DOCSLIB.ORG

Country of Origin Information Report Afghanistan April 2010

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Country of Origin Information Report Afghanistan April 2010 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT AFGHANISTAN 8 APRIL 2010 AFGHANISTAN 8 APRIL 2010 UK Border Agency COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 18 March 2010. Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 8 April 2010. 8 ARPIL 2010 AFGHANISTAN Contents Preface Latest News EVENTS IN AFGHANISTAN FROM 19 MARCH 2010 TO 8 APRIL 2010 REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN PUBLISHED OR ACCESSED BETWEEN 19 MARCH 2010 AND 8 APRIL 2010 Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................1.01 Kabul (Capital city)......................................................................1.09 Maps..............................................................................................1.14 2. ECONOMY ..............................................................................................2.01 3. HISTORY ................................................................................................3.01 Overview to December 2001.......................................................3.01 Post-Taliban (December 2001 Onwards)....................................3.02 Afghanistan Compact 31 January 2006.....................................3.08 Presidential Elections 20 August 2009.......................................3.09 Election results..........................................................................3.17 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ...........................................................................4.01 5. CONSTITUTION .........................................................................................5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ...................................................................................6.01 Overview.......................................................................................6.01 The Executive Branch..................................................................6.03 The Legislative Branch................................................................6.05 Provincial councils......................................................................6.06 Political parties............................................................................6.08 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................7.01 8. SECURITY SITUATION ................................................................................8.01 Overview.......................................................................................8.01 Security situation in different regions........................................8.13 Kabul City..................................................................................8.13 List of main security incidents in and around Kabul city.............8.18 The West ..................................................................................8.26 Central.......................................................................................8.30 South, South-East and East .....................................................8.32 North, North-East and North-West.............................................8.43 9. CRIME ...................................................................................................9.01 Opium production........................................................................9.03 10. SECURITY F ORCES ..................................................................................10.01 Overview.......................................................................................10.01 Police............................................................................................10.03 Afghan National Police (ANP)...................................................10.03 Structure and reform.................................................................10.05 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 18 March 2010. Further brief iii information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 8 April 2010. AFGHANISTAN 8 APRIL 2010 Afghan National Guard................................................................10.13 Armed Forces...............................................................................10.14 Afghan National Army (ANA).....................................................10.14 Other Government Forces...........................................................10.18 National Directorate of Security (NDS) (Amniat-e Melli)............10.18 Former security forces – KHAD (KhAD)....................................10.22 International Forces.....................................................................10.25 International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).........................10.30 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs)..................................10.32 Human rights violations by security forces...............................10.33 Arbitrary arrest and detention....................................................10.33 Torture.......................................................................................10.38 Extrajudicial killings...................................................................10.39 Avenues of Complaint.................................................................10.42 11. MILITARY SERVICE .................................................................................11.01 12. ABUSES BY NON-GOVERNMENT ARMED FORCES ............................................12.01 Overview.......................................................................................12.01 Kidnappings.................................................................................12.03 Warlords and commanders.........................................................12.07 Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG)...........................12.12 Anti-Government and Anti-Coalition Forces (ACF)...................12.14 13. JUDICIARY ............................................................................................13.01 Organisation.................................................................................13.01 Independence...............................................................................13.05 Fair trial.........................................................................................13.07 Code of Criminal Procedure........................................................13.09 14. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS .................................................14.01 15. PRISON CONDITIONS ...............................................................................15.01 16. DEATH PENALTY ....................................................................................16.01 17. POLITICAL AFFILIATION ............................................................................17.01 Freedom of Political Expression.................................................17.01 Freedom of Association and Assembly.....................................17.02 18. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ...............................................................18.01 Overview.......................................................................................18.01 Media law......................................................................................18.11 Newspapers, radio, Internet and television...............................18.13 Journalists....................................................................................18.20 Night letters..................................................................................18.28 19. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS ........................19.01 Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)....................................................................................19.02 Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).................................19.05 20. CORRUPTION ..........................................................................................20.01 21. FREEDOM OF RELIGION ...........................................................................21.01 Overview.......................................................................................21.01 Religious demography...............................................................21.06 Legislation....................................................................................21.09 Muslims........................................................................................21.13 Shi’as (Shiite)............................................................................21.13 Ismailis..........................................................................................21.14 Sikhs and Hindus.........................................................................21.15 Christians.....................................................................................21.21 Baha’is..........................................................................................21.25 Religious conversion...................................................................21.27 iv The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 18 March 2010. Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 8 April 2010. 8 ARPIL 2010 AFGHANISTAN Mixed marriages...........................................................................21.30
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Conflict Analysis: Baharak District, Badakhshan Province
    Conflict analysis: Baharak district, Badakhshan province ACKU Cole Hansen, Christian Dennys and Idrees Zaman CPAU February 2009 Cooperation for Peace and Unity Acknowledgment The conflict analysis is one of 5 provincial studies focusing on Badakhshan, Kunduz, Kabul, Wardak and Ghazni conducted by CPAU with the financial support of Trocaire. The views expressed in the papers are the sole responsibility of CPAU and the authors and are not necessarily held by Trocaire. The principal researcher for this provincial study of Badakhshan would like to thank the other members of the research team in London for their support and the CPAU staff in Kabul who collected the primary data from the field and offered feedback on successive drafts of the study. Copies of this paper can be downloaded from www.cpau.org.af For further information or to contact CPAU please email: Idrees Zaman [email protected] Christian Dennys [email protected] ACKU Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Definitions and Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 2 Definitions .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Primary sources .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Campaign Trail 2010 (2): Baghlan - Divided We Stand
    Campaign Trail 2010 (2): Baghlan - Divided we Stand Author : Fabrizio Foschini Published: 7 July 2010 Downloaded: 7 September 2018 Download URL: https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/campaign-trail-2010-2-baghlan-divided-we-stand/?format=pdf Situated in a central position crossed by some of the most strategic road connections of the country, Baghlan province shows a high level of social and political fragmentation. The growing instability of the province does not bode well for the oncoming elections, and forecasts future problems for the government and the international forces in the area. With a total of 118 candidates (including 12 women) for just 8 seats in the Wolesi Jirga – only Kabul and Laghman have a similarly high proportion of contenders – Baghlan inhabitants could be easily mistaken for a population of election enthusiasts. However, these high numbers seem to reflect more the fault lines splitting local communities and political groups, which prevented the most basics accords between candidates to take place (*). Looking at past elections, high numbers of candidates are not a new development for Baghlan. In the parliamentary elections of 2005 there were 106, and the number of participants to last year’s provincial council elections is even more striking, reaching 193 candidates for the 15 seats body. Baghlan has been characterized for decades by a high number of different factions struggling to control this rich region’s economic assets and communication links and this is also reflected in the electoral competition. Baghlan is a rich province, with a flourishing agriculture blessed by the water resources of the Baghlan-Kunduz river system and by proximity and good road connections to markets like Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif.
    [Show full text]
  • People of Ghazni
    Program for Culture & Conflict Studies [email protected] Updated: June 1, 2010 Province: Baghlan Governor: Munshi Abdul Majid Deputy Governor: Sheikh Baulat (Deceased as a result of February 2008 auto accident) Provincial Police Chief: Abdul Rahman Sayedkhali PRT Leadership: Hungary Population Estimate: 1 Urban: 146,000 Rural: 616,500 Area in Square Kilometers: 21,112 sq. km Capital: Puli Khumri Names of Districts: Kahmard, Tala Wa Barfak, Khinjan, Dushi, Dahana-i-Ghori, Puli Khumri, Andarab, Nahrin, Baghlan, Baghlani Jadid, Burka, Khost Wa Firing Composition of Ethnic Groups: Religious Tribal Groups: Population:2 Tajik: 52% Groups: Gilzhai Pashtun 20% Pashtun: 20% Sunni 85% Hazara: 15% Shi'a 15% Uzbek: 12% Tatar: 1% Income Generation Major: Minor: Agriculture Factory Work Animal Husbandry Private Business (Throughout Province) Manual Labor (In Pul-i-Khomri District) Crops/Farming/Livestock: Agriculture: Livestock: Major: Wheat, Rice Dairy and Beef Cows Secondary: Cotton, Potato, Fodder Sheep (wool production) Tertiary: Consumer Vegetables Poultry (in high elevation Household: Farm Forestry, Fruits areas) Literacy Rate Total:3 20% Number of Educational Schools: Colleges/Universities: 2 Institutions:4 Total: 330 Baghlan University-Departments of Primary: 70 Physics, Social Science and Literature Lower Secondary: 161 in Pul-e-Khumri. Departments of Higher Secondary: 77 Agriculture and Industry in Baghlan Islamic: 19 Teacher Training Center-located in Tech/Vocational: 2 Pul-e-Khumri University: 1 Number of Security January: 3 May: 0 September: 1 Incidents, 2007: 8 February: 0 June: 0 October: 0 March: 0 July: 0 November: 2 April: 2 August: 0 December: 0 Poppy (Opium) Cultivation:5 2006: 2,742 ha 2007: 671 ha NGOs Active in Province: UNHCR, FAO, WHO, IOM, UNOPS, UNICEF, ANBP, ACTED, AKF/AFDN, CONCERN, HALO TRUST, ICARDA, SCA, 1 Central Statistics Office Afghanistan, 2005-2006 Population Statistics, available from http://www.cso- af.net/cso/index.php?page=1&language=en (accessed May 7, 2008).
    [Show full text]
  • Local Afghan Power Structures and the International Military Intervention a Review of Developments in Badakhshan and Kunduz Provinces
    Philipp Münch Local Afghan Power Structures and the International Military Intervention A review of developments in Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since the beginning of the 2001 intervention in The power structures of Kunduz and, to a lesser Afghanistan, the contributing nations to the extent, Badakhshan had already fragmented International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have before the intervention in 2001. In contrast to declared that their aim is to ‘assist the Islamic Badakhshan, the distribution of power among Republic of Afghanistan to extend its authority’ Kunduz’ commanders of armed groups changed over the whole territory of Afghanistan. This report considerably because of the fall of the Taleban. attempts to answer whether and to what extent Affiliates of Jamiat-e Islami-ye Afghanistan (Islamic ISAF forces have been successful in accomplishing Society of Afghanistan) became slightly superior to their task in the two northeastern provinces of those of other politico-military parties. Mainly Kunduz and Badakhshan. To answer the question, Pashtuns, but also members of other ethnicities this report maps the power distribution and the without affiliation to the groups in power, were constellations between the most-significant marginalised. In Badakhshan, Jamiat affiliates political actors of both provinces and relates them clearly dominated but were split between to actions of the central government and the supporters of former President Burhanuddin international actors working in Afghanistan. In Rabbani and the party’s Shura-ye Nazar-e Shomal unprecedented detail, this study takes the first (Supervisory Council of the North) faction. Since step toward assessing ISAF’s effects and uncovers the mid-2000s in Kunduz and since the late 2000s developments on the grassroots level that have to a much lower degree in Badakhshan, the been largely unnoticed.
    [Show full text]
  • Afghanistan April 2010
    COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT AFGHANISTAN 8 APRIL 2010 UK Border Agency COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE AFGHANISTAN 8 APRIL 2010 Contents Preface Latest News EVENTS IN AFGHANISTAN FROM 19 MARCH 2010 TO 8 APRIL 2010 REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN PUBLISHED OR ACCESSED BETWEEN 19 MARCH 2010 AND 8 APRIL 2010 Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY........................................................................................1.01 Kabul (Capital city)....................................................................... 1.09 Maps .............................................................................................. 1.14 2. ECONOMY............................................................................................ 2.01 3. HISTORY.............................................................................................. 3.01 Overview to December 2001........................................................ 3.01 Post-Taliban (December 2001 Onwards).................................... 3.02 Afghanistan Compact 31 January 2006...................................... 3.08 Presidential Elections 20 August 2009....................................... 3.09 Election results .......................................................................... 3.17 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ..................................................................... 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION..................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM .............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Politics Is Local: Examining Afghanistan's Central Government's Role in State-Building at the Provincal Level
    ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL: EXAMINING AFGHANISTAN’S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN STATE-BUILDING AT THE PROVINCIAL LEVEL Patrick Grant A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION May 2012 Committee: Neil Englehart, Advisor Marc Simon Neal Jesse ii ABSTRACT Neil Englehart, Advisor State-building literature in relation to Afghanistan has tended to focus on how to combat the insurgency in order to promote internal state stability. However, there has been little analysis of the role the Afghan central government appointees in state-building at the provincial level. This thesis will help correct for the deficiency by focusing on the central government’s appointment of provincial governors and its impact on insurgent penetration in the provinces. With many governors using their positions to create elaborate patronage networks as well as using their position to eliminate their opponents, these tactics can create a breeding ground of domestic insurgency by recruiting from disaffected tribes/ethnicities. Using original data on the governors of each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, from 2002 to present day, as well as data on insurgent attacks this thesis will test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between the central government’s appointment of provincial governors and the number of insurgent attacks in each of the providences. To conduct this empirical analysis I will use bivariate statistical tests to help determine if there is any potential relationship between the appointment of provincial governors and insurgent attacks. iii This work is dedicated to my parents, John and Cynthia Grant, for their steadfast and loyal support.
    [Show full text]