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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The statement of Advocator Group of UNSCR 1325 of Bamyan province, in regard with implementation of UNSCR 1325 and transition of power to national forces

By the name of merciful and the compassionate God The statement of Advocator Group of UNSCR 1325 of Bamyan province, in regard with implementation of UNSCR 1325 and transition of power to national forces The UNSCR 1325 Advocator Group which has been established in March 2011 by Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRO) in Bamyan province is composed of 100 women who are active in the field of human rights. This group de spite that appreciates transition of power to national forces, expresses its deeply concern on empowerment of Afghans' enemy and international terrorism as well as suffering of Bamyan people from deterioration of security after back-drawl of international forces. One of the key-elements and aim of Boon conference was brining peace and security in Afghanistan therefore efforts have been done by international society, Afghanistan Government and Afghans after the collapse of Taliban, aiming positive peace and security for people of Afghanistan. But unfortunately after ten years of presence of international society and govern of central government we are witness of assassinations, killings of innocent people, suicide attacks and deterioration of security in Afghanistan. The government of Afghanistan recently has tried from different channels aiming to bring peace and security in the country. Unfortunately all these efforts rather than having a positive effect have provided much more opportunities for systematic and strategic terroristic acts. The recent organized assassinations of high ranking persons in the country are means of verifications of our claim. Bamyan province is the first province that experiences transition of power from international to national forces. Hence a very week security forces with very week and inadequate military equipment has been deployed in Bamyan province therefore people of Bamyan province especially women worry about expansion of terroristic acts and domination of insurgents in the province.…

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The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization East Zone Office A statement on the occasion of civilian causalities in Kunar and Nengarhar provinces

In the name of Almighty Allah The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization East Zone Office A statement on the occasion of civilian causalities in Kunar and Nengarhar provinces 22-Feberuary-2011 Nangarhar- Afghanistan Recently our innocent people once again experienced the killing of civilians by NATO and Taliban forces during military operation in Kunar and Nengarhar provinces. Unfortunately most of the victims of this harmful incident were children and women who did not have any relationship to the military and any political movements. This is not the first time that the arm forces are overwhelming the international and national laws in Afghanistan . The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization have condemned these brutal operations by issuing on time messages and statements. These messages and statements frequently targeted Afghanistan state and international partners, who are supporting Afghanistan state in fighting against international terrorism to take serous measure for legal prosecution of perpetrator of these brutal operations. But unfortunately these atrocious maneuvers are repeating frequently. The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization East Zone office as a coordination umbrella of civil society organizations in east zone, followed closely this bloodshed operation and strongly condemn it and states these following points; We express our deep grievance and condolence on this harmful operation and pray for God to bless the victims and give patience to the successors and family member of the victims. We ask the international troops, fighting against terrorism to prosecute the process of this operation and share their findings with Afghanistan people. We ask the Afghanistan state to ask the international troops to respect international laws during the military operations and prevent civilian causalities and killing of innocent people. We ask the NATO to send a delegation to the field and take necessary measures for immediate actions for the…

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The message of the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (Network)

In the name of Almighty Allah The message of the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (Network) 29 January 2011 Kabul – Afghanistan We have received the sad news of a suicide attack in Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul city. The attack killed a number of innocent people. Mrs. Hamida Barmaki, the Commissioner of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and her five family members were amongst the victims. Allah may bless all of them. The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (Network), condemn this brutal act against human values and human dignity. Killing of civilians and innocent people is against the Islamic values, the national and international law and humanitarian values. The suicide attacks badly damage peace building, reconciliation and state building process in Afghanistan . Such actions strongly affect the Afghan people psychologically as well morally. The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (Network), expresses its deep condolences to the families of the victims of this inhuman action. We would like to stand beside our partner organization the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in this difficult period of time. The death of our innocent colleague and a good friend of civil society, Mrs. Hamida Barmaki, is a great miss amongst human rights family and civil society activist in Afghanistan. Civil Society and Human rights Organization (Network)

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Statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Network on the Afghanistan agreement in Lisbon

In the name of Almighty Allah Statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Network on the Afghanistan agreement in Lisbon 30/11/2010 Kabul – Afghanistan NATO leaders, the leaders of a number of NATO partner countries and representatives of some international civil society organizations, including the UN high commissioner, met the 19th and 20 th of November 2010 in Lisbon to discuss the relevant issues of Afghanistan. A resolution was signed between the Afghanistan state and NATO. According to the resolution, the procedure of security transition to Afghan national forces starts in the beginning of 2011 and last to the end of 2014. From the perspective of Civil Society and Human Rights Network the Lisbon meeting is an important event with regards to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. The meeting shows a change in the decisions of the international community, particularly NATO and the United States of America , regarding Afghanistan. Undoubtedly, the people of Afghanistan and civil society alike all want Afghan national forces to be capable of defending terrorism independently and shoulder all security responsibility of the country. But any decision must meet the reality and the context of Afghanistan . Quick decisions and lack of transparency regarding the content of the transition of security responsibilities is of great concern to the Afghan people and the member organizations of Civil Society and Human Rights Network. The international community for the sake of vital political decisions should not lie solely on state but also on civil society and public prospective. The Afghan Civil Society and Human Rights Network once again stresses, that the security and stability in Afghanistan not only concerns the rights and demands of Afghans, but it is also a need of the international community in securing their communities. To provide peace, stability and development…

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Statement of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network on the Parliamentary Elections

In the name of Almighty Allah Statement of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network on the Parliamentary Elections Kabul – Afghanistan, 15 September 2010 Afghan people going to the polls for the parliamentary elections, experience once again an important historical test. Elections are considered in the country to be the most important component of democracy. In any political system, the people determine the legitimacy of the system through parliamentary elections. So the upcoming elections in Afghanistan plays an important role in the political , social, economic and cultural fields of our country. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) appreciates that parliamentary elections are conducted. It requests however from the Afghan people to actively and sincerely participate in this process. In order to facilitate a better coordination among state institutions and non-governmental organizations during the parliamentary elections, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network suggest the following points: •  CSHRN requests from national and international security organizations in Afghanistan to do their best in order to provide security to citizens during the elections, because people participating in elections bring legitimacy to a democratic system. •  CSHRN requests from all civil society organizations in the country to actively contribute to the success of the elections day and to support the people during this historic day so that they are able to participate and to understand the importance of elections. •  CSHRN urges all parties involved in the country to respect this historic day and to respect the will of the people and therefore not to cause any conflicts that may lead to violence. •  CSHRN invites all Afghan media in the country to play an active role for a democratic culture and to avoid any ethnic, linguistic and tribal issue. •  CSHRN requests from political parties, private…

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