Calming Hearts, Mending Hostilities and Moving Forwards

AfghanistanAfghanistan Research Research and and Evaluation Evaluation Unit Unit CaseCase Study Study Series Series LEGACIES OF CONFLICT Healing Complexes and Moving Forwards in Ghazni Province Emily Winterbotham Funding for this research was provided October 2010 by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Kabul Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Editing and layout: AREU publications team AREU Publication Code: 1126E © 2011 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AREU. Some rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted only for non- commercial purposes and with written credit to AREU and the author. Where this publication is reproduced, stored or transmitted electronically, a link to AREU’s website (www.areu.org.af) should be provided. Any use of this publication falling outside of these permissions requires prior written permission of the publisher, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. Permission can be sought by emailing [email protected] or by calling +93 (0) 799 608 548. Legacies of Conflict: Healing Complexes and Moving Forwards in Ghazni rovinceP About the Author Emily Winterbotham researches transitional justice at AREU. She has previously conducted research on the issue in Bosnia-Herzegovina and has an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics. About the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is an independent research institute based in Kabul. AREU’s mission is to inform and influence policy and practice through conducting high-quality, policy-relevant research and actively disseminating the results, and to promote a culture of research and learning. To achieve its mission AREU engages with policymakers, civil society, researchers and students to promote their use of AREU’s research and its library, to strengthen their research capacity, and to create opportunities for analysis, reflection and debate. AREU was established in 2002 by the assistance community working in Afghanistan and has a board of directors with representation from donors, the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, and non-governmental organisations. AREU currently receives core funds from the governments of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Specific projects in 2011 have been funded by the European Commission (EC), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and UN Women. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Acknowledgements Above all, the author wishes to thank the communities in Ghazni City and rural Qarabagh who gave up their time to talk to the research team. Without their cooperation and insight this research would not have been possible and the author hopes that the paper does justice to the desires and demands they articulated. Special thanks go to the Organization for Sustainable Development Research (OSDR), the partner organisation that enabled AREU to conduct research in Ghazni Province. The author wishes to express great appreciation to OSDR’s research team in conducting fieldwork in frequently challenging and insecure circumstances and for contributing towards some preliminary analysis. AREU’s research team also deserves praise for assisting the author in analysing some of the Ghazni data and, in particular, Fauzia Rahimi and Chona Echavez for assisting with the management of the partnership. Fauzia also deserves extra recognition for writing Section 2 of this paper. Finally, the author would like to thank Dallas Mazoori and Sari Kouvo for their advice on producing the paper and, in particular, Jay Lamey and Oliver Lough for their editorial support and Deborah Smith for establishing the project in conjunction with the International Centre for Transitional Justice. Emily Winterbotham Legacies of Conflict: Healing Complexes and Moving Forwards in Ghazni rovinceP Table of Contents Acronyms �� vii Glossary ............................................................................................. vii 1. Introduction �� 1 1.1 Overall research focus and issues explored ........................................... 1 1.2 Conceptualising transitional justice: Justice, forgiveness, peace and reconciliation ............................................................................... 3 1.3 Structure of the case study .............................................................. 8 2. Methodology and Site Selection �� 9 2.1 Research methods ......................................................................... 9 2.2 Site selection .............................................................................. 11 2.3 Ethical considerations ................................................................... 11 2.4 Research challenges and solutions ..................................................... 12 2.5 Context ..................................................................................... 14 3. War Stories: Violations during Afghanistan’s Conflicts and Who Committed Them ��20 3.1 Reflections on the different phases of the conflicts ................................ 20 3.2 Responsibility for the conflicts: Perpetrators and victims ......................... 30 3.3 Concluding remarks: The nature of war .............................................. 34 4. Dealing with the Legacies of Conflict: Addressing Victim’s Suffering ................. 36 4.1 Lingering effects of war: Mental, psychological and emotional problems .......36 4.2 Investigate and record the past ........................................................ 38 4.3 Commemorate the past.................................................................. 42 4.4 Compensate suffering and loss: Repairing damage .................................. 44 4.5 Implementing restorative and reparative processes ................................ 46 5. Dealing With The Perpetrators of Wartime Violations .................................. 49 5.1 Contextual considerations............................................................... 49 5.2 Holding perpetrators to account ....................................................... 53 5.3 Forgive and forget ........................................................................ 64 5.4 Developing support for forgiveness .................................................... 68 6. Achieving Reconciliation and Peace ....................................................... 72 6.1 Current state of peace and reconciliation ............................................ 72 6.2 Achieving reconciliation and building peace ......................................... 75 6.3 Specific perceptions about peace and reconciliation with the Taliban ..........80 7. Conclusion ..................................................................................... 85 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 89 Request for Feedback �� 92 Recent Publications from AREU .................................................................. 93 Embargoed — Do not Distribute Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit List of Maps, Boxes, Figures and Tables Maps Map 1: Research sites in Ghazni Province ...................................................... 15 Boxes Box 1: Cases of death, disappearance and arrests under the communist regime .......21 Box 2: Criticisms of mujahiddin ................................................................. 24 Box 3: Taliban discrimination against other ethnic groups .................................. 26 Box 4: Politics of intimidation by the Taliban ................................................. 29 Box 5: Government and international troop tactics .......................................... 29 Box 6: Government versus Taliban control of Ghazni Province ............................. 30 Box 7: Foreign powers fuel and drive the current conflict .................................. 32 Box 8: Uncovering mass grave sites ............................................................. 40 Box 9: Role of perpetrators in compensation processes ..................................... 45 Box 10: Weakness of the state justice system ................................................. 52 Box 11: Punishment, learning lessons and restoring security ............................... 57 Box 12: Arguments in favour of imprisonment ................................................ 61 Box 13: Punish the leaders of Afghanistan’s conflicts ........................................ 63 Box 14: Should the Taliban be punished or forgiven? ......................................... 64 Box 15: Forgetting past crimes and security................................................... 68 Box 16: Apologies, repentance and forgiveness ............................................... 70 Figures Figure 1: The relationship between context and the desire for punishment or forgiveness/forgetting .................................................................... 50 Tables Table 1: Respondent data in Ghazni Province ................................................

Load more