Statements & Messages

In the name of Almighty Allah Civil Society & Human Rights Network's (CSHRN) declaration On prevention of an artistic program in Herat province Kabul , Afghanistan End of Aug 2012 (Sunbula 1391) Official of Herat province have prevented a musical program of Shafiq Mureed a young and talented singer of the country. This decision was taken when a person by the name of Maulawi Mujibrahman has called the initiation of this art program «promotion of prostitution» in Herat society and considered that program against religious values. The publication of this news in media has seriously amazed the civil society & human rights network of Afghanistan. What we concerned about is that, how can the government ignore the cultural right of the young generation and prevent them from their useful and valid programs. Based on the constitution & international commitments of Afghanistan , the government is responsible to initiate useful programs in order to defend and appreciate freedom of expression and promotion of cultural rights of Afghan citizens, and never let these values to be ignored. The civil society & human rights network of Afghanistan insistently ask ministry of information and culture to investigate the case in Heart province and give its result to the civil society and media. Civil society and human rights network of Afghanistan asks the governor of Herat province Dr. Daud Saba who is one the activists of civil society and human rights values, to specify the reasons of this decision to the people of Afghanistan and the civil society and ensure them based on constitution of Afghanistan, article no 19 of universal human rights declaration and article no 20 of international convention of civil & political rights for being committed to the human rights values of Herat citizens. The civil society and human rights…

In the name of Almighty Allah The statement of Civil Society and Human Rights Organisation on the occasion of Shooting a women by insurgent groups in the district of Shinwari of the Parwan province in Afghanistan July 2012 Recently Taliban committed a brutal act by shooting a woman in public, where many people were witnesses of it in the Shinwari district of Parwan province. The executers of this inhuman action have not been arrested because of their horrifying crime. Escaping of perpetrators of such fierce crime from trail by any means puts an emphasis on the lack of the implementation of justice. This brutal act has badly stressed Afghan people especially Afghan women. The women in Afghanistan are the main victims of the inhuman operations of anti governmental forces. Meanwhile it proves that the state of Afghanistan is very weak in protecting of Afghan women. The lack of security is one of the main reasons of the extreme human rights violations and humanitarian law violations in Afghanistan . These inhuman actions against civilians have roughly damaged the relationship between the Afghan citizens with the Afghan state and strongly impacted the legitimacy of the Afghan state among the Afghan population. •  The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization strongly condemn this brutal action and would like to call upon the Afghan security forces to bring the criminals of this action to trial and justice. •  The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization would like to call upon all civil society actors, human rights and women rights defenders to strongly pay attention and take action. Cooperation is needed and advocacy for justice and human rights values with special focus on women's rights in Afghanistan is an obligation. •  The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization would like to call upon…

In the name of Almighty Allah The Civil Society and Human Rights Network statement on inhuman act of poisoning afghan school girls Kabul , Afghanistan June 2012 Recently the anti-governmental forces have been targeting the afghan young students and children for their political purposes. They are using differently a tactic of poisoning young girls in the primary schools. The goal is to horrify and discourage afghan families who are sending their young children (girls) to school. Such an inhuman action, will negatively affect the role of women in the social, economic and political affairs in Afghanistan. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network condemn this inhuman action with the strongest possible words. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network would like to call upon all parties involved in conflicts in Afghanistan to respect the rights of innocent people and not use civilians for their political purposes. All the parties should respect the Geneva Conventions of 1949 on the role of military actions and respect of civilians during the wars and conflicts. Taking revenge, victimize innocent people and creates horror among communities. Taking revenge and creation of horror is strongly prohibited by Islam, national and cultural values of Afghanistan ; nobody has the right to harass an innocent person particularly children by any reason. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network would like to call upon the afghan media to organize a broad based debate to shape a social attitude in order to encounter this type of inhuman activities. According to our great prophet preaches that calls all Muslims, do their best to learn and educate themselves. The Civil Society and Human Right Network would like to call upon religious leaders and activists to use the tribune of mosques to explain about the importance of education and encourage the…

In the name of Almighty Allah The input and recommendations of the Civil Society and Human Rights Organisation to the Tokyo International Conference on Afghanistan   Kabul - June 2012 Preamble   During the past ten years Afghanistan has gained some important achievements in the fields of social, economic and political development. Despite these achievements Afghanistan has also experienced a lot of challenges such as; Lack of security, the interference of neighbouring countries into interior affairs of Afghanistan, corruption and production and trafficking of narcotics which are the main challenges in the past ten years. The role of the international community in Afghanistan is very important. The military intervention of the international community in Afghanistan created the new opportunities for the afghan people. However the operation against terrorism in Afghanistan has resulted high number of mortality. Regardless of this fact the people of Afghanistan are aware of the importance of the role of the international community in Afghanistan. As a result of the new environment in Afghanistan the people of the country have achieved their goal of creating a new constitution which opened the door of opportunities for a new Afghanistan. According to the new constitution the democratic institutions in Afghanistan have been established, the civil society has developed rapidly, the political parties have received the opportunities to be established, the human rights movements were established and the women rights activists created their organizations to protect the rights of women in Afghanistan. The afghan media has also had a major progressive development. In the field of technology and communication the country has had massive improvements. Mine production has also witnessed a lot of progressive steps towards development. In the field of agriculture Afghanistan has also developed. The banking system has been modernized. The Afghan people have exercised four…

In the name of Almighty Allah CSHRO Statement on the occasion of Chicago North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit Kabul , Afghanistan , 13- May 2012 On May 20th and 21st the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit will be organized in Chicago. The summit will be hosted by the president of the United State. Important issues such as the Arab Spring, the issue of Libya, the international economic crisis and the issue of Afghanistan are core topics of Chicago summit. Therefore international attentions have been oriented toward Chicago international conference. The Chicago summit is the continuation of NATO summit in Lisbon 2010 where the heads of the member states discussed the issue of gradually withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan. Chicago summit decisions have vital impact on the situation in Afghanistan . The summit will be held on the day after G8 summit in Camp David of United State. The conference will discuss the imperative role of international community in Afghanistan and upheavals of political situation of the region. That is why both gatherings have received a lot of prudence of international communities. The Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRO) closely studies the situation and relevant events to the conference and voice its concerns regarding the situation of Afghanistan. CSHRO believes that the monitoring role of international community in the current situation and maintaining this role after 2014 when the NATO troops leave Afghanistan will positively affect the situation in Afghanistan. Meanwhile in a common sense based all civil society institutions, human rights activists and defenders, women rights defenders and activists in the field of gender equality predict that dramatic decrease of support of international community as well as imprudently limitation of monitoring role of the international community endangers all gained achievements of Afghanistan. Consequently Afghanistan…

In the name of Almighty Allah A statement from the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization, CSHRO (The Network) on the occasion of the 8th of March International Women's Day (IWD) Kabul 7th March 2012 The eighth of March is celebrated all over the world as an important day for all to express their respect for women. Particularly, the celebration of such a valuable day is the indication of the commitment of the international community towards the role of women - who are inevitably an indispensable part of the societies of the world. The women of Afghanistan , as an essential element of our society, play a magnificent role in the peace-, security- and the development processes of the country. The Afghan civil society would like to celebrate the value based event of the IWD with meetings, the release of statements, as well as messages to the Afghan state and the international community. During the past year, the women of Afghanistan have experienced a difficult time. The Afghan women suffered from the lack of social, economic, cultural and political security. Many specific cases from the regions indicate that Afghan women are the victims of inhuman practices, such as humiliating sexual abuse. Regretfully, the culture of disrespect and degradation of women's role in the field of economic and social development is steadily increasing. However, the Islamic state of Afghanistan has developed programs to support the role of women in the society. In addition to this, there are on-going projects and programs conducted by the international community to support and promote a culture of respect towards women's role in the society. But these endeavours do not fully respond to the prevailing negative attitudes toward Afghan women. According to national and international statistics, Afghan women are among the poorest and most…

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…

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…

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…