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Handing over Night Raids

Afghanistan and the United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ‘Special Operations’, ensuring that night raids will continue – with Afghans ordering and conducting them and US forces acting only in support. The agreement is a victory for President Karzai who has long insisted – up till now in vain – that […]

9 Apr 2012 Kate Clark • International Engagement

Farewell to the Boss? Mujaddedi resigns

It is still not clear whether the resignation of Hazrat Sebghatullah Mujaddedi from all government positions last week was meant to be permanent, or a political manoeuvre planned to improve his chances in moving to lead the High Peace Council. Nevertheless, it is worth a closer look, argues Thomas Ruttig, Senior Analyst at AAN (with […]

7 Apr 2012 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

A Slippery Slope: What Happened to Women’s Rights in March 2012?

March was an interesting month for women’s rights in Afghanistan: President Hamed Karzai endorsed a statement by the National Ulema Council according to which women are worth less than men; the Afghan government launched its first report under the Convention on the Elimination on all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that, while focusing on […]

6 Apr 2012 Sari Kouvo • Rights and Freedoms

On the Way to Chicago: Fighting Corruption – and Condoning It?

Networks of corruption in the Afghan administration are like the tentacles of a hungry octopus entangling its prey. It is difficult to make them let go. But is the Afghan government really trying? Despite the uncovering of various graft scandals in recent years, it has failed to bring their investigations to a satisfactory end. Meanwhile […]

4 Apr 2012 Gran Hewad • Economy, Development, Environment

Withdrawal in 2014? Myths and realities

A series of contradictory statements about a possible earlier start to the (mainly US) foreign troop drawdown and a quicker handover of security responsibility to Afghan forces, as well as debate over the likely form of NATO’s post-ISAF mission in Afghanistan has caused confusion in the media(1) and wider public sphere recently. Thomas Ruttig, Senior […]

2 Apr 2012 Thomas Ruttig • International Engagement

19 April 2012: Informal Briefing on Legal Aid in Afghanistan

The Swedish Embassy organised a discussion on 19 April surrounding the release of a new report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN): “Legal Aid in Afghanistan: Contexts, Challenges and the Future”. The report, that was released on Wednesday 18 April, discusses the historical, legal and political context of recent reforms in the field of legal […]

1 Apr 2012 AAN • admin • Events

The Road through Qatar: Chances for a political solution with the Taleban (not online)

Thomas Ruttig in: Orient (Berlin), II/2012 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig looks at the ‘long and winding road towards negotiations with the Taleban’, the US-Karzai controversy about who should have the lead in such contacts and the main hurdles that stand in the way of meaningful talks, in the light of the increasing disengagement of the West […]

1 Apr 2012 Thomas Ruttig • External publications

Afghanistan in World Literature (III): Kabuliwalas of the Latter Day

To inaugurate the new course of our Chat Mat column, here we resume our old series aimed at unearthing precious Afghan gems from the stockpile of world literature. Having presented some Victorian pearls earlier in the series, it is time to move to closer quarters, to India and to what was arguably its most anglicised […]

30 Mar 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Context and Culture

18 April 2012: New AAN report: Legal Aid in Afghanistan: Contexts, Challenges and the Future

In this new AAN report, lawyer and legal aid expert Sarah Han looks at the historical, legal and political context to the provision of legal aid and describes the efforts of the international community over the past five years to developing funding streams for the accused. In doing so, the author commends the modest but […]

30 Mar 2012 AAN • admin • Events

‘Pashto Mashto? Nakhair, Chat Mat.’

Dear readers of Pashto Mashto, As you may have noticed already, with the new year has come a new name for this series, although the content will go on as usual. Here is why. The inaugural blog of this series, back in January 2010, has proven prophetic when it said the series would not, ‘try […]

29 Mar 2012 AAN Team • Context and Culture

The Trouble with Torture: NDS, Special Forces and the CIA

Fresh evidence of abuse in more than a dozen NDS and police facilities has been presented in a report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and Open Societies Foundations (OSF). The allegations, which include testimony of security detainees being beaten, given electric shocks and having their genitals wrenched, were described by NDS as […]

29 Mar 2012 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

12 April 2012: Our World in Transition: Impact on Human Security and EU Response

AAN’s Sari Kouvo chairs a panel on Afghanistan’s transition at the international student conference organised at the Brussels School of International Studies (BSIS). Read more about the conference here.

25 Mar 2012 AAN • admin • Events

The ‘Other Bagram’ (1): A Memorandum for handover

President Karzai’s legal advisor, Nasrullah Stanekzai, has confirmed to AAN that there will be detention without trial of Afghans by Afghans when the Detention Facility at Parwan (DFIP), also referred to simply as ‘Bagram’, is handed over to Afghan government control, at the latest, on 8 September 2012. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by […]

21 Mar 2012 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Afghan New Year: Sal-e Naw Mubarak

Three swallows were sighted in the skies over Kabul by members of the AAN team this week – a welcome harbinger of spring after this year’s long, cold winter. They disappeared again, as a dust storm racked Kabul on the last day of the Afghan year. Nawruz has now dawned, even with grey and gritty […]

20 Mar 2012 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

6 April 2012: Combattre en Afghanistan?

AAN’s Sari Kouvo speaks about Afghan women’s rights and reconciliation at a one-day seminar on Afghanistan organised by the Institut International des droits de l’homme et de la paix (Caen, Normandie). Read more about the seminar here.

20 Mar 2012 AAN • admin • Events

One Year of Transition: A Look Back (2)

Second part of the retrospective look at the last three months’ transitions which took in many Afghan provinces. AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini briefly comments on each of these and on some characteristics of the overall process. The second phase of transition continued on 11 January 2012 with a ceremony in the Wardak provincial capital of Maidan […]

18 Mar 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • International Engagement

One Year of Transition: A Look Back (1)

The second phase of transition, which was announced on 27 November 2011, is drawing to a close after a long winter, and after a turbulent few weeks that have refocused attention on the fall-out over the ongoing conflict. Many more areas of Afghanistan have witnessed an official transfer of security, while information about the third […]

18 Mar 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • International Engagement

The End of the Affair? Taleban Suspend Talks

The Taleban have announced that they are suspending talks with the Americans, only six weeks after the opening of their political office in Qatar. In a statement, they described the US approach as ‘shaky, erratic and vague’ and accused the Americans of breaching a memorandum of understanding which had been previously arrived at. This decision […]

16 Mar 2012 Kate Clark • War and Peace

The Kandahar Killing: With friends like this… (amended)

After the killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier in Kandahar province, Western military and political officials have – duly – apologised again but also called the incident ‘rogue’, a ‘first time’ or a ‘completely out-of-the-ordinary’ event. Thomas Ruttig, a Senior Analyst at AAN, wonders whether this is the case or whether it […]

12 Mar 2012 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Freeing the ‘Guantanamo Five’ 2: Kafka in Cuba

Five Taleban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, whose release is a key demand of the Taleban, prior to/as part of peace talks, have said they are willing to be transferred to Qatar. President Karzai had said they had to be handed over to his government, but after a high level visit by Afghan officials, both Taleban […]

11 Mar 2012 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms