Land Based Conflict in Afghanistan: the Case Of
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LAND BASED CONFLICT IN AFGHANISTAN : THE CASE OF PAKTIA December 2008 Tribal Liaison Office Page 1 of 79 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 7 1.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Constraints.................................................................................................................... 9 2 MAGNITUDE OF LAND-BASED DISPUTES IN AFGHANISTAN................................. 11 3 HISTORY OF LAND OWNERSHIP AND TENURE IN AFGHANISTAN ....................... 14 4 LAND TENURE IN AFGHANISTAN – IN SEARCH OF A TYPOLOGY........................ 17 5 LEGAL FRAMEWORKS DEALING WITH LANDOWNERSHIP.................................... 21 5.1 Formal Systems.......................................................................................................... 21 5.1.1 Constitutional or Supreme Law............................................................................ 21 5.1.2 State, statutory or national law............................................................................. 22 5.1.3 The Civil Code (qanoon madani) ......................................................................... 22 5.2 Informal Systems ....................................................................................................... 22 5.3 Acceptable Evidence of Land Tenure...................................................................... 23 5.4 Land Registration Efforts.......................................................................................... 26 6 CONFLICT RESOLUTION MECHANISMS .................................................................... 28 6.1 Formal Conflict Resolution Mechanisms ................................................................ 29 6.2 Informal dispute mechanisms .................................................................................. 30 7 ASSESSMENT OF THE CAUSES OF LAND-BASED CONFLICTS ............................ 35 7.1 Conflict Actors............................................................................................................ 35 7.2 Structural Factors of Land Based Conflicts ........................................................... 42 7.2.1 Resource Scarcity and Ecological Factors .......................................................... 42 7.2.2 Social Importance of Land ................................................................................... 43 7.2.3 Heterogeneity – Multi-ethnic society.................................................................... 44 7.3 Conflict Dynamics – the Continued Weakness of the Afghan State.................... 46 7.3.1 Multiple Governments, Land Policies and Land Documentation ........................ 46 7.3.1.1 Competing Ownership Rights and Documentation ......................................... 48 Table 7. Overview of Landownership documents in the Case Studies .............................. 48 7.3.2 Weak State Structures and Persistent Corruption............................................... 51 7.3.3 Strongmen and Land grabbing ............................................................................ 53 7.4 Accelerating Conflict Factors................................................................................... 55 7.4.1 Vested Interests of Spoilers and Insecurity ......................................................... 55 7.4.2 Weak Legal System and Enforcement Bodies .................................................... 56 7.4.3 Demographic Pressures....................................................................................... 57 7.4.3.1 Population Growth ............................................................................................ 57 7.4.3.2 Returning Refugees and Rural Urban Migration ............................................. 58 7.4.3.3 Settlement of (Semi)nomadic populations – the Kuchi ................................... 60 7.5 Possible Decelerating Factors.................................................................................. 60 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 62 REFERENCES......................................................................................................................... 64 APPENDIX I – QUESTIONNAIRES........................................................................................ 68 APPENDIX II – CASE STUDIES............................................................................................. 70 Tribal Liaison Office Page 2 of 79 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AGCHO Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office CCM Commission on Conflict Mediation DA District Administrator DDR Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration DIAG Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups FGD Focus Group Discussion IDP Internally Displaced Person ISAF International Security Assistance Force ILAC Information and Legal Aid Center (of the Norwegian Refugee Council) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NRC Norwegian Refugee Council PAR Participatory Action Research PDPA People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees USAID United States Agency for International Development Glossary farman/ firman Decrees, edicts or legal letters etc. issued by the King or President used as ownership documents hanafi One of the four established schools of legal thought in Sunni Islam. It is the predominant school of Islamic jurisprudence in Afghanistan. huqoq a person’s rights under the government ibtidaya mukhama Primary Courts operating at the district level imlak Municipal Land Office jirga Traditional temporary/ad hoc decision-making body in Pashtun Afghanistan created usually for solving disputes among tribes, sub tribes, clans, families or individuals, but also between the government and the tribes. Also called marakha in the South. kabargen An agreement by all surrounding tribes to socially isolate those who did not accept the jirga decision as they promised. kuchi Nomads and semi-nomads in Afghanistan, mostly from Pashtun tribes. Tribal Liaison Office Page 3 of 79 machalga A guarantee (usually money or other valuables) from both conflict parties prior to entering a jirga. malik Pashtun local authority, leader in war and responsible for interactions with the government usually recognized by the state and linked to a municipality (similar to mayor). makhzan State owned archive of land deeds. morafiya muhkama Secondary Courts operating at the provincial level. mujahideen Fighters involved in a holy war ( jihad ). Afghan resistance fighters who fought against the Communist government adopted this title. narkh Refers to the local interpretation of various elements of the customary law ( Pashtunwali) that are used in a jirga. The mediators are bound to follow specific rules for differenct crimes, the narkh. narkh waak Establishes limited authority for the mediators in a jirga . orfi/urfee Customary Documents pashtunwali The Pashtun customary law and traditional code of conduct structuring social behaviour in Pashtun dominated areas. qabala shariat Statutory land documents. qanoon madani Civil Code rawaj Customary law dealing with landownership stara muhkama Supreme Court operating at the highest and most central level shariat Islamic law composed of the Koran and the Hadith (sayings of the prophet). shura Originally the term shura was used for gathering of Islamic dignitaries ranging from mullahs to ulema. However, during the Afghan War and the emergence of the mujahidin the term shura was introduced for all kinds of gatherings with official character. The shura and also its members are of more long-term character. Shuras are sometimes also established for development project. spin giri Pashtu for ‘white beard’, meaning a tribal elder. toya warai waak Establishes absolute authority to the jirga mediators, without a need to look for more specific narkh waak . waak To give authority to jirga mediators to deal with a dispute and agree to accept the decision made. waaqf Religious land, originally provided as gift and non-transferable. wakil guzar A wakil guzar is a special form of malik , who is responsible for a specific area such as a street or a neighbourhood. wasayeq shari’a Legal Documents (Deeds) in accordance with Shariat watan Homeland or Country wilayati shura Provincial Council Tribal Liaison Office Page 4 of 79 Executive Summary The objective of this study was to produce an analysis of the scope and dynamics of land based conflicts in Afghanistan with a special focus on conflicts in Paktia Province located in the Southeast of Afghanistan. Scarce resources, the weak Afghan state, social norms, population movements and the presence of different social groups were identified as the structural factors of land based conflicts in Afghanistan. These structural factors, considered necessary but not sufficient causes of conflict, were exacerbated by a set of different factors making up the conflict dynamics (e.g., the legacy of war and frequent regime changes). The most important conflict dynamics identified for Paktia relate to the history of land policies, state presence/ outreach and local power struggles. Local power struggles mainly include land grabbing by actors with access to means of force/violence or strongmen with connections to people in positions of (political)