Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: UNAMA

UNAMA

"Torture tarnishes the image of the state." Photo: ToloNews.

Because of Impunity: UN reports Afghan forces still torturing Afghans

Kate Clark •

It is two years since UNAMA last reported on torture by Afghan security forces of detainees suspected of conflict-related crimes. In the wake of its 2013 report, former President Karzai was stung into investigating the matter and instituted steps to try to root torture out. ISAF also strengthened its monitoring of detainees it transferred to […]

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Elections 2014 (48): Key documents underwriting the electoral audit

Martine van Bijlert •

While the Abdullah team has already dismissed both the audit and its outcome, the IEC still needs to finalise the process to arrive at a new result. As a background to the audit and its tumultuous history, AAN has gathered a number of key documents in one place. These include the three main IEC decisions […]

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Discussions during the "special audit", while the candidates' agents were still present. Kabul, August 2014 Photo: Martine van Bijlert

Elections 2014 (46): Déjà vu – Abdullah pulls out, process continues

Martine van Bijlert •

What has the Abdullah team been playing at, pulling out of the audit again? Hard to say – but it is a risky all-or-nothing gamble, writes Martine van Bijlert. She summarises what has been happening over the past week, looking at the candidates’ behaviour and possible motives behind their strategies, but also at the ‘progress’ […]

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Elections 2014 (44): Key documents underwriting the electoral agreement

Martine van Bijlert •

To provide background to the recent agreement between the two presidential candidates brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry (see here and here), AAN has gathered the texts of relevant statements in one place. These include, first and foremost, the joint declaration agreed and signed by both candidates on 8 August 2014, as well […]

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The audit in Kabul - photo by Kate Clark

2014 Elections (42): Audit stopped, re-started, UN intervenes

Kate Clark • Qayoom Suroush •

There have been days of futile negotiations between the technical teams of the two presidential election candidates over the nature of the ‘invalidation’ criteria – the rules for deciding what to do with votes deemed suspicious in the audit of the 14 June second round of the presidential vote. Now, the United Nations has stepped in […]

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Civilian victims of a Taleban attack in Daulatabad, Faryab, June 2014. Will an investigation lead to justice for victims like these? Credit: Pajhwok Afghan news

“A Dangerous New Turn”: UNAMA reports a sharp rise in civilian casualties

Kate Clark •

For the first time since UNAMA started documenting civilian casualties in 2009, more civilians have been killed in ground fighting than from any other tactic. In its six monthly report on the protection of civilians, it reported “a direct correlation” in some areas between the closures of international bases and a rise in civilian casualties, […]

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Continuing Conflict Is Not Victory: What the 2013 UNAMA civilian casualties report tells us about the war

Kate Clark •

The conflict in Afghanistan is now overwhelmingly Afghan versus Afghan – this is one of the conclusions to be drawn from UNAMA’s 2013 Protection of Civilians report. 8,615 civilians were killed or wounded during 2013 and only three per cent of those by the international military forces. Counting deaths and injuries together, 2013 was more […]

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War Intensifies with More Civilian Casualties: the half-yearly UNAMA report

Kate Clark •

UNAMA’s six monthly report on how civilians are faring in the war (Mid-Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict) shows a reversal in last year’s trend of fewer civilian casualties. Comparing the first half of 2013 with the first half of 2012, a fifth more civilians were killed or injured in the fighting. […]

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Torture, Illegal Armed Groups: Signs of Possible Afghan Government Action?

Kate Clark •

Many were surprised by the eventual response of the Afghan government to the detailed allegations made by UNAMA in January concerning torture carried out by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the Afghan National Police (ANP). The government’s initial denials that any problem existed were predictable enough, but were followed by President Karzai ordering […]

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Afghanistan: Die Zahl der Opfer ist geringer, die Gewalt nimmt zu?

Other AAN •

Stimme Russlands (Russian radio), 20 January 2013 Quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the latest UNAMA protection of civilian report as saying that ‘it is positive without any doubt when the number of killed civilian in a war goes down’ but that there are still mixed trends; adds that an intensification of Taleban assassinations of GoA […]

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Fewer Deaths, But…: UNAMA’s 2012 Civilian Casualties Report (amended)

Kate Clark •

‘Civilian deaths in Afghan Conflict fall for the first time in six years’ was the good news top line of the new 2012 report by UNAMA on the protection of civilians. Fewer civilians were killed in suicide attacks, ground engagements and aerial attacks, said UNAMA. The Taleban remain responsible for bulk of civilian deaths, while […]

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Folter in Afghanistan: «Guantanomo ist kein gutes Vorbild»

Other AAN •

SRF4 (Swiss Radio), 21 January 2013 Listen to an audio (in German), with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig commenting on UNAMA’s recent report about torture in Afghan security services installations, including that particularly the US, with Gunatanamo and renditions of terror suspects to countries that torture, have not been a convincing example to persuade Afghan authorities to […]

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