out through the regional offices of CSHRN. Together with the private radio channel' Good Morning Afghanistan (GMA), this network conducts since December 2009 a youth cultural program once a month. This program is based on discussions of debates that the network is continuously carrying out in Kabul and the provinces. This program lasts 45 minutes and the participants invited to this program are university students from Kabul, but also from Herat, Bamyan, and Balkh who take part in these debates via phone. All the radio programs of the youth's cultural network can be listened to in the archive of ‘Good Moring Afghanistan' and CSHRN site. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "دهمین برنامۀ رادیویی فرهنگ و جوانان" 25,06,2011 برنامۀ دهم: گفتمان تحت نام نقش جوانان در رسانه ها مجری برنامه: سید حامد احمدی شبکۀ فرهنگی جوانان به ادامۀ گفتمانهای فرهنگی و هنری خود این بار خواست تا موضوع نقش جوانان در رسانه ها را به بحث بکشد. در گفتمان کنونی از یکتعداد جوانانی که در برخی از رسانه های کشور فعالیت دارند دعوت شده است تا در این مورد بحث و گفتگو کنند.…

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Joint statement of CSHRN & Nai supporting Afghanistan’s Open Media On the approval of the Law on Access to Information

In the name of Almighty Allah Joint statement of CSHRN & Nai supporting Afghanistan's Open Media On the approval of the Law on Access to Information July 02. 2014 Kabul Afghanistan The Afghan parliament approved the Law on Access to Information containing 6 chapters and 32 articles with the majority of votes on Monday, 30th of June.2014. The law on access to information was under the review of the governmental agencies for almost three years, and about two months ago, it was sent to the house of the people for approval. The main discussion on the law on access to information as one of the main human rights of the citizens was conducted by CSHRN for the first time in 2005, and then its first draft was prepared by one of CSHRN's working group in Mazar-e-Sharif. The mentioned draft law was completed after the continuous and non-tiring efforts of CSHRN and its member organizations, Nai Supporting Afghanistan Open Media, civil activists, journalists and extensive national consultations across the country. After its completion, the draft law was sent to the national assembly after extensive and deep review and assessment by the ministry of culture and information, ministry of justice, council of ministers and the high council of media to be approved. We consider the approval of the law on Access to Information by the national assembly a significant step in promoting transparency and accountability and effectiveness of development programs in Afghanistan. The Law will provide great opportunities and pave the way for fighting corruption and strengthening the role of media in providing information. Nai supporting Afghanistan open media and Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) beside thanking and praising the Afghan lower house for passing the mentioned law, states the bellow point in connection to that:…

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Joint statement of CSHRN & Nai supporting open media in Afghanistan Regarding the law of access to information

In the name of Almighty Allah Joint statement of CSHRN & Nai supporting open media in Afghanistan Regarding the law of access to information January 13, 2014 Kabul Afghanistan Access to information is one of the main backgrounds of forming knowledgeable and responsible citizens and democratic political institutions and organizations. The law of access to information strengthens the role of the citizens in state and nation-building and provides the ground for legacy of the political system. The Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan which is comprised of 129 member organizations, prepared the first draft of the law on access to information in constructive coordination and partnership with civil society institutions, experts and human rights activists, and carried out an extensive research and discussion about that in three analytical symposiums. On the other hand, the draft law was observed and evaluated by academic and civil society organizations, media and other stakeholders. Last year, ministry of information and culture expressed its interest on the draft law of access to information and supported its approval. Based on the commitment of ministry of information and culture, a joint committee of evaluating and researching the draft law was created to comprehensively reevaluate the mentioned draft law. The High Media Council also announced its support from the approval of the law on access to information and asked the government to actively pursue the process of ratifying the draft law. The draft law on access to information has been presented to ministry of justice of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by CSHRN and the ministry of information & culture. The scheme was welcomed by civil society, political institutions, and Nai supporting open media in Afghanistan, Afghanistan's National Journalists Union (ANJU), transparency watch of Afghanistan and the media of the country continuously advocate speeding up…

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