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Lessons in Terror Attacks on Education in Afghanistan

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Lessons in Terror Attacks on Education in Afghanistan July 2006 Volume 18, Number 6 (C) Lessons in Terror Attacks on Education in Afghanistan Glossary...........................................................................................................................................1 I. Summary......................................................................................................................................3 Plight of the Education System...............................................................................................6 Sources and Impact of Insecurity............................................................................................8 International and Afghan Response to Insecurity................................................................9 Key Recommendations...........................................................................................................10 II. Background: Afghanistan Since the Fall of the Taliban ...................................................13 The Taliban’s Ouster, the Bonn Process, and the Afghanistan Compact ......................13 Insecurity in Afghanistan........................................................................................................17 Education in Afghanistan and its Importance for Development ....................................23 III. Attacks on Schools, Teachers, and Students ....................................................................31 Who and Why ..........................................................................................................................32 Attacks by Taliban and Warlords on Education in Southern and Southeastern Afghanistan.......................................................................................................35 Kandahar City and Province..............................................................................................35 Helmand Province...............................................................................................................47 Zabul Province ....................................................................................................................50 Ghazni Province..................................................................................................................54 Paktia Province ....................................................................................................................56 Logar Province.....................................................................................................................57 Charkh District, Logar........................................................................................................58 Wardak Province .................................................................................................................61 Laghman Province ..............................................................................................................64 Impact of Crime and Impunity on Education................................................................69 IV. The Indirect Impact of Insecurity on Education.............................................................75 Insufficient Development Aid and Services........................................................................78 Shortage of Schools and Infrastructure................................................................................84 Shortage of Teachers...............................................................................................................88 Low Quality of Education......................................................................................................91 Poverty ......................................................................................................................................93 Negative Attitudes About Education...................................................................................94 V. The Inadequate Response of the Afghan Government and its International Supporters to Attacks on Education...................................................................................... 101 Failure to Monitor Attacks.................................................................................................. 103 Failure to Prevent and Respond to Attacks...................................................................... 104 Nationbuilding on the Cheap: the U.S.-led Coalition, ISAF, and Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs)......................................................................... 106 The Provincial Reconstruction Teams.......................................................................... 109 VI. Legal Standards................................................................................................................... 112 The Right to Education....................................................................................................... 112 International Humanitarian Law and Attacks on Schools ............................................. 115 VII. Recommendations............................................................................................................ 117 Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................... 123 Chart: Attacks on Teachers, Students, and Schools in Afghanistan ................................. 125 Glossary ANSO: Afghanistan Nongovernmental Organization Safety Office, which monitors security incidents that affect the operations of nongovernmental organizations. Afghani: The currency of Afghanistan. The afghani traded at various levels in 2005-2006: one U.S. dollar bought between 45 and 50 afghanis. burqa and chadori: Terms used interchangeably in many parts of Afghanistan to describe a head-to-toe garment worn by women that completely covers the body and face, allowing vision through a mesh screen. Dari: The dialect of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, one of Afghanistan’s main languages. hijab: Generally, dress for women that conforms to Islamic standards, varying among countries and cultures; usually includes covering the hair and obscuring the shape of the body. ISAF: International Security Assistance Force provided by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization under mandate of the United Nations. mujahedin: “Those who engage in jihad.” By common usage in Afghanistan, and as used in this report, the term refers to the forces that fought successive Soviet-backed governments from 1978 until 1992, although many former mujahedin parties continue to use it in reference to themselves. night letters (“Shabnameh”): Letters left in homes or public places, such as roadsides and mosques, threatening individuals or communities for engaging in certain activities. Letters may be anonymous or signed, and may warn against activities such as working with the government or with foreigners, or sending children, often girls in particular, to school. Pashto: The primary language spoken by many Pashtuns. Pashtun: The largest ethnicity in Afghanistan and a plurality of the population (Pashtuns also reside in Pakistan). PRTs: Provincial Reconstruction Teams, military units ranging in size from eighty to several hundred, with a small civilian development component. Each PRT is fielded by a donor 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 18, NO. 6(C) country as part of NATO or the U.S.-led Coalition forces. The make up and function of the PRTs differ based on the donor country, the mission of the PRT, and the location. shura: “Council.” The shuras mentioned in this report include both governmental and nongovernmental bodies. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 18, NO. 6(C) 2 I. Summary From fear of terrorism, from threats of the enemies of Afghanistan, today as we speak, some 100,000 Afghan children who went to school last year, and the year before last, do not go to school. —President Karzai on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2006. During Ramadan [late 2005], the girls were still going to school. There was a letter posted on the community’s mosque saying that “men who are working with NGOs and girls going to school need to be careful about their safety. If we put acid on their faces or they are murdered, then the blame will be on the parents.” . After that, we were scared and talked about it, but we decided to let them keep going anyway. But after Eid, a second letter was posted on the street near to there, and the community decided that it was not worth the risk [and stopped all girls over age ten from going to school]. My daughters are afraid—they are telling us “we’ll get killed and be lying on the streets and you won’t even know.” —Mother of two girls withdrawn from fourth and fifth grades, Kandahar city, December 8, 2005. Brutal attacks by armed opposition groups on Afghan teachers, students, and their schools have occurred throughout much of Afghanistan in recent months, particularly in the south. These attacks, and the inability of the government and its international backers to stop them, demonstrate the deteriorating security conditions under which many Afghans are now living. While ultimate responsibility lies with the perpetrators, much about the response of the international community and the Afghan government can and must be improved if Afghanistan is to move forward. The situation is not hopeless, yet. This crisis of insecurity, now affecting millions of Afghans, was predictable and avoidable. The international community, led by the United States, has consistently failed to provide the economic, political, and military support necessary for securing
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