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A Potential Afghan Spill-Over: How Real Are Central Asian Fears?

Afghanistan is bracing itself for its transition. Most foreign troops will be gone by 2014 and Afghanistan’s already controversial elections have been fixed for early April that year while peace with the armed opposition remains elusive. Afghan domestic politics aside, how is the transition in Afghanistan perceived in its northern neighbourhood, which is under-explored, compared […]

12 Dec 2012 S Reza Kazemi • Regional Relations

Joint Statement Adopted at the Conclusion of the Seventh Trilateral Summit, 11-12 December 2012

Joint Statement Adopted at the Conclusion of the Seventh Trilateral Summit of the Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey. The copy of the joint statement can be found here.    

12 Dec 2012 admin • International documents on Afghanistan

Transfers and Torture: The British Army halts transfers of detainees to the NDS

President Karzai has warned British forces that they must hand detainees over and may not hold any detainees themselves. The warning follows a British government decision to stop all transfers after a former UK detainee, Sardar Mohammed, challenged their legality, given the risk of torture by the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS). Sardar Mohammed […]

11 Dec 2012 Sari Kouvo • International Engagement

No More Complaints? The ECC’s Uncertain Fate

The cabinet of ministers is finally sending its draft electoral law to parliament, and a preview of its content is already proving a bombshell. According to the draft, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is to be replaced by a special court appointed by the Supreme Court. Waiting to see what the future of the ECC […]

8 Dec 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Political Landscape

11 December 2012, Washington: AAN’s Vendrell and Ruttig at USIP Event

‘Elections, Reconciliation, and the Final Two Years of Afghanistan’s Transition: Perspectives from the International Community’ is the title of two panel discussions at USIP in Washington DC coming week. From AAN, Francesc Vendrell, chairman of the Advisory Board, and Thomas Ruttig will participate. As the clock winds down on the final two years of Afghanistan’s […]

5 Dec 2012 AAN • admin • Events

After the Executions: What approach to the death penalty?

After the execution of 14 prisoners last week, Afghan civil society has rightly ridiculed the Taleban who demanded an end to executions. But it has not taken up the question of the death penalty in Afghanistan in general. Capital punishment is legal under both the Afghan penal code and sharia. Even so, the well-known problems […]

29 Nov 2012 Thomas Ruttig • Rights and Freedoms

New Commissioners for Human Rights: An End to the Standstill, or an End to Human Rights? [Amended]

A reshuffle of the commissioners of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) seems to be moving closer. However, the criteria along which new candidates are chosen remain unclear and subject to (factional) politicking. There is a grave danger that human rights concerns will fall victim to these unrelated considerations. At least four new appointments […]

28 Nov 2012 Sari Kouvo • Rights and Freedoms

The Rise and Fall of the Kabul Bank – making the details public

Much has been written about the Kabul Bank crisis. A series of confidential investigations and audits have described the legal violations and technical processes involved in the bank management’s fraudulent operations, and most of these reports were fairly widely leaked. Media appearances by the various protagonists and representatives of government institutions involved in the follow-up […]

27 Nov 2012 Martine van Bijlert • Economy, Development, Environment

A Taleban Foothold in the North: Faryab fighting up after transition

While the attention of the Afghan government and the media is focused on major battles in the south of the country, the Taleban are making further headway in a northern region after the closure of the Norwegian PRT in September. In Faryab province, the Taleban have already established footholds in far-flung mountainous areas and are […]

26 Nov 2012 Obaid Ali • War and Peace

30 Nov/1 Dec 2012, Bonn: Medica mondiale conference with AAN participation

‘Hope for peace and fear for women’s rights in Afghanistan: Does violence against women endanger the peace process?’ is the title of a two-day conference, German women’s rights NGO Medica Mondiale is organising in cooperation with the Evangelic Academy in Bonn Bad Godesberg on 30 November 30 and 1 December 2012. AAN’s co-director Thomas Ruttig […]

25 Nov 2012 AAN • admin • Events

Guns, Girls and Grizzled Warriors: Ismail Khan’s mujahedin council project in the West

The phenomenon of Afghan strongmen visiting their home provinces and delivering fiery speeches to their ‘traditional’ constituencies is all but new. Still, it has intensified as of late, as the transition process is said to progress and the next presidential election approaches. The most recent rendition given by the Minister of Water and Energy, Ismail […]

17 Nov 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Political Landscape

The Asia Foundation’s 2012 survey and how to read opinion polls in Afghanistan

On 14 November the Asia Foundation released its 2012 ‘Survey of the Afghan People’, based on data collected by ACSOR (Afghan Center for Socio-Economic Research), a Kabul-based research organisation that has done the data collection for almost all large publicly released opinion polls. It is the eighth survey in its kind: the first was released […]

16 Nov 2012 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

Just about over the First Hill: Pakistan’s Release of Afghan Taleban

The release of a number of Afghan Taleban by Pakistan, as announced on 14 November, may prove crucial for an urgently needed breakthrough on a political settlement in Afghanistan. It is also the first big personal success for Rabbani Junior at the helm of the Afghan High Peace Council. But too much optimism would be […]

15 Nov 2012 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

External publication: Social protection in Afghanistan: Between conflict, transition and international aid

In: “The cup, the gun and the crescent Social welfare and civil unrest in Muslim societies”; Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Jonathan Parker & Azlinda Azman (eds.), Whiting & Birch Publication date: November 2012

15 Nov 2012 Martine van Bijlert • External publications

Social protection in Afghanistan: Between conflict, transition and international aid

“Social Protection in Afghanistan: Between conflict, transition and international aid” by Martine van Bijlert In: The Cup, The Gun and The Crescent. Social welfare and civil unrest in Muslim societies; Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Jonathan Parker & Azlinda Azman (eds.), Whiting & Birch Publication date: November 2012

15 Nov 2012 Martine van Bijlert • External publications

Put Principles Back at Centre-Stage: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

While the international community focuses on transition and disengagement from Afghanistan, women´s rights – invoked to justify the 2001 anti-Taleban intervention and thereafter used whenever handy – have again been relegated to the back burner. The continued prioritisation of prosecuting women for ‘moral crimes’ while – despite some recent high-profile cases – under-emphasising rape cases […]

13 Nov 2012 Ann Wilkens • Rights and Freedoms

Legal, illegal: Militia recruitment and (failed) disarmament in Kunduz

Kunduz has a long and troubled history of militia presence. In addition to militia units developed by the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the provincial National Directorate for Security (NDS) also recruited some, starting in late 2008. Then, starting last year, the provincial security officials attempted to disarm some militias again, in response to complaints by […]

10 Nov 2012 Gran Hewad • War and Peace

9 November 2012, Stockholm: SCA report release ‘Missing the Target’

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA), the Kvinna till Kvinna (Women to Women) Foundation and Operation 1325 are releasing ‘Missing the Target – A report on the Swedish commitment for women, peace and security in Afghanistan’ in Sweden’s capital Stockholm on 9 November, authored by Ann Wilkens, a former Swedish ambassador to Pakistan and Afghanistan […]

9 Nov 2012 AAN • admin • Events

The Ulama Council: paid to win public minds – but do they?

The largest religious body in Afghanistan is the National Ulama Council, which was set up by President Karzai almost a decade ago. The president’s hope, expressed at the time, was that the council – with its 3,000 members from across the country, all of whom receive government salaries – would help him win political support […]

5 Nov 2012 Borhan Osman • Political Landscape

On the Roof of the World: The Last Kyrgyz in Afghanistan

At most 2,000 individuals, pastoralists living for centuries in the harsh environment of Afghanistan’s north-easternmost Pamir region, are the last remaining ethnic Kyrgyz in Afghanistan. As a part of its nationalist discourse, post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan has been vocally politicking, but not doing much in practice, for the return of these Kyrgyz ‘brethren’ to their titular homeland, […]

3 Nov 2012 S Reza Kazemi • Context and Culture