Country of Origin Report on Afghanistan November 2016 1 Country of Origin Report on Afghanistan November 2016 Edited bij Sub-Saharan Africa Department, The Hague Disclaimer: The Dutch version of this report is leading. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands cannot be held accountable for misinterpretations based on the English version of the report. 2 Country of Origin Report on Afghanistan November 2016 Table of contents Table of contents .........................................................................................3 Introduction ................................................................................................5 1 Country information ................................................................................. 7 1.1 Political developments...................................................................................7 1.1.1 Government of National Unity ........................................................................7 1.1.2 Provincial elections.......................................................................................9 1.1.3 Government corruption .................................................................................9 1.2 High Peace Council (HPC) ............................................................................10 1.2.1 Peace talks with the Taliban.........................................................................10 1.3 Power factors ............................................................................................11 1.3.1 Formal power brokers .................................................................................12 1.3.2 Power of old (mujahideen) factions/political parties.......................................... 12 1.3.3 Insurgent groups .......................................................................................13 1.4 Military developments.................................................................................18 1.4.1 International military presence and transition .................................................18 1.4.2 Afghan security organisations.......................................................................19 1.4.3 The Afghan National Army (ANA) ..................................................................20 1.4.4 The Afghan National Police (ANP)..................................................................22 1.4.5 The Afghan Local Police (ALP).......................................................................23 1.4.6 The National Directorate for Security (NDS)....................................................24 1.4.7 Forced and voluntary recruitment and conscription ..........................................25 1.4.8 Forced and voluntary recruitment and conscription of minors............................. 26 2 The security situation..............................................................................29 2.1 Developments in the security situation during the reporting period ..................... 29 2.2 Civilian casualties.......................................................................................32 2.3 Security in Kabul........................................................................................36 2.4 The regional security situation......................................................................38 2.4.1 The north (Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Kunduz, Samangan, Balkh, Sar-i-Pul, Jowzjan, Faryab)........................................................................................39 2.4.2 The south (Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Nimroz, Zabul) .................................42 2.4.3 The east (Nuristan, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Logar, Paktia, Khost, Paktika) ... 45 2.4.4 The west (Badghis, Herat, Ghor, Farah) .........................................................47 2.4.5 The central provinces (Bamyan, Daikundi, Panjshir, Ghazni, Parwan, Kapisa, Maydan Wardak, Kabul)..........................................................................................48 3 Human rights ..........................................................................................51 3.1 Legal context.............................................................................................51 3.1.1 Nationality legislation..................................................................................51 3.2 Documents ...............................................................................................52 3.2.1 The Tazkera ..............................................................................................52 3.2.2 The passport .............................................................................................53 3.3 Monitoring ................................................................................................54 3.3.1 Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)..................................55 3.3.2 Transitional justice .....................................................................................55 3.4 Compliance and violations ...........................................................................56 3.4.1 Freedom of speech and press freedom...........................................................56 3.4.2 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................59 3.4.3 Freedom of religion ....................................................................................61 3.4.4 Judicial process..........................................................................................66 3.4.5 Arrest, custody and detention.......................................................................69 3.4.6 Torture, mistreatment and threats ................................................................72 3.4.7 Extrajudicial executions and killings...............................................................74 3 General Country Report on Afghanistan November 2016 3.4.8 The death penalty ......................................................................................75 3.5 Position of specific groups............................................................................76 3.5.1 Political parties ..........................................................................................76 3.5.2 Human rights activists ................................................................................76 3.5.3 Ethnic groups ............................................................................................76 3.5.4 Journalists ................................................................................................79 3.5.5 Schoolchildren ...........................................................................................80 3.5.6 Women ....................................................................................................80 3.5.7 Homosexuals............................................................................................. 84 3.5.8 Unaccompanied minors ...............................................................................86 3.5.9 (Ex-)communists .......................................................................................86 4 Migration ................................................................................................88 4.1 Internally displaced persons.........................................................................88 4.2 Other displacement ....................................................................................89 4.3 Reception in the region ...............................................................................90 4.3.1 Iran .........................................................................................................90 4.3.2 Pakistan ...................................................................................................91 4.4 Repatriation from the Netherlands.................................................................91 4.5 Activities of international organisations ..........................................................92 4.6 UNHCR’s position .......................................................................................92 5 Bibliography............................................................................................93 5.1 Publications............................................................................................... 93 5.2 Newsletters...............................................................................................96 5.3 Websites................................................................................................... 97 4 Country of Origin Report on Afghanistan November 2016 Introduction This general country report describes the situation in Afghanistan insofar as it is relevant to the assessment of asylum applications from persons originating from Afghanistan and to decisions on the repatriation of rejected Afghan asylum-seekers. It is an update of previous country reports on the situation in Afghanistan, and covers the period from August 2014 to October 2016. The report is based on information from public and confidential sources. Use has been made of information from various agencies of the United Nations, non- governmental organisations, specialist literature and media reports. An overview of the public sources consulted is included in the list of references. The report is also based on local observations and confidential reports of the Dutch mission in Afghanistan. Frequent reference is made to the consulted public sources. Where public sources are mentioned,