Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

This author has written 1070 articles

Strategic Capacity building is one of the major components of CSHRN’s programs

Like other social and governmental bodies, the civil society of Afghanistan also needs strategic capacity building. Most of the civil institutions are operating through their daily plans. This caused the programs to remain without any target and strategic background. On the other hand, this shortage has challenged the convergence among the civil society institutions. That's why training and capacity building has been emphasized and expressed as its important working outcome in relation to its strategic find outs by the civil society and human rights network of Afghanistan. Based on this program, the civil society and human rights network of Afghanistan offered educational manual of strategic planning. A working group composed of strategic experts who worked about one year on this educational manual and finally completed it with the support of the international experts especially the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). Civil society institutions can organize and implement their strategic programs according to this educational manual. The manual is mainly focused on strategic background, vision and the key components of the strategic management. This education manual will play an important role in developing and improving the executive programs of civil society institutions. Based on this educational manual, CSHRN has conducted educational programs of «training the trainers» in all over the country. During this educational program, trainers of CSHRN's member organizations in 24 provinces have been instructed and acquired these guidelines in a systematic way. Under this program, the human rights Summer School in relation to strategic planning for civil society institutions was held in Kabul. Human rights trainers from other provinces were invited in this educational school in order to share their find outs and experiences with each others, and discuss the ways and approaches of improving and using the educational manual. The participants of the school have…

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Male-ruled nominated cabinet of Afghanistan , undermines the role of women in the political structure

Interview with Ms. Roshan Sirran, Member of CSHRN Board and Head of Training of Human Rights Association for Afghan Women By: Frozan Arezo Question: What do you think about the role of women in the new cabinet of Afghanistan? Answer: I believe the role of women in the new cabinet is very passive. When I looked through the list of new nominate ministers I got upset and I asked my self a question; are the Afghan women really so weak not to manage or not to lead the ministries in the Afghan government. There are a lot of people who asked themselves the same question. I think the answer is clear. There are a lot of capable women in the Afghan society. During the past 8 years we have been witnessed the growth of many capable Afghan women. These women work in the political, social, economic and cultural fields. However they don't get the possibility to reach political and managerial position in the government. Question: According to you the Afghan women have the capacity of management; however they do not get the chance to be the ministers. What are the reasons for this problem? Answer: If we look to the modern history of Afghanistan after independence we can see a lot of active women who could lead and manage deferent programs in the state structure. I believe, the Afghan women can do it today. We have a lot of distinguished women who can mange and lead the ministries such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health Care, Ministry of High Education, Ministry of Parliament affaire and many other areas, but the lack of commitment creates barriers for such a goal. Question: If you believe that the society is ready to accept women leadership and management then what are…

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CSHRN’s statement on recent terrorist attacks in Jalalabad province

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRN's statement on recent terrorist attacks in Jalalabad province Aug 04, 2013 Kabul-Afghanistan We were informed grievingly that the city of Jalalabad has been shocked by terrorist attacks on Saturday and Monday, Aug 12 th and 13 th , 2013, and put the resident of Jalalabad province in mourning and grieve during the holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Eid. The first attack that took place against the Indian Consulate killed 9 civilians and injured 21 others. Most of the victims of this unforgivable crime were children and teenagers. The attack took place while the children and teenagers were studying in a nearby mosque, and as result of this brutal attack, lost their sweet lives. In the second attack, that took place in the East of Jalalabad a day later, 16 civilians including women and children were wounded. This is not the first time that such terrorist and suicide attacks occur in Afghanistan; the mentioned explosions are just a few instances of crimes against humanity that have been happening in our country and hurting the conscience of humanity. The Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) strongly condemns these unforgivable crimes and expresses its deepest abhorrence and resentments against the perpetrators of these brutal attacks. CSHRN shares grieve and pain of the victims of this tragic incident, and pray for happy soul of the victims and expresses condolence to the remaining ones. We pray for recovery and healthiness of all of our injured compatriots. We believe that, by terrorist attacks and crimes against humanity, by which they take the lives of citizens, terrorists cannot break the wills of Afghans for supporting political stability and democracy, protecting and appreciating civil life and efforts for economical development. We…

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It is better to light a candle instead of cursing

The Angaara Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine for persons dealing professionally with human rights. The magazine offers in depth articles and interviews on current human rights issues in Afghanistan. It is at present published in 5000 copies and is distributed directly through CSHRN. Thanks to the distribution via the regional offices of CSRHN in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad, it reaches also rather remote areas. The Angaara Magazine is used by universities as part of their teaching and studying material, by groups of intellectuals as base for discussions and by the parliament and the Afghan administration as a base of knowledge. ……………………………………………… Read The PDF

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Access to Information key to Accountability in Afghanistan

From the website of The Danish Institute for Human Rights DIHR's Afghan partner the Civil Society and Human Rights Network is pushing for new legislation to ensure access to information for the Afghan people. Malek Sitez, DIHR's Afghan expert, argues that such access is a precondition for creating an accountable state in Afghanistan. By Brendan Sweeney Senior Advisor and Programme Manager at DIHR, Malek Sitez, who is responsible for DIHR projects in Afghanistan, has been a vocal critic of developments in this divided country. In the following interview, he explains why the Institute's main partner in Afghanistan, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN), is pushing for the introduction of new legislation to regulate ordinary people's access to information. Q: Why is access to information essential for human rights? A: Access to information means that citizens have the right to get information concerning civil, political, economic, social and cultural matters from the public administration. It is a principle of good governance that government information - involving the education or health sector, state expenditure, election procedures, and anti-corruption measures - is made available to ordinary people. Some exceptions can be made to this principle such as issues regarding national security or confidential data about individuals, but these exemptions should be as few as possible. Access to information also enables people to directly confront and pressurize the state to make it more transparent and accountable, and to reduce corruption. The state will then be in a better position to fulfill its role and to respect the rights of all the people living under its jurisdiction. That is why access to information is so important for strengthening human rights culture, endorsing democracy and encouraging a culture which fosters the rule of law in society. Worldwide, there is increasing recognition of…

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International Humanitarian Law Promotion in the Framework of CSHRN’s activities

International Humanitarian Law includes states commitments for securing war victims, supporting prisoners of war, serving the war victims and states obligations in reducing civilian casualties. The international humanitarian law has been defined & interpreted in the four conventions of Geneva 1949. These conventions have been approved by the United Nations under universal general rights. Hence, all states parties of the United Nations are obliged to include the provisions of these conventions in their national laws and accordingly form some structures and mechanisms for applying the international humanitarian law in their political and social lives. These conventions are very crucial for states still in conflicts and war. Afghanistan is a country where the international military forces are widely operating. The military forces of nearly 40 countries are here to fight against the international terrorism. During the last 12 years, we were witnessed of huge civilian causalities in which women and children were the main victims. With regret that civilian causalities became one of the main challenges during military operations in Afghanistan . In order to promote the culture of responsibility among the national and international military forces, it's very crucial and important to generalize the international humanitarian law. Developing and promoting the international humanitarian law was one of the main programs of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) in its 4 th phase and has therefore conducted some constructive dialogues among the civil society institutions. Based on these dialogues, civil society institutions requested CSHRN to initiate capacity building programs regarding the humanitarian law for its member organizations. According to this proposal, CSHRN's secretariat has conducted some joint meeting with its member organizations during which a working group of Afghan experts for preparing the first draft of the educational manual regarding the international humanitarian law was…

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CSHRN statement in connection with the Need of Improving Political and Economical Relations between Afghanistan and the International Community

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRN statement in connection with the Need of Improving Political and Economical Relations between Afghanistan and the International Community July 18, 2013 Kabul-Afghanistan Our country is on the most critical evolution period of its political life. These tremendous evolutions have created an unbreakable link with the international incidents. International terrorists have changed our country into one of the most insecure regions in the world. Unfortunately, because of no required and active regional cooperation, this important political geography is still unable to reach stability and peace and bring stability to the country. The tensions resulted from such inconsistency induced conflicts and convulsions in Afghanistan and take the lives of our innocent countrymen more than ever. In such a critical situation, the relations of the Afghan government with the international community can be interpreted challenging and complex. Despite signing many strategic pacts with the world's states, a satisfactory result cannot be noticed that will pave the ground for peace and resolving the conflicts in the country. Delaying on signing the security agreement between the Afghan government and the United States of America has increased disbelieves about the consequences of the strategic pacts, while the time is passing rapidly, delaying such issues will cause disadvantages for both countries. Recently, the approach of European, American and other international media, political institutions and other friends of Afghanistan towards our country's future is changing. These new approaches can be followed by some unpleasant consequences towards the future of Afghanistan . The concept, that the Afghan leadership cannot understand the convergence and the international wills led by the United States of America in the region, has reached the public's mind of the involved countries in the destiny of Afghanistan . In such circumstance, First, Afghanistan will face political crises…

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Interview with the CSHRN regional coordinators

Written by Frozan Darwish On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10. December 2008, the officer of the CSRHN resource center, Mrs. Frozan Darwish, invited the regional coordinators of CSHRN to a roundtable discussion. The aim of this round table was to discuss together about the human rights situation in the different regions and the activities carried out by CSHRN. Interview with the regional coordinator of the east Following is the part of the interview with the coordinator of the eastern region. Doctor Niamatullah Hamdard, the CSRHN coordinator in the eastern region and a very active personality in the fields of human rights, was one of the participants. Doctor Hamdard has been working since seven years for civil society and since two years he is part of the staff of the network. He has a lot of experience in working with civil society and he enjoyed being involved in the setting up of CSHRN. He is married and lives with his family in the beautiful city of Nangarhar, where he also works. F. Darwish: Doctor Hamdard, you are a respected personality in Nangarhar province. In the recent interview with a local television, however, you criticized the role of the government and you also pointed out the weak position of civil society. Is this correct? Dr. Hamdard: Yes, I had an interview with lamar television in Kabul on the 14. October 2008 and I wanted to transmit the difficulties of the people living in the eastern region, so that it would be heard by the persons working with the government and that the government, who is responsible for the security of the population, would take the necessary measures. Before CSHRN started to work in the eastern region, the population as well…

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The Educational Spring School on International Human Rights Mechanisms

As a member of the international community, Afghanistan has some great responsibilities and commitments in respect with human rights. The UN charter requests its member states to apply human rights values through international human rights conventions. Based on this precious substance, the international law and relations of the governments have been developed. The modern governments have considered the human rights values as their working agenda and apart of their foreign policy. The Afghan government had joined seven international conventions. These conventions include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on economical, Social & Cultural Rights, the International Convention against Torture, the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, International Convention for the Protection of Children's Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the International Convention for the protection of the disabled and handicapped. Based on these conventions the Committees of overseeing the implementation of the international conventions had been established that ask the member states for a systematic report. Afghanistan has experienced various regimes, during the last four decades. During these regimes, as apolitical tool, human rights have been abused and their commitments on accountability and transparency against the international community have not been done. After the collapse of the Taliban regime, opportunities have been provided for more commitments of the Afghan government toward the international human rights mechanisms. Human Rights have been officially recognized as an important component on the national norms by the new constitution of Afghanistan. Human Right and its relevant international conventions changed into a legal resource and the Afghan government was obliged to provide human rights reports. Monitoring the human rights situation is one the crucial procedures for promoting human rights values. Monitoring paves the way for identifying human rights violations…

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CSHRN Statement Regarding the Presidential Election of 2014

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRN Statement Regarding the Presidential Election of 2014 July 10th , 2013 Kabul-Afghanistan The Civil Society and Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) is deeply concerned over the incomplete frameworks of the elections and lack of necessary preparations for holding democratic and legitimate elections, while considering the sensitive political situation of Afghanistan. Maintaining political stability, continuation of international community's support from Afghanistan, maintaining political stability and achievements of the last decades depends on the presidential elections of 2014. Holding the presidential election successfully will not only guaranty developments of Afghanistan, but it will also, indicates the capacity and will of our country in strengthening and ensuring democracy and civil life to the world. Therefore, a national, democratic and legitimate election is very vital and important. CSHRN emphasizes that the legitimacy of the upcoming elections can be ensured only if held in according with law. Legislative decree or any other measures regarding elections will undermine its legitimacy. Governments' negligence and carelessness toward this critical and vital occurrence and on the other hand, spreading disbeliefs regarding elections by some circles in debates on options such as non-elections for political transition increases our concerns in this regard. While The Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan which is consisted of 112 active civil institutions across the country concerned over non-existence of legal frameworks for the elections, considers the slow process of preparations and no reaction of the government particularly, the silence of the President, Hamid Karzai, regarding some substitute ideas and plans for the elections very concerning and worrying issue, therefore, would like the involved parties to pay their attentions to the following points: 1.   Understanding that based on the first paragraph of article 64 th of the Afghan constitution, the president of…

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