Articles

Human rights monitoring, as a new working area for CSHRO

Why CSHRO has decided to work in the field of monitoring of human rights in Afghanistan? According to CSHRO researches the civil society and human rights movement has three main responsibilities: The first one is to promote human rights and democratic values in the society. The second responsibility of civil society and human rights organization is to influence to the policies of legislations in order to bring the message of human rights to the political structures of Afghanistan . The third responsibility of human rights organization is to monitor the implementation of human rights values. According to the international practices without monitoring and evaluation of human rights situation it is almost impossible to know about the reality of human rights situation in the country. Such experiences are mainly having been seen in the post war situation. The civil society and human rights member organization during the latest General Assembly has jointly decided to work actively in the fields of monitoring during the phase four of CSHRO. For this purpose CSHRO has designed a working plan for monitoring the human rights situation in Afghanistan . The working plan consists of three main elements, firstly to build the capacity of CSHRO on monitoring of human rights situation. During this period CSHRO Executive Secretariat will organize capacity building programs for the member organization and local offices of CSHRO in the deferent part of the country. The second period is to organize guidelines and formats for collecting the information, cases and local studies. The third part of the program is the implementation of the format which consists of interviews, visits to human rights violation areas and articulation of the analyses. For monitoring of human rights situation CSHRO Executive Secretariat has trained and appointed its Focal Points “representative of CSHRO in the provinces…

Continue ReadingHuman rights monitoring, as a new working area for CSHRO

CSHRN in dialogue with South Asian civil society

By Wazir Ahamd Khorami The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) participated in a consultation gathering on designing of ICCO regional plan for Sough Asia on 23rd to 25 th of February 2010 in Katmandu of Nepal. As a partner organization of ICCO, CSHRN formulized and presented the massages of CSHRN members to the consultative gathering. CSHRN was represented by Mr. Wazir Ahmad Khorami, Liaison officer of CSHRN. The consultative gathering brought together all South Asian partners of ICCO (Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan). The Afghan civil society delegation consisted of six organizations raised the issue of challenges concerning human rights, rule of law, democratization, peace-building process and justice issues in Afghanistan. The Afghan delegation emphasized on the role of civil society in promotion of human rights and respect for rule of law in Afghanistan. CSHRN representative presented the lessons learned from Afghan civil society to the regional gathering. According to the lessons learned the Afghan civil society of Afghanistan has three main roles: First, the messenger role of civil society, the Afghan civil society would like to play a collaborative mediator role between the Afghan state and the Afghan citizens. For this propose the CSHRN organizes constant dialogues with the Afghan citizens and Afghan state institutions. Second, monitoring role of civil society, the monitoring role of civil society in Afghanistan is a challenging role. The problem is that civil society in Afghanistan doesn't have the capacity to monitor the human rights situation and the process of democratization in the country. Along with that, CSHRN is doing some monitoring programs by organizing surveys with the Afghan citizen in some provinces of Afghanistan. The Afghan delegation expressed their concern for the luck of capacity of civil society in monitoring role of civil society in Afghanistan. Third, advocacy…

Continue ReadingCSHRN in dialogue with South Asian civil society

Access to information – a precondition for an accountable state and the respect for human rights

Why is access to information essential for human rights? Access to information means that citizens have the right to get information concerning civil, political, economic, social and cultural domains through the public administration. It is a principle of good governance that government information has to be available to the people. Relevant information includes for example policies, strategies, working programmes, financial and human resources available for the education or health sector, state expenditures, election procedures, and anti corruption measures. Exceptions to this principle have to be as few as possible; issues regarding national security or confidential data about individuals could be excluded. Access to information is at the same time a right in itself as also a mechanism to claim rights. Human rights regulate the relationship between citizens and the state apparatus. Having access to information creates informed citizens, promotes popular participation and enables citizens to understand their role in building democracy. It also enables the population to confront the state with realistic expectations as its capacities and possibilities are known. The claims by the population push the state to become more transparent and accountable, and to become less influenced by corruption. It will therefore be in a better position to fulfill its role and to respect the rights of all the people living under its administration. That is why access to information is an active tool for strengthening human rights culture, endorsing democracy and encouraging the culture of prioritizing the rule of law in society. What is the state of access to information today in Afghanistan? Worldwide, the acknowledgement of the importance of access to information has greatly increased in recent years and today about 85 countries dispose of provisions in their national legislation to guaranty this right. In Afghanistan , access to information has a foundation within…

Continue ReadingAccess to information – a precondition for an accountable state and the respect for human rights