Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

In the name of God Statement of the One-Day Conference on Justice and Reconciliation November 10, 2010, Kabul, Afghanistan Several decades of war, instability, and persistent insecurity in Afghanistan has made the need for sustainable peace urgent and necessary particularly as the level of safety has become progressively deteriorated. Continuation of war and insecurity has not only destroyed the socio-political fabric of society, but has had a drastic psychological impact on the people of Afghanistan. Today, when thinking and talking of peace, we should pay more attention to healing the social and psychological wounds of society, as sustainable peace cannot be achieved without paying attention to the needs of victims. Therefore, addressing issues of justice should be a priority in the process of strengthening peace in the country given that justice is as integral to sustainable peace as security. We, civil society and human rights activists, believe that peace can be achieved only if justice, human rights and human dignity are both respected and protected in the peace and reconciliation process. Only a just peace process can ensure long-term stability. At the same time, peace is and should be treated as a national rather than as an individual/group-centric process, in order to garner public trust and support, particularly in a multi-ethnic society. Peace can be a national process only if equal participation is guaranteed to all members of the society, from all walks of life, through a process that is open, transparent and inclusive. If government or other circles attempt to use peace as a means of achieving illegitimate or short-term political purposes, it is obvious that peace cannot be achieved; rather it would further weaken public support and trust of the process, resulting in the Government of Afghanistan's loss of further legitimacy. Therefore, if it genuinely wants…

In the name of Almighty Allah The Message of the symposium of “access to information: its role in the promotion of democracy and human rights in Afghanistan”. Kabul, Afghanistan, 28 June 2010 The access to information is one of the most needed components in the current situation, which provides facilities for promotion of human rights values and culture of democracy in a society. Access to information makes a better context for implementation of law and respect for rule of law and generates an appropriate condition for good governance. The experience of International community show that access to information mechanisms limit the circle of corruption in the society and consolidates the citizens to combat against corruption in a close collaboration with the state. Access to information summons the citizens to respect and fulfill social norms and binds the state to dissemination of accurate information about human and natural resources as well as the ability of government to citizens. It builds a transparent citizens-state relationship and makes the ground to walk toward socio-economic and cultural development. The analytical articles presented by today's symposium, indicates that in current situation of Afghanistan , establishing of an efficient mechanism for access to information is an immediate felt need. On the anther hand the presented articles by Afghan parliamentarians refers the common-sense of some committed members of the parliament and Afghan civil society to access to information program in Afghanistan . It also justifies that some members of the parliament are interested in collaboration and coordination with the Afghan civil society to work on legalization of access to information in Afghanistan. The participants of Symposium actively discussed the articles presented by parliamentarians and after having constructive dialogue with parliamentarians the participants insist on the need of access to information. The participants announced their support…

In the name of Almighty Allah Statement by CSHRN on the events in the Behsood and Dimerdad districts Of Maidan Wardak province Kabul , Afghanistan , 20 May 2010 Unfortunately once again Behsood and Dimirdad districts of Maidan Wardak province met armed and bloodshed conflict of Kuchis with local communities. According to received news during this conflict many people died, a lot of houses were burnt and thousands of local people displaced compulsorily. Many families including women and children were displaced and some even disappeared. This is not a new event, as already in the previous years, Kuchis (nomads) were coming to the areas when the weather got warmer and the conflict started between them and local people. Two years ago, the conflict lasted for more than two months in these two districts and many people were killed and thousands displaced from Behsood and Dimirdad. The state came up with a short term program to address the conflict, but could not find a useful long-term strategy to solve the problem. Therefore, Afghan citizens have doubts about the political willingness of the state to solve this social problem. Lowering and deterioration of trust of people toward the state creates other social problems as well as expansion of dimension of existing problem in the country. On the other hand, this type of conflict between citizens of Afghanistan is the result of a lack of governmental strategy and useful programs for national conflict resolution in the country level, but when there is armed conflict and usage of weapon, the case meets a new and complicated dimension and means. The disarmament program (DAIAG) was implemented in most parts of Afghanistan and many groups were disarmed, therefore any armed conflict and usage of weapons by some groups considered insurgency against the government and…

In the name of Almighty Allah Message on the upcoming Kabul Conference Kabul, Afghanistan, March 2010 The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) as umbrella structure would like to convey the message of its member organisations committed to human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Afghanistan with regard to the upcoming Kabul conference. CSHRN is devoted to the establishment of security and the building of peace in Afghanistan and raises the following points as the crucial ones to be discussed during the Kabul conference. •  To strengthen a productive dialogue between the United Nations peace making strategy and the strategies of other international actors regarding Afghanistan. •  To establish a constructive dialogue and a sustainable coordination between civil society and the state, in particular with the national security council as the responsible body for the national and international security in Afghanistan, on the establishment of security and conflict prevention. •  Justice is the main precondition for peace building. Therefore, no conditional justice should be offered in the name of reconciliation as it was lately done with the validation of the so called amnesty bill. •  To strengthen accountable mechanisms for the establishment of peace, where actors, stakes, objectives and so on are dealt with in a transparent manner. •  CSHRN asks that a professional research on the main reasons of the conflict and the best ways on how to resolve the conflict will be conducted. •  To organise a national dialogue about peace building in Afghanistan, creating thereby national legitimacy and national support for such a process. •  To strengthen the of rule of law as mechanism for reaching peace, security and stability. •  To implement human rights and international humanitarian law according to the international commitments. •  To concentrate on the realisation of economic,…

           In the name of Almighty Allah A joint statement of Afghan Women's Network and Civil Society Human Rights Network and on the occasion of 8th of March International women's day March 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------ On the occasion of 8th of March International Women's Day, the Afghan civil society organisations demand the Afghan State and international community to pay serious attention to Peace and security and find way of tackling of current violence. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The 8th of March is recognised as the International Women's day. International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. To celebrate this important day is distinguished as international advocacy for human rights of women, gender balance and social-economic and cultural security of women across the world. The Afghan women as a part of the Afghan and international community annually celebrate 8 th of March as an important day for Afghan society. During this day the Afghan women raise their voice and inputs on the role of women through civil society organisations and Afghan media. During the current year the Afghan women is practicing very difficult time. During this year the Afghan women badly suffered from lack of security and stability. Along with the security the Afghan women suffered from lack of economic and social security. Main social problems of Afghan women were the following issues: Domestic violence, rape and abuses, abduction of young girls, humiliation of women by warlords and criminals, lack of gender balance, misinterpretation of religious values concerning women and deterioration of the role of Afghan women. Lately the international and national military forces organised a series of heavy military operations where a number of civilians were killed and a big number of them were injured. The Taliban and other terrorists…

In the name of Almighty Allah Statement regarding the prevention of killing of civilians during the Moshtarak operation in Helmand province 16.2.2010, Kabul , Afghanistan On13 of February, the offensive against the Talibans in the south of Afghanistan started. The operation called Moshtarak is carried out by the national and international military forces and focuses on clearing the area of Talibans. This operation is launched in a time when the new US strategy starts to be implemented by the US military forces together with the other NATO members and the Afghan government. According to the national and international authorities in charge of the military, the operation will contribute to bring peace and security to the southern regions of Afghanistan. Before the operation started, the local civilians were warned so that they could leave the area and civilian casualties would be avoided. However, the question where a more secure area could be found was not answered. Subsequently, on 14 of February, the Afghan people witnessed the first casualties. 12 innocent civilians were killed during the operation. The bad news shocked the civil society organisations in Afghanistan. CSHRN would like to express its deepest sympathy for the families of the victims. The civil society in Afghanistan believes then when organising such a huge and expensive military operation, civilian programs to prevent civilian casualties have to be developed on a equal scale. Killing of innocent civilians during the operations is against the international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The military organisations of the international community involved in the Moshtarak operation are bound by these conventions. Unfortunately, the killing of civilians has widened the gap between the Afghan people, the Afghan state and the international community. The Afghan civil society is deeply concerned about this development. To avoid…

In the name of Almighty Allah The statement of CSHRN concerning the new government of Afghanistan and the involvement of civil society   28 th of December 2009 Kabul Afghanistan On December 19, the spokesperson of the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan announced during a press conference that the president had designated the members of his cabinet which got introduced to the National Assembly, in close consultation with civil society. This statement came as a great surprise for civil society. Before the members of the new cabinet were announced, CSHRN had sent an open analytical letter to the president of Afghanistan providing an analysis as well as recommendation with regard to the current human rights situation and civil society. CSHRN did its best to contact the office of the present in order to organise a meeting between the president and representatives of civil society for the submission of the letter and the discussion about the concerns of civil society. Unfortunately however, CSHRN had not received any response from the president. The open analytical letter was then released during a press conference broadly covered by national and international media. The civil society and human rights organisations have followed up on the process of the designation of the new cabinet. Regrettably, the inputs forwarded to the president by civil society organisations were ignored. A main illustration thereof is the lack of gender balance among the newly proposed ministers. It was mentioned in the open letter that the structures and programs of the government in the economic, social, political and cultural field suffer from a lack of proper gender equality mechanisms. Furthermore it was said that for the designation of the new cabinet, the potential role Afghan women can play has to be dealt with as priority. Women composing…

In the name of Almighty Allah Implementing human rights, reinforcing civil society and strengthening the rule of law provide the conditions for a capable state in Afghanistan An analytical open letter of CSHRN to the President and new government of Afghanistan December 2009 The title of the analytical letter of CSHRN contains a hopeful message to the new government of Afghanistan from civil society and human rights defenders. This letter focuses on ways on how to tackle the current problems in the field of human rights in Afghanistan. The goal of this letter is to create the understanding and the base for collaboration between the next government and the Afghan civil society in order to promote human rights and to create respect for the rule of law in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it has to be mentioned that the role of civil society and its positive influence on the values of human rights have been limited recently. The candidates and the campaigning staff of the presidential election did not focus on human rights issues and the role of civil society in their campaigns. During the last six years, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) organised a number of dialogues on the human rights situation in Afghanistan . These dialogues showed that still an important gap exists between civil society and governmental institutions regarding mutual understanding and collaboration. This issue has been emphasised by CSHRN during the symposiums, conferences and seminars, where representatives of human rights NGOs as well as some state and non state actors were present. CSHRN addresses this letter to the new government and its leadership in a very difficult time for the Afghan people. It is a time, when terrorists and enemies of human rights would like to restrict the role of civil society and…