Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

In the name of Almighty Allah Recommendations of the Afghan civil society at the “The Hague Conference” 31st March, 2009 The Hague – Netherlands Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to express our warm gratitute and thanks for the inclusion of the NGO community and civil society in Afghanistan. It is a great honor to be part of this important conference and we expect that the presence of civil society remains an ongoing mechanism in the future. As a result of a broad range of consultations among civil society and the NGO community, we have come up with the following recommendations for the International Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague about strategies for solidifying the peace process, which are grounded on the fundamental principles and values: 1. The concept of “Afghans in the lead” must shift from a mere rhetoric to a genuine principle guiding the strategic discussions on Afghanistan's future. A broad range of Afghan actors, including civil society, must be part of these discussions. 2. While Afghans support a broad based and inclusive dialog and reconciliation efforts, these processes must be grounded in a non-negotiable position of respect and must be according to the Afghan Constitution and the fundamental values enshrined in it, including respect for human rights, women's rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic governance. Democratic principles, for which Afghans have sacrificed their lives and which they championed for the last century, cannot be negotiated away by the Afghan government and the international community under the guise of peace and security. Key Recommendations In the field of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) The Afghan Government and the international community must prioritize and take all necessary measures to minimize civilian casualties and to institutionalize mechanisms of accountability, transparency and systems of reparations…

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRN viewpoint regarding Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan For Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Of Human Rights status in Afghanistan to the United Nations Islam is a holly religion. But Islamic extremists introduce human rights against the religion and misuse the beliefs of the people, for their own goals. Unfortunately, the lack of constructive dialogue between religious leaders and human rights activists, has led to such misunderstandings. Conclusion: The Civil Society should acquire more & more supports from the international community, to play an important role in various social fields, as promoting and generalizing Human Rights in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Afghan government does not consider the role of the Civil Society as significant as it should be, and it is believed that the Civil Society will remain as an informal and abstracted element. This role needs to be activated. The support of the international community and government's respect toward the Civil Society can play an important role in activating the role of the Civil Society. Afghanistan needs a government committed to Human Rights values, those, who are not observing the human rights values, should not be appointed in key positions of the government. Unfortunately, we should confess that the presence of the figures who are not respecting the Human rights values, in the leadership of the government will seriously affect the Human Rights in the country. Establishing a constructive and useful dialogue between the government and the civil society can play an important role in popularizing and promoting the Human rights. The Civil Society can serve like a bridge between the citizens and the government and exchange their demands. The Civil Society of Afghanistan, expect the international community to continue its wide support for the human rights values in Afghanistan. The Civil Society of…

In the name of Almighty Allah Ms. Wazhma Frogh acquired the best award of USA and ranked among the eight brave women of the world Ms. Wazhma the cooperator of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network of Afghanistan, and one of the a defenders of women's rights in Afghanistan, was granted the best prize of the United States of America as a courageous woman. The award which was given to top eight brave women of the world was aimed encouraging and persuading human rights defender women. The ceremony which was conducted for the occasion, on the thirteenth of March, in Washington DC, capital of the United States of America, Mrs. Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States of America, talked about the importance of the awards, called it one of the best examples of commitments and appreciation of America's government toward the human rights values. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States of America also participated in this event. She spoke on the role of the United States , particularly the role of the new government of Barack Obama, in respect to women's rights. Ms. Wazhma Frogh and the other seven brave women of the world have gained much honors in this event. She also met with prominent political and social figures and told them about the difficulties of women in Afghanistan . Ms. Frogh, is the director of an organization by the name of (Global Rights) in Afghanistan , which functions in the field of promoting and generalizing the law in the country, the mentioned organization is a good partner of CSHRN since its foundation and has launched joint programs. Nowadays CSHRN and Global Rights have set up a teacher training program on Human rights for protecting the rights. The Civil…

In the name of Almighty Allah Mr. Mohammad Naim Nazari has been elected as the coordinator of CSHRN Mr. Mohammad Naim Nazari has been elected & introduced to this position on 02/07/2008, after consulting with the members of the board of directors of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network (CSHRN) of Afghanistan , by the board of directors of CSHRN. Before this, Mr. Azaryon Mateen was responsible for coordinating the programs of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan. Mr. Azaryon Mateen has got other responsibility as a program manager with the (International Center of Transitional Justice in Afghanistan). The International Center of Transitional Justice, has been implementing its programs in Afghanistan since 2002, and continues its activities with close cooperation with the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan. Mr. Mohammad Naim Nazari has work experience of 15 years in the field of Human Rights & Civil Society. Mr. M Naim Nazari has worked on many positions such as, the managing editor of (Taawon) magazine, publication & information manager of CSHRN and the chief editor of (Angaara) magazine. Mr. M Naim Nazari has got great relationship and well fame among the Civil Institutions & media. The site of CSHRN, hopes its co-workers, Mr. Azaryon Mateen and M. Naim Nazari more and more success in their careers.

In the name of Almighty Allah Mr. Barry Salaam has been appointed as spokesman of CSHRN The board of directors of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) has elected Mr. Barry Salaam the president of (Good morning Afghanistan radio) and manager of (Ăwanama publication), as the speaker of the board of directors of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan. Mr. Barry Salaam, who has the membership of the board of directors of CSHRN, is one of the leading and prominent personalities in the field of the media in Afghanistan. Mr. Barry Salaam, is responsible for contacting the national& international organizations and the local & international media via the name of the board of directors of CSHRN, means the position of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network (CSHRN) regarding the important issues in the country. The site of CSHRN congratulates this significant position to Mr. Barry Salaam and hopes him more success in this respect.

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRN statement about the report of the UN High commissioner regarding the unpleasant condition of Human Rights in Afghanistan 11 th Mar, 2009 Kabul-Afghanistan The report has criticized the high level of violence against women, women and children rape and non-ethnic parallelism. The report has considered the high level of corruption and other organized crimes, executive and professional weaknesses of justice system in Afghanistan, poverty and unemployment, as the weak points in the field of generalizing the Human Rights in Afghanistan. The report, however mentioned some success and achievements in the field of human rights in recent years after the Taliban and named the roles of the government, Human Rights independent commission and civil society institutions, but called the Human Rights situation daunting and unpleasant in Afghanistan. The general assembly of CSHRN was held on 11 th March this year, and discussed the UN high commissioner report on human rights and approved this statement. Civil society and Human Rights Network of Afghanistan, appreciates the UN high commissioner's report for human rights and consider it as UN commitment for human rights in Afghanistan. Civilian casualties during military operations of the international forces and on the other side, anti-government oppositions operation on civilian area have induced these wide violations against the international humanitarian law and human rights norms in Afghanistan. On behalf of the civil institutions of Afghanistan and on behalf of the human rights activists & human rights defenders, the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan, urge the UN Human rights Council to assign its special reporter for monitoring the international humanitarian law for Afghanistan. The Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan, want the government as well the national assembly to support the request for the special representative of…

In the name of Almighty Allah Civil Institution's conference in Mazar-e-Sharif regarding the problems of the displaced persons of Alburz region in Balk province The coordinating office of CSHRN in North of the country, has expressed its deepest concerns about the condition of displaced persons of Alburz region, and for not addressing their most basic problems, through holding meeting in Mazar-e-Sharif. This meeting was attended by the representative of Civil Society, local media, a number of intellectuals, governmental organizations, head of Balkh provincial council, representatives of the Independent Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and the representatives of the international community. In the session, the participants have initiated a comprehensive discussion for solving the problem and drawing the attention of the international community, media and civil institutions, and expressed how to get out of those problems. Mr. Sorosh Kazimy, coordinator of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) in North zone, told the site of CSHRN: the participants of this session stated different views and opinion not only about the difficulties of Alburz residents, but all the social problems which exist in that region. Kazimy added: the main points of the discussions were political, social, cultural, economical and citizen's security. Some of the participants asked the civil society institutions to release a joint statement regarding the overall problems covering the northern part of the country, and attract attention of the local and international media for resolving the problems. Sohrab Samanyan, one of the participants of the conference says: «due to the recent difficulties of the displaced persons in North of the country, civil institutions which cooperate with the Civil Society in North region of Afghanistan, have decided that they should have a clear message regarding this problem and draw international and local institution's attention to it. That's…

In the name of Almighty Allah Suggestions of Civil Society Institutions to the Paris Conference Hashmatullah Raadfar A number of Civil Society organizations have issued a seven articled statement in respect to the Paris conference and asked the government of Afghanistan and the international community to consider their proposals in this conference. The Civil Society Organizations have also considered coordination among the political, economical and Civil Society sectors, as one of the most essential needs of Afghanistan for creating citizenship's values, in the statement. Generating citizenship values is one the foreground of the Civil Society Institutionalization and the continuance of democratic norms in the society, which undoubtedly this process had faced great challenges in post-conflicts countries and the efforts in this field also requires to pave the way for durability and stability of manners and procedures free of prejudices and dependencies that are against the citizenships values. Although, it is stated that working for the creation of citizenships values in Afghanistan has been started long ago, but the institutionalization of such values in traditional and social structures of the country has always been faced with many challenges that one of the major cause of such challenges was the ruptures which were made on the way of this process because of the different reasons. Although, there have been optimisms toward the institutionalization of Afghanistan on democratic norms and values since six years, but there always have been challenges regarding the incomplete efforts and movements of Afghanistan in this way and also, the transformation of citizenship's values because of the slogans and purposes of conservative political groups and event semi-intellectual circles in the country. With the worsening of security situation in some parts of the country, increasing of economical problems of people and exposure of cultural, ethnic and ideological differences…