Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: January 2017

Hazratgul Lawang (right) plays Rahimdad, the village barber, Abdul Qadir (left) plays Nasim in "New Home, New Life" with Watandost (centre). In this story, Nazir’s wife, Mahjabina, has been offered a teaching job. Nazir is hesitant. He wonders how would wider society view his wife’s employment and consults his friends in Upper Village. Photo: AEPO (2016)

Farewell to an Afghan legend: A tribute to radio actor Mehrali Watandost

Shirazuddin Siddiqi •

Mehrali Watandost, one of Afghanistan’s most popular actors, has died. For 23 years, he played the role of the iconic character, Nazir, in the Afghan radio drama, “New Home, New Life” which is broadcast in Pashto and Dari on the BBC. Since launching in 1994, the show has never been off the air and Watandost’s […]

Context and Culture Read more
Afghan refugees in Germany are concerned about their asylum application status; here a group of new arrivals is led to the registration centre in Munich in December 2015 (Source Tolonews).

AAN Co-director, Thomas Ruttig on Swiss Radio, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen – January 2017

Thomas Ruttig •

AAN’s Co-director Thomas Ruttig on SRF Radio discussing about the ‘return’ of the rejected Afghan asylum seekers from Germany.

Podcasts Read more
Abdul Zahir was detained by the US from his home in 2002 after a false tip-off that he had weapons of mass destruction. He has had successive "major depressive episodes” in Guantanamo. In July 2016, he was cleared for transfer, but is still waiting to get out. (Photo: New York Times)

Waiting for Release: Will Afghans cleared to leave Guantanamo get out before Trump gets in?

Kate Clark •

American president-elect Donald Trump has said that no more detainees should be transferred out of America’s war on terror detention camp in Guantanamo Bay. He takes office on 20 January 2017, which leaves the Obama administration just a few days to get men cleared for transfer out of Cuba. Among those waiting to see if […]

International Engagement Read more
An improvised cave school on the outskirts of Bamyan city, for the IDP children from Maidan Wardak who in prolonged displacement in Bamyan. Photo: Jelena Bjelica, May 2016.

AAN Co-director, Thomas Ruttig on Swiss Radio, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen – January 2017

Thomas Ruttig •

More than 12,000 asylum seekers from Afghanistan would have to leave Germany. AAN’s Co-director Thomas Ruttig on SRF Radio discussing about the deported Afghan refugees from Germany.

Podcasts Read more

Thomas Ruttig über abgeschobene afghanische Flüchtlinge

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF 4 and 1, 13 January 2017, An extensive (25 min) interview on SWiss radio (in German) with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about Germany’s ‘return’ of rejected Afghan asylum seekers and the dispute in the country, between parts of the federal government and almost everyone else about whether Afghanistan is “safe enough” or not to deport […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Did ISIL, the Taliban or the Haqqani Network carry out the Kandahar attack?

Thomas Ruttig •

The National, 12 January 2017 The UAE-based daily ponders who might be behind the bomb attack in the Kandahar governors house that also killed five Emarati citzens and quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig: “Whoever did it has shot themselves in the foot and will not have made themselves popular with the rest of the country,” says […]

AAN in the Media Read more

“Sichere Gebiete” in Afghanistan: Konter gegen de Maizière

Thomas Ruttig •

Telepolis, 12 January 2017 The German blog quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, from his German language blog Afghanistan Zhaghdablai, on the debate about so-called safe areas in Afghanistan – on which the UNHCR has now contradicted the German government: Das Papier widerspricht in einigen zentralen Punkten der Annahme von sicheren Zonen, wie dies in konzentrierter Form […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Guantanamo Bay turns 15: A look back at the notorious ‘torture camp’

AAN •

Russia Today, 11 January 2017 An article of the Russian state media outlet on the occasion of the Gitmo camp anniversary quotes from Kate Clark’s AAN study: A November 2016 study from Afghan [sic] Analysts Network found the US authorities committed “gross miscarriages of justice”against the victims, many of whom were detained on scant evidence. It […]

AAN in the Media Read more
Darb-e Khosh (Happy Gate), a historical gate to Herat city, being rebuilt as part of the young mayor's campaign for urban development. Photo: Said Reza Kazemi

The Battle between Law and Force: Scattered political power and deteriorating security test Herat’s dynamism

S Reza Kazemi •

Herat – the affluent and vibrant city in western Afghanistan – is going through a ‘scattering’ of political power and a deterioration in security. While Ismail Khan, the self-styled ‘amir of the west’, is still the preeminent figure, political power is no longer concentrated only in his hands, and the new actors are behaving differently […]

Political Landscape Read more
Afghan detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Left to Right): Hamidullah, Bostan Karim, Abdul Zahir, Haji Wali Mohammed and Obaidullah. Photo: New York Times

AAN’s Kate Clark on her new report “Kafka in Cuba: New AAN report on the Afghan experience in Guantánamo” – December 2016

Kate Clark •

AAN’s Kate Clark discusses her new report “Kafka in Cuba: New AAN report on the Afghan experience in Guantánamo”.  

Podcasts Read more
Kabul’s Kart-e Sakhi shrine where two attackers wearing police uniforms and equipped with grenades and machine guns opened fire on Ashura mourners on 11 October 2016. Photo: Tolo

AAN at Public Seminar in Wiesbaden (Germany: 19 January 2017)

Thomas Ruttig •

„Afghanistan: A country between world policy, ethnic conflict and religious radicalism“ (Ein Land im Spannungsfeld von (Welt-)politik, ethnischen Konflikten und religiösem Radikalismus) AAN’s Thomas Ruttig will be one of the presenters at this evening of lectures and discussion (in German), organised by Hesse State Centre for Political Education (HSCPE). Other participants: Ambassador Dr. Gunter Mulack […]

Events Read more
Photographs of those who disappeared in AGSA custody, placed by family members in the Puligun (Polygon) area of Pul-e Charkhi, where mass graves have been found. Families hold a ceremony every year on 10 December to remember their lost relatives (Photo: Victims’ Families Association, with permission, 2016)

Assadullah Sarwari Freed from Prison: What chances of war crimes trials in Afghanistan?

Ehsan Qaane • Sari Kouvo •

Assadullah Sarwari, one of a handful of convicted Afghan war criminals, has been released from prison in Kabul. As head of the intelligence service immediately after the 1978 communist coup d’état, he was responsible for the torture and arbitrary execution of thousands of detainees. Yet, the lack of transparency and the irregular and illegal aspects […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

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