Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

This author has written 1047 articles

An analysis concerning family violence in Herat province of Afghanistan: the reasons, challenges and problems

By Civil Society and Human Rights Organisation in Herat Women in Afghanistan continue to face social, political and cultural difficulties. These difficulties appear at home as well in the society as such. The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRO), feels responsible to work with other stakeholders and partners to reduce domestic violence in Herat province. The goal of the program is to promote human rights values in families in order to reduce any inhuman behavior in this sphere. From January 2009, the CSHRO Office in Herat City has been organizing a campaign to reduce family violence in Herat city. CSHRO organized together with its member organizations debates and capacity building programs for its member organizations, some state institutions, religious leaders, the police, the justice sector and for the Ministry of Women Affaires about challenges related to family violence in Herat. During the campaign, CSHRO faced the following challenges: Religious fundamentalism: There are some institutions and individuals in Herat who are based on religious fundamentalism. They have a fanatical understanding of the role of religion in the society. They are the main challenge for reducing domestic violence in Herat . Spreading their message from mosques and larger gatherings, they propagandize against freedom of women in the society. Recently the Counsel of Religious Leaders released a statement, where it was announced that families should not allow girls and women to study outside of the country. According to this decree, women should furthermore always be accompanied by a close family member. The statement was published by the national regional TV and many other national media in the Herat province. We believe that such kind of statements limit the role of women in the society and retreat women freedoms and their social life. We believe that the governor of Herat must…

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A brief report about an advocacy workshop on transitional justice in Afghanistan

The three days “advocacy workshop for transitional justice in Afghanistan” was organized and conducted by the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) in close cooperation with the UNAMA Transitional Justice Section, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Foundation Open Society Institute Afghanistan (FOSIA) and the United State Institute of Peace (USPI) in the Capital INN Hotel in Kabul from 25th to 27th October 2009. 18 representatives of civil society organizations from Kabul and 13 representatives of civil society organizations from different provinces such as Herat, Kandahar, Balkh, Kondoz, Takhar, Faryab, Ningarhar and Bamyan were invited to participate in this workshop. The workshop was opened by a recitation of some verses of Holy Quran by Mr. Ismail Zaki, thereafter Mr. Mohammad Naim Nazari, the executive coordinator of CSHRN, welcomed the participants and introduced the strategy and the structure of CSHRN to the participants. Subsequently, Mrs. Morena Mori, the person in charge of the Transitional Justice Section of UNAMA in Afghanistan , Mrs. Karen Williams, the Senior Program's Fellow in Afghanistan of ICTJ, Mrs. Nilofar Sakhi, the Director of the Foundation Open Society Institute in Afghanistan FOSIA and Mr. John Dempsey, member of the United State Institute for Peace in Afghanistan introduced their organizations. Ms. Morena Mori explained the concept and need for transitional justice in Afghanistan according to the instructions and the agenda of the workshop. Following, Ms. Morena asked the participants to watch a documentary film about transitional justice and the role of truth finding commissions in different countries such as Peru, South Africa , Almaghreb (Maroco) and Chile . The producer of this documentary film emphasized the effective role of truth finding commissions and a correct realization of the transitional justice concept. During the discussions after the movie, the participants concluded that transitional justice…

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CSHRO statement on the occasion of dismissing of AIHRC commissioners

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRO statement on the occasion of dismissing of AIHRC commissioners Kabul, Afghanistan, 24- December 2011 Recently the president of Afghanistan Mr. Hamed Karzai has issued a decree on dismissing of three commissioners of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commissioners (AIHRC). Mr. Fahim Hakim and Mr. Nader Naderi two well-known human rights defenders are amongst them. However the working period of all the commissioners officially is terminated but the question and concern of civil society organizations is, why two main human rights active commissioners could not get the legitimacy to continue working as human rights commissioners. According to the Paris principles the National Human Rights Institutions are appointing by the state members but the states are not interfering in to their working independency. The national human rights institutions monitor human rights situation and promote human rights in the states territory. According to the Paris principles the states consider and respect the following elements while appointing the national human rights commissioners. •  The state considers the human rights knowledge and professionalism of commissioners; •  The state considers impartiality of the commissioners and ensures that the commissioners should not have any affiliation to political parties; •  The state considers good background and well fame of commissioners in the society. According to the Paris principles the states organize a constructive dialogue with the civil society institutions, human rights activists and defenders during the process of appointing the commissioners. Some states have employed a mechanism so called advisory board for appointing human rights commissioners. Regretfully there is not a transparent and accountable mechanism for appointing the Afghan Human Rights commissioners in Afghanistan . This will damage the independency of national human rights institution in Afghanistan. The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRO) as a human rights…

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The active participation of the Afghan civil society at the conference in the Netherlands shows the coordination among Afghan civil society in addressing the current situation in Afghanistan

April 2009 This report has been written by Naim Nazari, the executive coordinator of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) (Translation of the Dari text) Afghan civil society organizations such as ASCF, OSI, CSHRN, AHIRC, AWN, and FCCS conducted many meetings with the coordination of ACBAR. As a result of these meetings, a delegation of representatives of civil society was elected to participate in the conference about Afghanistan in The Hague. This delegation had the responsibility to convey the view and the message of the Afghan civil society to the participants of the conference. It had also the task to raise the interest of the international community for supporting the Afghan civil society. The Afghan civil society delegation consisted of the following members: Mr. Ingenieur Javez, Mr. Nahim Salimi, Ms. Palvasha, Mr. Pascale from ACBAR, Mr. Orzala Asharaf from the Afghan Women Network, and Mr. Malek Sitez from CSHRN collaborating with ACSF and AIHRC. On Monday 30. of March 2009, the delegation of the Afghan civil society participated in a program in The Hague , organized by the Center for Strategic Studies of Netherlands. In this program, the Afghan delegation discussed the situation in Afghanistan with representatives of civil society of the Netherlands, the parliament, and the government. In this meeting, the Afghan civil society delegation played a very active role besides the international experts. This became evident by the broadcastings of national and international media. Mr. Nahim Salimi focused on the role of civil society and social services, Mrs. Orzala Asharaf on the role of women and Mr. Malek Sitez on human rights and humanitarian law. The presentation of Afghan civil society was warmly accepted. The message of the Afghan delegation was discussed by international experts, among them Alexander Their from the Peace Institute of…

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Dialogue on the occasion of the second anniversary of the work of CSHRN in the northern part of Afghanistan

By Sourosh Kazimi, CSHRN Coordinator in the northern and northeastern region Translation of an article by Ms. Nasima Askia On the occasion of the second anniversary of CSHRN's activities in the northern and north eastern parts of Afghanistan, a dialogue was organized by the CSHRN office in Mazar-e-Sharif city. Representatives of the Independent Human Rights Commission, local NGOs, intellectuals, media, and students from Balkh University participated in this dialogue. The goal of the dialogue was to discuss the role of CSHRN in the promotion of human rights and in strengthening human rights organizations in the northern provinces of Afghanistan with a special focus on the province of Mazar-e-Sharif. At the beginning of the meeting, Soruosh Kazemi, the coordinator of CSHRN in the north, welcomed the participants and appreciated their cooperation with CSHRN in the northern part of Afghanistan. During his speech, he emphasized the role of CSHRN in the field of capacity building, dialogue and coordination as well as collaboration amongst human rights activists in the region. He told the participants that during these two years CSHRN had worked with nine provinces in the northern and northeastern parts of Afghanistan. He also expressed his gratitude to the Afghan Human Rights Commission, the human and women rights NGOs, teachers and professors of Balkh University, and the local state authorities for their cooperation during the past two years. Mr. Sohrab Zamanian, the chief editor of PADIDAR magazine, spoke about the role of CSHRN in Mazar city. Appreciatively, he supported the role of CSHRN in providing opportunities for human rights activists especially in the field of freedom of speech in Mazar-e-Sharif. He mentioned that since the establishments of CSHRN in Mazar, a series of useful dialogues were organized in the CSHRN conference hall, what represented a magnificent achievement for all human…

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Statement of the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRO) To the Bonn Conference

In the name of Almighty Allah Statement of the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRO) To the Bonn Conference Kabul/13 November 2011 Ten years have passed after the Taliban collapse in Afghanistan . During this period CSHRN have experienced many changes in the fields of political, social, economic and cultural development. A new government was established, the Afghan Constitution was adopted, the elections of the President and Parliament were conducted, the new civil society institutions organised, the private sector activated, the role of women to some degree activated, political parties organised and Afghan free media developed. At the same time the Afghan people experienced a lot of challenges and difficulties. Anti government elements, with the support of international terrorists, conducted a lot of inhumane actions where many innocent people lost their live. During this period more than ten thousand of Afghans were killed as a result of foreign troops and anti governmental operations. More then 2000 people from foreign troops were killed during the operation in Afghanistan. However the bloodshed in Afghanistan is still going on and peace and security are not yet reinforced. The role of international community is very important in Afghanistan. From them Afghan organisations receive international aid and help to capacity building. The role of international military power is also very essential in the country. Because of the military support the Afghan people feel confident and supported. According to NATO action plan 2014 the international military reserves will depart from Afghanistan. 2014 is considered to be an important year to the Afghan people. The civil society of Afghanistan raises a very important question do the Afghan state has the capacity to preserve and support the current policy and strategies where the rule of law, human rights values and democratic institutions and principles are…

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The city of Herat as the host of a dialogue concerning woman rights

By Ms. Khaleda Khorsand CSHRN adviser in Herat city Translation of an article by Ramin Ahmadi In the past few years, there has some work been done regarding the role of civil society in supporting human rights in Afghanistan. Many journalists and experts inside and outside of Afghanistan wrote articles and organized interviews and debates in an attempt to raise the awareness of Afghan people concerning human rights values. Equally, some activities were organized by social organizations to disseminate information concerning human rights values. But in the shattered, poor and very traditional Afghanistan, a lot of explanations and arguments are needed so that the modern concepts of human rights are understood. The recent history of Afghanistan has witnessed a lot of controversy between the western and the Afghan culture and civilization. Some times these controversies resulted in a fighting against the western values and sometimes in both of these civilizations some kind of extremism rose which changed an initially constructive dialogue into a violent encounter. Having said this, there exist many challenges in the Afghan behavior concerning the role of women in the society. CSHRN has constantly organized dialogues amongst civil society organizations and other active organizations interested in the issues That is why a dialogue about the role of women in the society was organized by the CSHRN coordination centre in the western zone of Afghanistan, in Herat city. During this dialogue, the manual on the activation of the role of women in Afghanistan , which was developed by CSHRN, was used as an informative source for this debate. The debate manual was discussed amongst the participants of the debate. Some of the important issues that came out during this debate were the following ones: • Why are women in Afghanistan considered second class citizens who badly…

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The Statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Network/Organization on forbidding of Afghan film “Madrasa”

In the name of Almighty Allah The Statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Network/Organization on forbidding of Afghan film "Madrasa" Recently an premier and opening of "Madrasa" an Afghan film directed and produced by an Afghan talented producer Mr. Asad Sekandar was banned for opening. The film illustrates the social, cultural and economic hardships and daily difficulties of Afghan refugees and immigrants in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The film addresses the main challenges of Afghan state on the issue of refugees and displaced in the neighboring countries. Segregation of such a critical film is against the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights and other human rights convention that Afghanistan state has ratified. This action is also against the values of Afghanistan constitution and the Afghan media law. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network that consist of 92 members would like to ask the Ministry of Culture and Information of Afghanistan to interfere to this issue and permit the release of "Madrasa" film as soon as possible. The civil society of Afghanistan believe any kind of unjustified censorship on films will limit freedom of speech and freedom of media in Afghanistan. Best regards Kabul, October 2011, Afghanistan

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One day gathering in Kabul on the Paris Principles and the Role of Civil Society

Translation of an article by Razia Sayad On 17 July 2008 CSHRN organized a gathering concerning the Paris Conference and the role of civil society in this conference. Representatives of civil society who had participated in the Paris conference, some representatives of NGOs and representatives of the French and the Italian embassy were present. The gathering started at 9 o'clock after the reading of some verses of Holy Qhuraan by a participant. Mr. Naim Nazari, the coordinator of CSHRN, opened the discussion. The goal of this gathering was to discuss the role civil society played during decisions in the Paris Conference. Until 2008, Afghanistan and the international community organized a number of international conferences such as the Bonn, the Tokyo and the London conferences for the rehabilitation of Afghanistan. The Paris Conference took place within this series of conferences. The Paris Conference was an important gathering for reconsidering the reconstruction of Afghanistan by the international community. It was a positive point that before the Paris conference, a civil society gathering in Paris was organized, where representatives of national and international NGOs were present. CSHRN was represented by two participants at this conference. Topics discussed during the civil society conference in Paris were the role of civil society in the rehabilitation of Afghanistan, the human rights situation, how to support national and international actors in the rehabilitation of Afghanistan, how to involve the private sector in the reconstruction process and the effectiveness of the international aid were discussed. These topics were discussed in working groups and then the conclusions of the working groups were presented to everybody. The final conclusions were that a message would be conveyed to the state conference with the demands of civil society in view of the current situation in Afghanistan. Before this conference in…

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Statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Organization on hunger strike of Ms. Simeen Barekzai

By the name of merciful and the compassionate God Statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Organization on hunger strike of Ms. Simeen Barekzai Its 10 days that Ms Simeen Barekzai has been in hunger strike. But the Afghan state has not taken any decision to tackle her suggestions. During the past 10 days representatives of civil society, intellectuals, human rights defenders and women rights activists have met with her in her tent that is installed close to the Afghan Parliament. Ms. Barekzai went to strike based on her human rights values. Her rights to strike as an Afghan citizen is guaranteed by the Afghan constitution and international conventions that the Afghan state is committed for. Lake of commitment to Ms Barekzia suggestions as Afghan citizen creates more problems in the fields of human rights in Afghanistan and will damage human rights values in the country. Such a behaviors of the Afghan state will also damage the trust between citizen and Afghan state. It will also damage the prestige of the Afghan state in the international community. The civil society and Human Rights Network on behalf of 92 member organizations would like to ask the Afghan state to tackle Ms Simeen Barekzai requirements immediately without any kinds of unnecessary beaurocratic actions. The state immediate action will safe Ms Barekzai life. The civil society of Afghanistan declares if the state of Afghanistan dose not address the civic requirements of Ms Simeen Barakzai, the civil society of Afghanistan will ask the international community to interfere. The civil society of Afghanistan will appeal to the international human rights courts of the international community. 11-October-2011 Kabul- Afghanistan    

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