AfghanistanAfghanistan Research Research and and Evaluation Evaluation Unit Unit CaseCase Study Study Series Series LEGACIES OF CONFLICT Healing Complexes and Moving Forwards in Kabul 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: 1124E © 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 Kabul 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 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 of Afshar and Shakardara 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 during the course of the research. Special thanks go to the research team responsible for conducting this research and for contributing to the analysis of the data, Fauzia Rahimi, Amin Sheikhzadeh, Zaman Sultani, Akbar Ludin, Jamila Wafa, Shukria Azadmanesh and Farkhloqa Amini. The author wishes to thank them for their dedication and patience throughout the project. Fauzia Rahimi, Amin Sheikhzadeh and Zaman Sultani deserve extra recognition for writing Section 2 of this paper. Finally, the author would like to thank Sari Kouvo and Chona Echavez for their advice in the production of the paper, Jay Lamey and Oliver Lough for their editorial support, and Deborah Smith for establishing the project in conjunction with International Center for Transitional Justice. Emily Winterbotham Legacies of Conflict: Healing Complexes and Moving Forwards in Kabul 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 .............................................................. 7 2. Methodology and Site Selection ������������������������������������������������������������� 8 2.1 Research methodology ................................................................... 8 2.2 Site selection .............................................................................. 10 2.3 Ethical considerations ................................................................... 10 2.4 Research challenges and solutions ..................................................... 11 2.5 Context ..................................................................................... 13 3. War Stories: Perceptions of Afghanistan’s Conflicts ������������������������������������ 18 3.1 Reflections on the different phases of the conflicts: Which one was worst? .........18 3.2 Responsibility for the conflicts: Perpetrators and victims ......................... 26 3.3 Concluding remarks: The nature of war .............................................. 29 4. Dealing with the Legacies of Conflict: Addressing Victims’ Suffering ����������������30 4.1 Lingering effects of war: Mental, psychological and emotional problems ............ 30 4.2 Addressing victims’ suffering: Uncovering the “truth” ............................. 33 4.3 Remember and record the past ........................................................ 36 4.4 Commemorate the past.................................................................. 39 4.5 Compensate suffering and loss: Repairing damage .................................. 42 4.6 Implementing restorative and reparative processes ................................ 45 5. Dealing with the Perpetrators of Wartime Violations ����������������������������������� 49 5.1 Contextual considerations............................................................... 49 5.2 Holding perpetrators to account ....................................................... 54 5.3 Forgive and forget ........................................................................ 66 5.4 Organising forgiveness ................................................................... 74 6. Achieving Reconciliation and Peace ....................................................... 79 6.1 Current state of peace and reconciliation ............................................ 79 6.2 Achieving reconciliation and building peace ......................................... 86 6.3 Specific perceptions about peace and reconciliation with the Taliban ..........91 7. Conclusion ..................................................................................... 97 Appendix: Respondent and FGD Data ......................................................... 100 Bibliography ...................................................................................... 101 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit List of Maps, Boxes, Figures and Tables Map 1: Research sites in Kabul Province ....................................................... 14 Box 1: Harsh economic conditions under the Taliban compared to financial and material benefits of communism ....................................................... 21 Box 2: Ethnic favouritism under the Taliban ................................................... 21 Box 3: Specific targeting of Hazaras by the Taliban .......................................... 23 Box 4: Disintegration of ethnic/qawm relations .............................................. 24 Box 5: Hazaras helped by their neighbours .................................................... 25 Box 6: The leaders are responsible for all the conflict phases ............................. 26 Box 7: International responsibility for Afghanistan’s conflicts .............................. 29 Box 8: Reported cases of insanity due to wartime experience in Afshar .................. 31 Box 9: Visibility of alleged perpetrators in Afshar serves as a painful reminder of the war .......................................................................................... 32 Box 10: Unanswered questions and the impact on coping with the past .................. 33 Box 11: Reflections on the benefits of AREU’s research ...................................... 34 Box 12: Finding out the truth about the past conflicts ...................................... 35 Box 13: Recording processes and registering the guilty parties ............................ 37 Box 14: Opinions in support of memorialisation .............................................. 39 Box 15: Memorialisation is tainted in Afghanistan ............................................ 40 Box 16: The symbolic and practical uses of memorials ...................................... 41 Box 17: Compensating the physical and material impacts of war .......................... 43 Box 18: The role of perpetrators in providing compensation ............................... 44 Box 19: Government recognition vital in all processes ...................................... 46 Box 20: Role for the international community ...............................................