Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: October 2011

Law Support Coalition rejoins Parliament but fights on, Semin Barakzai still on hunger strike

Gran Hewad •

While the Law Support Coalition (LSC) was discussing whether to end its boycott of the parliament sessions, excluded MP from Herat Semin Barakzai went on a hunger strike starting on 2 October 2011, demanding that her exclusion be reviewed and overturned. On 8 October 2011 the LSC returned to the house session to announce its […]

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The first Human Rights Film Festival in Afghanistan; a collection of inhuman true stories

Naheed Esar Malikzay •

‘There are about 33 human rights film festivals around the world, however, none of them taking place in the very Middle Eastern or Central Asian Countries which are gravely affected by human right violations’, the director of AHRF (Autumn Human Rights Film Festival) Malek Shafi’i told reporters. For the first time, from 1-7 of October, […]

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Women and Reconciliation (3): One Step Forward and a Running Match Backwards

Sari Kouvo •

This week three major reports about women’s participation in a possible peace process and their stake in the future of Afghanistan were released. The key messages of the reports are that women’s achievements are fragile, and that they are now eroding. AAN’s Sari Kouvo had a look at the Afghanistan Women’s Network’s, ActionAid’s and OXFAM’s […]

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Pakistan’s Tiny Hazara Minority Struggles To Survive

admin •

RFE, 8 October 2011 Abubakar Siddique and Khudainoor Nasar report about the background and context of recent anti-Hazara/Shia violence in Pakistan and about the particularly vulnerable situation of Hazaras in Quetta.

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Thinking out loud about peace, talks and tensions

Martine van Bijlert •

In the weeks after Rabbani’s death by deceit and in the days after President Karzai’s oblique announcement of a new peace strategy, Afghans are trying to make sense of a complicated and murky situation. They are thinking out loud and what they say illustrates the complexity and the confusion, the diverging view points and the […]

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Nobel Peace Prize: Not Sima, Again

Thomas Ruttig •

Congratulations to Tawakul Karman from Yemen and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee from Liberia for this year’s Nobel Peace Price. The citation given by the Swedish committee that awards the prize is also to the point: it was given for the three laureats’ ‘non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights […]

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Ten Years After – or: My Former Cleaner’s Beard

Thomas Ruttig •

Ten years ago today, the first bombs were dropped over Afghanistan. Most Kabulis welcomed them and even applauded when houses of certain Taleban ‘guests’ were hit. They were really tired of living as international pariahs and under a leader who’s face was unknown and who only recommended prayer to overcome social problems, leaving the real […]

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US Envoy: New Silk Road Would Bring Prosperity

admin •

RFE/RL, 7 October 2011 US envoy Marc Grossman unveils the emerging new narrative: “The idea [of the conference] in Istanbul is for the neighbors and near-neighbors of Afghanistan to show their support for the future of a secure and stable and prosperous Afghanistan inside of a secure, stable and prosperous region. And the idea of […]

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The slow winding down of the Parliamentary crisis

Gran Hewad • Martine van Bijlert •

Over the last few days the number of MPs attending the plenary session has been slowly growing, while the Law Support Coalition has struggled to maintain coherence. Individual members are being peeled off, while even those determined to make a stand are questioning whether they should remain outside the session. A compromise seems to be […]

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Zalmay Khalilzad’s not-so-excellent Afghan oil adventure

admin •

Foreign Policy (Oil & Glory), 6 October 2011 Zalmay Khalilzad and his son Alexander Bernard, who head Gryphon Capital Partners and who teamed up with Tethys Petroluem to bid for the Shiberghan oil fields, now complaining that the deal went to the Chinese.

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Women’s Rights after 2001: Progress, but much of it on paper only

Thomas Ruttig •

Ten years ago on 7 October, the first US bombs fell on Afghanistan – the ouverture to the US-led international intervention on Afghanistan. Thomas Ruttig, an AAN Senior Analyst, interviewed AIHRC commissioner Dr Soraya Rahim Sobhrang* to get her view on the balance of this intervention, with a particular focus on women’s rights. AAN: When […]

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