WELCOME TO IWPR'S AFGHAN RECOVERY REPORT, No. 276, December 6, 2007 INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE Q&A:
FOREIGN TROOPS ACCUSED IN HELMAND RAID MASSACRE Residents of a southern village tell of a night of violence at the hands of foreign and Afghan soldiers. By Matiullah Minapal and Aziz Ahmad Tassal in Lashkar Gah IWPR REPORTER UNDER ATTACK IN AFGHAN NORTH Journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi says his brother Parwez has been jailed and threatened with death because of his own reporting on human rights violations in the north. By Jean MacKenzie in Kabul KORAN TRANSLATION PROVOKES CONTROVERSY Demonstrators call for the death of those behind a new, unorthodox translation of the Koran. By Hafizullah Gardesh in Kabul AFGHAN RECOVERY REPORT: SECURITY FIRMS IN AFGHANISTAN: PART OF THE PROBLEM? Private security companies are contributing to the rising tide of lawlessness, according to both Afghan and international experts. By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul AFGHANISTANS CREAKING COURT SYSTEM Most Afghans prefer the traditional, tribal system of justice to state courts, according to a new report. By Wahidullah Amani in Kabul HELMAND RESIDENTS TURN ON THE LIGHTS Tired of waiting for the government to help them, some Helmand residents are making their own electricity. By Zainullah Stanekzai in Helmand **** IWPR RESOURCES **************************************************** NEW PUBLICATION: SYRIA PRESS MONITOR. Weekly round-up of news and opinion from the Syrian national and diaspora press. To find out more or subscribe to RSS feed please go to: http://iwpr.net/syriapressmonitor.html HELMAND VOICES: An IWPR training project in Helmand is helping local reporters produce groundbreaking radio stories on subjects that matter to their communities, often in parts of the province where no international journalist can go. Please visit: http://www.iwpr.net/helmandvoices.html SAHAR JOURNALISTS ASSISTANCE FUND: IWPR is establishing a fund, in honour of Sahar al-Haideri, to support journalist participants in its training and reporting programmes around the world. The Sahar Journalists Assistance Fund will be used to support local journalists in cases of exile or disability, or to assist their families in case of death in service. To find out more or donate please go to: http://www.iwpr.net/sahar.html AFGHAN BLOG: A weekly peek into the cultural, political and social landscape of Afghanistan. By Jean MacKenzie, Country Director for IWPR in Afghanistan. Visit at http://iwpr.net/afghanblog.html **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** AFGHAN RECOVERY REPORT RSS: http://www.iwpr.net/en/arr/rss.xml RECEIVE FROM IWPR: Readers are urged to subscribe to IWPR's full range of free electronic publications at: http://www.iwpr.net/index.php?apc_state=henh&s=s&m=p GIVE TO IWPR: IWPR is wholly dependent upon grants and donations. For more information about how you can support IWPR go to: http://www.iwpr.net/donate.html **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE Q&A: FOREIGN TROOPS ACCUSED IN HELMAND RAID MASSACRE Residents of a southern village tell of a night of violence at the hands of foreign and Afghan soldiers. By Matiullah Minapal and Aziz Ahmad Tassal in Lashkar Gah A young man lies in bed in the Emergency Hospital in Lashkar Gah. His throat is bandaged, and he can barely speak. Holding his hand to his wound, he is clearly in pain as he tells of his ordeal in a whisper, interjecting over and over again, My two brothers! My two brothers! The mans name is Abdul Manaan, but locals call him Naanwai, the baker, as he has a bread shop in Lakari, about two kilometres from the village of Toube in the southern Garmseer district of Helmand province. Abdul Manaan suffered slashes to his neck during a nighttime raid by a mixed force of foreign and Afghan troops helicoptered into Toube on November 18. Eyewitnesses say the soldiers killed 18 civilians in an attack that was brutal even by the standards of the Afghan conflict. Although the raid happened three weeks ago, there has been no news or comment about it outside Helmand. It was about two in the morning when we heard the aircraft, and I woke up, said Abdul Manaan. I looked out but I couldnt see anything. My two younger brothers who were in another room came to me to ask what was going on, but I told them, Nothing, just go back to sleep. They went back to bed, as did I. Then I heard a noise on the roof, and I looked out and there were armed men up there. They climbed down and came into my brothers room, and asked them if they were Taleban. One of my brothers said No, we are shopkeepers, come and search the house. We have nothing, no guns or anything. The soldiers shot him on the spot. My other brother they brought to me, and tied his hands. Then they slit his throat. I could hear him gurgling. He was still making a noise when they got to me. One of the soldiers spoke a little Pashto - he asked whether we were Taleban and I said no, we were shopkeepers. They made me stand up against the wall and tied my hands. They put the knife to my neck and cut me three times. Then they threw an old tarpaulin over me and left. But I wasnt dead. As Abdul Manaan lay under the tarpaulin holding his hand to his neck wound, he heard the soldiers moving around the house and children screaming. When the soldiers left after about half an hour, he said, I got up and went to my brother. He was cold. He found the women and children alive in another room, together with some who had come from other houses. Everyone was screaming and crying, he said. In the morning, Abdul Manaan was taken to hospital in Lashkar Gah. I survived, but my brothers are dead, he said. What shall I do now? Residents of Helmand province have grown used to aerial strikes over the past several months. As the Taleban and foreign forces battle for control of the province, civilians are often caught in the middle. The international troops accuse the Taleban of using women and children as human shields, while the insurgents and increasingly also the Afghan government condemn the foreign forces for reckless disregard for human life. But what happened in Toube was quite different from the more detached, if horrific, bombing that has destroyed homes and families. Abdul Manaans story is echoed by dozens of villagers from Toube whom IWPR as they underwent treatment in Lashkar Gah or accompanied injured relatives there. All spoke consistently of soldiers breaking down doors, shooting children and cutting throats. They agreed that the raid began at two in the morning with the sound of helicopters bringing in dozens of armed men, both Afghan and foreign. One man called Nabi Jan told IWPR, At two in the morning on Sunday, foreign troops entered my house and shot my children in their cradles. I collected their scattered brains with my own hands and placed them near the bodies. They killed 18 people that night. I swear none of them were Taleban fighters, he said, his anger making his voice rise in tone. They killed civilians - people like me - with rough farmers hands. If you dont believe me, then come with me to the cemetery. I will dig up the bodies to show you. According to Nabi Jan, the soldiers left at about five in the morning, when it was still dark. He and what is left of his family are now camped out by the river, in the winter cold, afraid to go home. Borjan, a neighbour waiting in front of the Emergency Hospital in Lashkar Gah, confirmed the story. I was a witness, he said. Soldiers came into our houses. They shot everyone they could find, including people asleep in bed. In one house, babies were shot in their cradles. Three people had their throats cut, but one survived, and he is now in this hospital. According to Borjan, the death toll was 17. Two of my cousins were killed in this attack, said another man waiting outside the hospital, Noor Mohammad. It was nighttime and we heard aircraft. Soldiers came to our house. We hid and did not open the door, so they broke it down. When they entered the house, they began firing, and they killed four people. They were foreign and Afghan army troops. When they left, they gunned down anyone they could find. Garmseer lies about 70 km south of Lashkar Gah, on the border with Pakistan. The remoteness of its location and the porous nature of the frontier have ensured that this is one of the most unstable districts in an extremely troubled province. The Taleban control most of the district except for a few government-held administrative centres, and clashes between the insurgents and the army are frequent. Still, the stories about what happened in Toube are exceptional, and the news spread quickly across Helmand by word of mouth, inflaming the mood. On November 20, a group of nearly 100 elders from the district came to Lashkar Gah to speak with government representatives at the offices of the Afghan National Security Directorate. The emotionally charged meeting was attended by representatives of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, the joint military and civilian force tasked with providing security and rebuilding Helmand, operating under the mandate of NATOs International Security Assistance Force, ISAF. The elders demanded that foreign forces stay out of Garmseer and asked for military operations there to end. We hate the government and NATO because they kill our women and elders, said one of the delegation, Khan Agha. They wont let us get on with our lives; they slaughter us. Khan Agha said he had turned against the Afghan National Army. It is bad enough that foreigners do these things, but now the Afghan army is with them. We are angry that even Afghans show us no sympathy. I used to cooperate with the army, but now, if I have an opportunity, I will do my best to hurt them, he said. One after another, the elders told their stories, all sounding remarkably similar. My name is Hajji Ali Mohammad, said one old man, who was so hunched over that he could barely walk. Tears ran down his face as he spoke. It was during the night that armed men entered my house and shot two of my sons. One of them had just got married a month ago. My sons were not members of the Taleban, they were farmers. We are poor farmers. Mohammad Hussain Andiwal, the police chief for Helmand province, addressed the gathering at length. He said he would raise the Toube violence with international forces. I can feel your pain, he told the elders. Even a heart of stone would melt with these sorrows. I will speak with the foreigners and make them promise not to kill civilians again like this. According to the PRT, the incident at Toube is still being investigated. There was an operation [in Garmseer] about that time, said one PRT official, speaking on condition of anonymity. And we were aware that allegations had been made. We found no evidence at the time to support these charges, but an investigation is ongoing. It may be difficult to pinpoint blame, assuming the accusations made by Toube residents are substantiated. Several military groups operate in Helmand, and not all of them answer to the British-led ISAF or follow its rules of engagement. The United States-led Coalition also has soldiers in the province, and US Special Forces work with and mentor Afghan troops. PRT officials were unable to comment on who is most likely to have been involved. Most Helmand residents do not distinguish between British, American, Canadian, or Danish soldiers, using the term foreigner for all. Helmands police chief cautioned against blaming foreigners for all of the provinces troubles and called on the assembled elders to reflect on the terrible events of the past 30 years. Any time we have had hopes that our country would be rebuilt, that education would revive, or that we would have doctors, engineers, hospitals we get caught up in disaster. When the Russians were defeated, then commanders came from our own people and carried out evil acts, he said, referring to the internecine strife between Afghan factions in the Nineties. Things took place in Kabul that were worse even than what happened with the Russians. Who did these things? Were they British? Were they Dutch? Were they Americans? No, it was we who did them! Andiwal asked for cooperation from the elders in trying to resolve the problems. If you do not want things to improve, then two years from now there will be nothing left, said Andiwal. Let us come to your villages, and we will listen to you and work with you. At this, an old man in the corner rose slowly to his feet. He leaned on a cane, shaking as he spoke. So this is our fault? he said. You, the government, cannot maintain security. You have closed our schools. Many countries have come here, and they cannot do anything. So how can we? Matiullah Minapal and Aziz Ahmad Tassal are IWPR staff reporters in Lashkar Gah. IWPR REPORTER UNDER ATTACK IN AFGHAN NORTH Journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi says his brother Parwez has been jailed and threatened with death because of his own reporting on human rights violations in the north. By Jean MacKenzie in Kabul A leading journalist in northern Afghanistan says his brother has been imprisoned on false charges as a way of pressuring him not to write articles critical of local officials and strongmen. Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi has come under mounting pressure himself, with security service officers visiting his home and anonymous phone calls threatening his life. His brother, Sayed Parwez Kaambakhsh, has been in prison since October 27 on charges of writing and distributing anti-Islamic literature, which he denies have any foundation. An Afghan journalists rights union has condemned a decision to have Parwezs case heard by clerics rather than in the conventional judicial system. A council of Muslim scholars has recommended the death sentence. For the past four years, Yaqub has been reporting for IWPR on Afghanistans northern region. During that time, he has consistently covered issues of extreme sensitivity, such as continuing abuses by strongmen who maintain paramilitary forces and undermine the rule of law in defiance of the central governments disarmament efforts. In the past two months, he has published several reports which identify factions and individuals in the north whom local residents accuse of crimes and brutality. The people who are threatening me had nothing official against me, he explained. There was nothing they could use to arrest and imprison me. Instead, he says, they targeted his younger brother, who is a journalism student at Balkh University in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and also reports for the local daily Jahan-e-Naw. The charges against him are based on a document downloaded in mid-October from the internet and circulated among students at the university where he is studying. He says that the name Sayed Parwez was added to the document after it was printed out, and that he had no involvement with it. Parwez has no previous record of trouble with the authorities. He was arrested by the state authorities, in the shape of the National Directorate of Security, NDS, and under normal circumstances, a criminal offence would have gone to court and a judge would have ruled on the matter. But instead, the charges against Parwez have been referred to the Shura-ye Ulema or Council of Religious Scholars for Balkh region, which is recommending that he be executed by hanging on the grounds of apostasy. It is unclear what level of evidence the council sought or obtained to substantiate the charges. Nor is it clear what its death penalty recommendation means in legal terms. Yaqub is convinced that his brother has been targeted as part of a growing pattern of intimidation that he sees as a reaction to his revelations about the power of certain political and paramilitary factions in the north. Since Parwezs arrest, Yaqub has faced harassment from the security services, who have searched his home and office, accessed his computer files, and tried to force him to reveal sources on several stories Yaqub has published with IWPR. Yaqubs fearless reporting work has meant he is no stranger to controversy, but his brothers arrest has marked a clear hardening in pressure placed on him. I have repeatedly been threatened during my work with IWPR, said Yaqub in a telephone interview from Mazar-e-Sharif. I write about human rights violations in the north, and about fighting between various factions. This is my profession, and I have ignored the threats and gone on with my career. But recently the pressure has increased. Yaqub has received anonymous death threats over the phone and via the internet. He has been followed, and security officials have come to his home late in the evening to ask for him, as a result of which he has gone into hiding. In one phone call, the voice told him, We know who you are, we know where you are and we are going to kill you. When NDS officers arrested Parwez, they also sealed Yaqubs office, which contained all of his documents and files. On October 28 they did a thorough search of my rooms, said Yaqub. They checked my computer. Why would they do that? They also checked my notebooks which have contact numbers for my sources in the provinces. They read copies of all my articles for IWPR, and they wanted to take my notebooks with them. But I told them, You have come to find out about anti-Islamic articles, but my notebook has nothing to do with that. I told them, If you take my notebook I will complain in the media. They began to whisper to each other and then they gave me back my notebook. The police did confiscate some articles that Yaqub had downloaded from the internet about womens rights, plus The Story of Civilisation by Will Durant. Parwezs plight has attracted the attention of civil society groups and human rights activists. Zia Bomya, chair of the Journalists Defence Committee in Kabul, told IWPR his organisation was following the case closely. A number of individuals and circles whose interests are being threatened want to initiate a conspiracy against Parwez, he said. Bomya recommended that formal judicial institutions investigate the roots of the case. In his view, the Council of Religious Scholars has no legal standing to rule on such a matter. As long as the constitution and the courts exist in Afghanistan, the Shura-ye-Ulema is not authorised to pass sentence on anyone, he said. This is clear interference in the affairs of other institutions. Parwezs case should be submitted to the [government] commission which assesses media violations, which can then transfer it to the judicial agencies. Any other decision on the case is illegal, and we condemn it. Farid Hamidi, spokesman for the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, agreed that the judiciary and no one else was entitled to pass judgment. Our branch in Mazar is following this case, he said. All of these things have to be done in accordance with the law and the constitution. Institutions like the [lower] courts and the Supreme Court must handle them; it is their job. Nasir, who is also studying journalism at Balkh University, told IWPR that he understood there was a conspiracy against his fellow-student. Parwez is one of the top students in the class, and he is friendly to everyone. But there are people who harbour some enmity against him. When the state attorney [prosecutor] came to see us, some people spread negative propaganda about Parwez, but most of us know the truth. Yaqub is convinced that Parwez is the victim of a concerted campaign to silence him as a journalist. Some of my friends, whom I dont want to name, have told me that a number of high-ranking officials are involved in this case, said Yaqub. They say that I am trying to defame the north by writing such reports, that I have started a campaign against commanders in the north and that I must be kept down. They are taking it out on Parwez. Yaqub added that the affair has already had an impact on his reporting, When all this started, I had to give up writing about certain themes. It was too dangerous. Jean MacKenzie is IWPR programme director in Afghanistan. KORAN TRANSLATION PROVOKES CONTROVERSY Demonstrators call for the death of those behind a new, unorthodox translation of the Koran. By Hafizullah Gardesh in Kabul When Ghaus Zalmai, a well-known journalist who was working as spokesperson for the attorney generals office, lent his name and reputation to a new version of the Koran, he may have thought he was performing a service for his fellow Afghan Muslims. Instead, the book, A Fluent Translation of the Holy Koran, has unleashed a storm of public rage that has landed its publisher Zalmai in jail, sent the editor into hiding, and led a council of angry clerics to denounce the book as the work of an international Zionist conspiracy. The prosecutor says Zalmai now regrets his action. This could not be confirmed by IWPR, since the journalist has been held incommunicado on unspecified charges for over a month. The book is by no means the first translation of the Koran into Dari. But normally the Arabic text would be included, with a strict line-by-line equivalent as a parallel text. The Fluent Translation, on the other hand, purported to be an attempt to relate Islams sacred book in the vernacular. Critics say that in the process, serious errors were made in rendering the letter and the spirit of the Koran, and are calling for everyone involved in its production to be brought to trial. Angry demonstrators in Kabul, Jalalabad, and other parts of the country have even demanded death for Zalmai and his collaborators. The book, translated by United States resident Qudratullah Bakhtiarinejad and edited by Mullah Qari Mushtaq Ahmad, was printed in 6,000 copies and was about to be distributed. But almost as soon as it was published, it was condemned by the Ministry for the Hajj and Religious Affairs as well as both houses of parliament. They demanded that the government confiscate all of the copies. The attorney general - Zalmais boss - issued an arrest warrant. Zalmai was arrested, reportedly while trying to escape across the border to Pakistan. Mullah Mushtaq has fled, and is being sought by the police. The presidents office has set up a commission to assess the book, according to Maulavi Mohammad Siddiq Muslim, the head of the Supreme Courts fatwa department, which issues rulings on religious matters. He added that as the commissions finding have not yet been submitted to the Supreme Court, he could not offer any opinion about the outcome. But one obvious problem with the book, he said, was the absence of the Arabic text. Any copy of the Koran which is published without the Arabic text cannot be called the Koran, he said. Maulavi Muslim would not speculate about the possible sentence that might be handed down on the accused, suggesting that it would depend on how important the errors were found to be. The punishment will depend on the mistakes that have been made and the importance of the chapters, he said. In addition, tempers were running high against the book and its authors, so the sentence would also have to take public sentiment into account. The accused must be punished in such a way that it becomes a lesson for others, he added. But the cleric stopped short of calling for severe punishment for Zalmai. Islam is a religion of peace, brotherhood, security, justice and mercy, he said. One example of this mercy is that if 99 per cent of what a person says is un-Islamic but one per cent is in line with Islam, he should be judged by that one per cent. General Abdul Fatah, director of the prosecutors office of the National Directorate of Security, could not specify what criminal charge was being brought against Zalmai. The case is still under investigation, said Fatah. We cannot say anything until the case is submitted to the court. Fatah did say that the accused regretted his actions. The Minister for the Hajj and Religious Affairs, Niamatullah Shahrani, insists that the book was part of a broader plot against Islam. This is no accident, Shahrani told a gathering of angry religious scholars from all over Afghanistan in early November. The hands of the enemies of Islam lay behind it. This book is a conspiracy by international Zionism and other groups which is designed to eliminate Islam. Shahrani said the book was an insult to all Muslims, particularly Afghans, and appealed to the assembled mullahs not to ignore the conspiracy. We demand that the government punish those who were involved in this book, he said. On November 25, Afghanistans Academy of Sciences began a conference called Scientific Investigation into the Causes and Facets of the Conspiracy to Alter the Koran. There were many speakers who offered a range of opinions on various topics, but they all agreed on one thing - the book was a product of the enemies of Islam in the West, and Muslims should pay heed. Dr Sher Ali Zarifi, a member of the Academy of Sciences told IWPR he had distributed chapters of the book to members of the official commission of investigation which he chairs - for them to study. In addition to many mistakes in the literal translation, there were also numerous errors introduced into the meaning of the Holy Koran, he said. First of all, without the Arabic text, no translation can be called the Koran. The Koran cannot be written in any language but Arabic. Arabic is the language that Muslims use in their prayers as well, he pointed out. Whoever knowingly says his prayers in any language other than Arabic is zendiq he said, using an Arabic term that translates roughly as heterodox. If he prays unconsciously in another language, he is just jahel[ignorant]. Zarifi, too, believes that the roots of the offence lie outside Afghanistan. The contents of this book show that its writers and editors are members of a religious pluralism movement in the West, he said. He pointed to numerous errors of fact, such as one chapter which appears to enjoin Muslims to read both their own holy books and those of other faiths. Muslims are forbidden to read the books of other religions, he said. Another problem was the role of the prophets, who in Zarifis view do not receive the respect due to them in the translated text. The book also allows Muslims to question certain verses of the Koran, he said, which is strictly prohibited. A Muslim is supposed to accept every verse of the Koran, said Zarifi. If he doubts any verse, he becomes an infidel. Also, he added, the translation does not mention the penalties for certain types of sins, such as stoning as a punishment for adultery. This [omission] is clearly wrong, he said. But Mohammad Hassan Tawhidi, a member of the department of religious jurisprudence and law at the Academy of Sciences, does not entirely agree with Zarifis criticisms. Some of his arguments are correct but others are very, very weak, he told IWPR. It is not a great sin if you make some mistakes in a literal translation of the Koran. It is impossible, I think, to translate the Holy Book the way it is supposed to be, since there is no substitute for the language used in the Koran. Tawhidi insisted that the stoning of adulterers is not prescribed in the Koran, but is instead derived from the Hadiths, the various written collections of oral traditions relating to the life of the Prophet Mohammad. Tawhidi also disputed Zarifis remarks about disrespecting the prophets. Even those scholars who call themselves experts on religious affairs do not accord the proper respect to all the prophets when they speak on television, he said. Why arent they arrested as well? One researcher on religious affairs who did not want to be named told IWPR that the book was not in fact a new translation at all. In 1985 an organisation was established in Jordan, with some hired Farsi- speakers, he said. They have a website called efarsi.org which publishes anti-Islamic materials. Ghaws Zalmai and his colleagues just copied the book from this website. Dari is very close to the Farsi or Persian language. This version of events is widely believed in some circles, although it has not been proven. The researcher said that he did not understand why a good Muslim and well-known journalist like Zalma became involved in such an affair. I think maybe Zalmai wanted to do a good service to the Dari language by publishing this book, but he did not understand its contents, he said. Maybe he did it to make a name for himself, or for money. In any case, it is difficult to judge. But many people, even those who do not usually follow current events, are doing just that. Razia, a university student in Kabul, does not look as if she is a close follower of Islamic principles. He heavy make-up, shirt and jeans are at odds with the strict Muslim dress code observed in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, she is indignant about the translation and its perpetrators. I cant think of anything better for Ghaus Zalmai than that he should be hanged in the public square. It would be a lesson to others like him, she said. But a friend of Zalmai who would not disclose his name said he has known the journalist since childhood and cannot believe he was ill-intentioned. I swear to God that Ghaus Zalmai is a pious Muslim and believes in Islam, and I think he has become unwittingly involved in this game, he said. Zalmai was unaware of the contents of the book hes a journalist, not an Arabic scholar or a specialist in Islamic matters. I appeal to the government to give this man real justice. Hafizullah Gardesh is IWPRs local editor in Kabul. AFGHAN RECOVERY REPORT: SECURITY FIRMS IN AFGHANISTAN: PART OF THE PROBLEM? Private security companies are contributing to the rising tide of lawlessness, according to both Afghan and international experts. By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul Former commanders, ex-special forces, demobilised militias at times it seems like the streets of Kabul are crammed full of strongmen looking to capitalise on their most marketable skill the ability and readiness to fight. Many have gravitated towards the new industry of private security firms, which guard banks, embassies, international organisations, and even some of the trendier restaurants in the capital. But the Afghan government is now cracking down on these heavily-armed and often unlicensed firms, saying that several have been implicated in major crimes including armed robbery, kidnap and murder. Some observers worry that the closure of security firms will make a bad situation even worse. The Afghan police cannot fill the gap, they insist, and turning thousands of armed and unemployed men loose on the streets will create an even more unstable environment. SECURITY FIRM STAFF IMPLICATED IN CRIME Over the past few months we have conducted a review and have concluded that many of the armed robberies and murders have been carried out by members of these firms, said Zmarai Bashiri, spokesman for the interior ministry. The illegal use and sale of weapons is also common among these companies. Several high-profile cases have highlighted the problem. In August, for example, a British security expert was shot dead while transporting 200,000 US dollars in cash. Police questioned members of his staff in connection with the killing. We have arrested a number of people connected with the [security] companies; these people were engaged in murder, kidnapping and armed robbery, said Bashiri. We will deal with them in accordance with the law. The interior ministry has already closed down ten private security firms, and in recent days has conducted raids on several more. One international company was found to have a large stockpile of illegal weapons, including 60 Kalashnikov rifles, nine heavy machine guns, and huge stores of ammunitions. Various estimates exist on the number of firms in the country. According to Bashiri, there are currently 60 private security companies in operation, employing a total of between 18,000 and 25,000 men. The majority are based in Kabul. Bashiri explained that there are three categories of security firms being investigated by the ministry. First are those companies that are known to be involved in crime, he said. Then we have those that have not registered with the interior ministry, and lastly we have those whose licenses have expired. They are all illegal. The ministry has begun drafting a new law to regulate security companies, he said, adding, The interior and justice ministries are working on this draft jointly, and it will set out all the required conditions including weapons, uniforms, duties and responsibilities, plus geographical restrictions. Bashiri argues that the security firms are spreading chaos and are just making things worse. They have proved a headache for us, he said. We will close them all. MILITIAS TRANSFORMED INTO COMMERCIAL OUTFITS Men with guns are certainly not a new phenomenon in Afghanistan, which has gone through decades of war and internal strife. Many former militia commanders from the civil war of the Nineties have gone through one or more of the generously-funded but notoriously ineffectual disarmament processes, but have still been able to use stocks of weapons and loyal followers to create profitable security enterprises, while retaining much of their former power. Mohammad Nasir, a resident of the Baghlan provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri told IWPR that a former regional strongman was now masquerading as the head of a security firm. The commander has gathered all of his men and given them new uniforms, said Nasir. They may be guarding NGOs [non-government organisations], but the commander still uses them to demonstrate his power. People still see him as a commander, he is still armed, and he can do anything he wants. This contributes to an atmosphere of tension in Baghlan, he continued. When people on the street see this companys weapons and special vehicles, they feel frightened. They do not have good memories of these commanders during the time when they ruled the streets. But it may not be so easy to dispense with private security firms and the service they provide. Given Afghanistans growing instability, many organisations do not feel comfortable operating without armed protection. The Afghan police cannot provide enough officers to guard the large number of local and foreign organisations, and many do not trust the police anyway. The police cannot ensure the security of the government, the cities, or the highways, let alone the thousands of NGOs operating in Afghanistan, said an official from a Chinese company building roads in Faryab province. We have no guarantee that anyone will be able to protect us if the government shuts down our security firm. LACK OF REGULATION To date, no security firm in Afghanistan has been implicated in the kind of controversy that surrounds the US company Blackwater, which is accused of killing 17 civilians in Iraq. But, as in Iraq, confusion over rights and responsibilities contributes to a climate of fear and insecurity. Afghans do not know who security companies are and what they are doing in their country, said Susanne Schmeidl, co-author of a study on private security companies issued in mid-November by the Swisspeace research institute. Many Afghans are not able to distinguish the private security sector from the international armed forces, or from their own Afghan National Police and Afghan army, and general confusion prevails. Firms must be more closely regulated, she emphasised, to convince the population that security firms are doing more than contributing to the crime problem. And those who argue that security firms provide employment to men who would otherwise be a danger to the population are just postponing an inevitable day of reckoning. While there is a positive argument to be made that private security company employment keeps former strongmen and their militia off the streets the dilemma of what happens to these militia when the contract ends needs to be addressed, said Schmeidl. COMPANIES SAY THEY PERFORM ESSENTIAL ROLE Private security firms defend their presence, and insist that they are providing a valuable service. Amir Mohammad, an official with RONCO, an international company that provides demining as well as security services, said the firm has a valid license and has not been shut down. Still, he opposes the interior ministrys plan to close other security companies. This is a mistake by the interior ministry, he told IWPR. Thousands of people are employed by these firms, and they could end up on the street. These firms also pay huge annual taxes, and this will be a financial blow to the government. Foreign companies cannot rely on the Afghan [state] security agencies, so if the private firms are closed, no foreigner will invest in Afghanistan. Demining projects run by RONCO and others would be in jeopardy if their security could not be guaranteed, said Amir Mohammad. If the government continues with its plan, demining will stop in Afghanistan, he said. No foreigner will work in certain areas without a bodyguard. We work in Helmand, Kandahar and Jalalabad, where the police cannot provide security. But the interior ministry is determined to close down those firms operating outside the law. It is much better not to have a corrupt body than to have it, said Bashiri. We have found that these organisations are not useful. We have to adopt another means of licensing them. All of their current operations are illegal because no working procedure exists. CAN POLICE FILL THE GAP? Bashiri insists that the interior ministry will provide security cover once the illegal firms are closed. We will provide our own forces to ensure security when the firms are shut down. Charity organisations and business entities will be safe and they wont have any complaints, he said. But Mohammad Fareed Hakimi, a political affairs analyst in northern Afghanistan, points to the deteriorating situation across the country, and expresses doubt that the interior ministry is up to the task of managing the situation. The government has closed these companies, but how can it fill the gap? he said. They cannot increase the number of police to what is required. If the interior ministry now has to guard banks and NGOs, the security gap will get even bigger. Added to this is the old problem of neutralising the power of former commanders and their armed militias. The government has to solve this problem in a way that will not make things worse, said Hakimi. Many security firms are owned by former commanders and their men. If these firms are closed, these men will once again gather around their leaders, and controlling them will be impossible. Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif AFGHANISTANS CREAKING COURT SYSTEM Most Afghans prefer the traditional, tribal system of justice to state courts, according to a new report. By Wahidullah Amani in Kabul The area around the Afghan Supreme Court in Kabul is teeming with people, both plaintiffs and defendants. Some have spent months, even years waiting for a resolution to their problems. Many have given bribes; many more have lost cases on lower courts because, they say, they could not afford to pay the judge. But one thing unites them all - their anger and dissatisfaction with the Afghan justice system. In our courts, bribery is at such a level that anyone with money can buy a decision in his favour, said Mohammad Zaki. There is no justice. Zaki has spent seven months trying to find out what has happened to his wife. While he was away in Iran working as a labourer, his wife became pregnant by another man. Zaki is convinced she was raped, and brought a case in a tribal court against the man he holds responsible. The elders sitting in judgement ruled that the alleged rapist must pay Zaki the equivalent of 15,000 US dollars so that he could remarry. The man accused, however, rejected this decision, and insisted that the case be brought before a state court. After a judicial hearing, the man was briefly jailed, but soon bought his way out. The wife, meanwhile, remains imprisoned, on charges of having sexual relations outside marriage. Zaki now has no wife, no money, and no decision on his case. I preferred the decision of the elders, said Zaki. The accused has money, so he paid the court and they released him. But I still know nothing about my wife, or the child. Zaki is now making the rounds of the Supreme Court. There is no one here who will listen to me, he complained. They just send me from office to office. His case illustrates the difficulties of the Afghan justice system, where two traditions exist in uneasy symmetry, with the population caught in between. On the one hand is the formal justice system, where written laws are administered by official courts, in a manner similar to the western legal tradition. On the other is the centuries-old tribal system, where councils called jirgas or shuras make decisions based on local traditions and mores. According to a recent report by the Centre for Policy and Human Development at Kabul University, the state system lags far behind the traditional courts in terms of public confidence and effectiveness. In a questionnaire cited by the report, fewer than 20 per cent of Afghans put the state courts first when asked Whom do you trust most to resolve any dispute you might have? while over 70 per cent said that tribal or community elders and shuras were their preferred option. The study condemned the state court system for corruption and ineffectiveness, saying that problems in the judiciary were jeopardising the entire structure of state governance. Corruption in the judiciary undermines confidence in governance, as it facilitates corruption across all sectors of government, read the report. The Supreme Court reacted swiftly and decisively, summoning several of the authors to the court for a dressing down. This report is an absolute lie, said Abdul Rashid Rashed, spokesperson for the Supreme Court. These people are just against the system. They were summoned to the Supreme Court and questioned about the accuracy of the report, and in the end they accepted that their report was not based on truth. And they apologised. According to Rashed, Afghans do trust the courts and use the legal system to resolve their problems. We only have problems in some areas like Khost, Kunar, Paktia and Paktika provinces, he told IWPR, referring to Pashtun-dominated areas on Afghanistans southern and eastern fringes. The rest of Afghanistan goes to the courts, and respects their decisions. Rashed acknowledged that bribery and corruption were an issue, and that claimants faced long delays in having their cases resolved. However, he maintained, steps had been taken to remedy these problems. In the past year and a half, we have fired or replaced approximately 700 judges, he said. Nowadays people do trust the courts. According to Rashed, those who have access to state courts both trust them and use them. This accounts for approximately 60 per cent of the population. The rest, he said, may live in remote areas where the state system has not yet penetrated. Some of the compilers of the report denied that they had apologised. They were not able to give their names, however, as they said the Supreme Court had warned them not to talk to the media. But Dr Daoud Saba, one of the reports main authors, insisted that the document was produced according to international standards, and was founded on scientific methods. This report reflects the reality of Afghanistan, he said. Those milling around the Supreme Court seem to agree. Most complain about delays in decisions, corruption, and bribery. It has been more than two years since a commander claimed my property, said Najibullah, from Ghor province. Theres still no result. It was heard in provincial courts, and now in the Supreme Court - but no decision yet. Land issues are particularly difficult to resolve given Afghanistans turbulent recent history. Returning refugees may find that their property has been taken by a local strongman; neighbours quarrel over borders or water rights. In many cases, no formal deeds or proof of ownership exist. The legal system has not yet developed ways of dealing with the issues. One of the primary challenges to land administration, and thus a central cause of land disputes, is the absence of an effective legal framework for land issues, according to the report. Najibullah said that he had not paid any bribes or been asked for money. But bribery does not always solve the problem, as a man from Takhar province found out to his cost. I have money, and I paid the judge, said the man, who did not want to give his name. But the other side also has money, and they too paid the judge. So my case has been dragging on for 12 years. Nasrullah Stanekzai, former deputy minister of information and culture, now a professor of law at Kabul University, sees serious problems with the study. I do not accept this report at all, he said. They did not contact any of the Afghan legal institutions when they were compiling this report. They did not contact the law department at the university. But it is clear that people are turning to the jirgas to solve their problems. This is particularly true in Pashtun areas. Stanekzai disagrees with the reports conclusions. I do not believe that only 20 per cent of the people trust the justice system, he said. If we look at the cities, where millions of people live, there are only state courts. But unfortunately, Afghanistans justice system is not complete. It is not independent, and there is a lot of corruption. The procedures take too much time, and are very difficult. For all of these reasons, people go to the traditional jirgas. The jirga system also has its problems, as the report points out. Many practices embraced by local tradition are in violation of Afghan legislation, such the tradition of bad, an exchange in which a woman or girl is offered in marriage as a means of settling a dispute. As time goes on, the report says, the two systems should cooperate and reinforce each other. Its authors propose a hybrid model for justice in Afghanistan, in which alternative dispute resolution mechanisms remain important in providing justice, but under the regulation of state institutions. Wahidullah Amani is an IWPR staff trainer, reporter and editor in Kabul. HELMAND RESIDENTS TURN ON THE LIGHTS Tired of waiting for the government to help them, some Helmand residents are making their own electricity. By Zainullah Stanekzai in Helmand As night falls in Nad Ali district, a humming sound can be heard in the air. Small turbines fixed in local canals work throughout the evening, providing light and warmth to village homes. The people generating their own hydroelectric power have provided the equipment and labour themselves, but complain the government is trying to tax them. Helmand is comparatively well-off when it comes to energy, with the powerful Kajaki hydroelectric station theoretically capable of providing enough power for neighbouring Kandahar as well. The United States is funding a major reconstruction of the dam and power station, a project that will ultimately cost up to 500 million US dollars. But the Taleban have extended their reach into Kajaki, and the resulting battles with Afghan government and foreign forces have derailed the work. In addition, power lines through troubled districts such as Sangin are often cut either by the Taleban or by local residents, causing power outages throughout the province. Generators in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah provide electricity whenever the government has enough fuel to run them, but the city often goes without power. Even the state media cannot always command enough electricity to keep television and radio on the air. According to the deputy head of Helmands power department, Engineer Mohammad Nabi, the Kajaki dam now produces 20 megawatts of power, about half of which goes to Kandahar. The rest goes to Helmand, with half for the capital Lashkar Gah and the rest distributed around the province. This is woefully inadequate for the provinces needs, he added. The Kajaki dam cannot produce more than 20 megawatts because the equipment is old and damaged, said Nabi. Lashkar Gah alone needs 25 megawatts. The result is that many districts are left in the dark. We cant supply power to every corner of Helmand, said Nabi. Enterprising residents of Nad Ali, a rural district adjacent to Lashkar Gah, have taken matters into their own hands, installing small turbine systems in irrigation canals to generate power for their communities. The turbine has changed our lives, said 35-year-old Mullah Atiqullah, a resident of Chan Jir, in Nad Ali. We use it to run fans in the summer and lighting in the winter. Many residents also watch television. A turbine costs 320,000 Pakistani rupees about 5,200 US dollars - and is shared among 20 families. This is progress, said Atiqullah. There are television antennas on the roof of every house and light bulbs in peoples windows. He complained that the government has been quick to cash in by levying arbitrary taxes. Government officials have taken money from me three times in the past year, he said. The first time it was 30,000 Pakistani rupees [490 dollars], then it was 10,000 and the last time it was 3,000. I dont know what this money is for. The Pakistani currency is commonly used in Helmand in place of the afghani. Engineer Faizullah, head of the power department, denied that his officials were taking money. Moreover, he told IWPR that he supported the residents initiative in setting up their own mini-power-stations. We do not prohibit the installation of turbines, he said. We do not take money from people for this. A number of turbines are registered with us. We are happy that people can provide their own electricity. About 41 private turbines have been set up in Nad Ali and Marjaa districts, providing electricity to about 1,000 homes. Over the past three years, more and more residents have been installing their own turbines, and now the trend is reaching even the remotest areas of Helmand. The technology is not complicated, said Hayatullah, who makes money by helping people install the generating systems. Setting up is easy, he said. You just put the turbine where the water current is strong. The water turns the blades, and they turn the wheel which pulls the belt which runs the engine. That produces electricity. Hayatullah said that he charges between 15,000 and 75,000 rupees for each installation job. Mohammad Saleem, from Nad Ali district, also makes a good living from do-it-yourself turbines. I earn about 17,000 afghani [350 dollars] monthly, and I provide power to 35 homes, he said. But residents complain that officials are getting in the way of their cottage industry. The government does not help us, but the police take money from us, complained Hajji Meera Jan, whose village has just acquired its own turbine generator. We have to pay them between 20,000 and 30,000 rupees a year. Najmuddin, 25, from Nad Ali, wanted to set up a turbine in a local canal, but the irrigation department demanded that he pay them 30,000 rupees. In order to avoid the fee, he tried to complete the project under cover of darkness. The police caught me during a midnight patrol and fined me 10,000 rupees, he said. The next day, I finally paid the irrigation department and they let me resume work. But every time the police have a change of commanders, we have to stop until we have paid them again. Zainullah Stanekzai is a freelance reporter in Helmand province. **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** AFGHAN RECOVERY REPORT from the Institute for War & Peace Reporting is a unique free service providing local media outlets and the international community with objective and reliable news from local sources. Afghan Recovery Report is produced as part of IWPR's training work to develop the professional capabilities and sustainability of the Afghan print media, facilitating their role as a critical monitor and guardian of the stabilisation and recovery process. The opinions expressed in IWPR's Afghan Recovery Report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publication or of IWPR. IWPR Afghanistan provides workshops and practical on-the-job training for local journalists, with weekly publication and syndication in local language media. Other activities include training Afghan trainers, working with the Kabul University journalism faculty and reporting on human rights and humanitarian issues. AFGHAN RECOVERY REPORT: Editor-in-Chief: Anthony Borden; Managing Editor: Yigal Chazan; Senior Editor: John Macleod; Programme Director: Jean MacKenzie. IWPR Project Development and Support: Executive Director: Anthony Borden; Strategy & Assessment Director: Alan Davis; Chief Programme Officer: Mike Day. **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** IWPR builds democracy at the frontlines of conflict and change through the power of professional journalism. IWPR programs provide intensive hands-on training, extensive reporting and publishing, and ambitious initiatives to build the capacity of local media. Supporting peace-building, development and the rule of law, IWPR gives responsible local media a voice. Institute for War & Peace Reporting 48 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8LT, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Fax: +44 (0)20 7831 1050 For further details on this project and other information services and media programmes, go to: www.iwpr.net ISSN: 1477-7916 Copyright (c) 2007 The Institute for War & Peace Reporting **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** If you wish to change your subscription details or unsubscribe please go to: http://www.iwpr.net/index.php?apc_state=henh&s=s&m=p
