July 23, 2004 Overview UN says Afghan voter registration climbs to 80 percent of eligible voters The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is reporting that Afghan voter registration has climbed to some 80 percent of an estimated 9.5 million eligible Afghan voters. Manoel de Almeida e Silva, spokesman for UNAMA, told a press briefing in the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday (Thursday, July 22) that as of Tuesday (July 20) Afghan voter registration had reached 7,836,281 with men and women accounting for 59.2 percent (4,637,499) and 40.8 percent (3,198,782), respectively, of all registered voters. He said an estimated 2.3 million Afghan eligible voters in Pakistan and Iran would also be able to take part in the upcoming presidential elections in October and the parliamentary election in April 2005. He added that separate memorandums of understanding had already been signed with Iran and Pakistan that would allow out of country voter registration and polling. Almeida e Silva said despite an increase in the number of people registering, Note: This report has been compiled from publicly available information. Although information has been gathered from reliable sources the currency and completeness of the information reported herein is subject to change and cannot be guaranteed. Except for Overview section that is rewritten weekly, any changes in the other parts of the report are highlighted in red. Inquiries, updates and comments are welcome and should be directed to PDMIN team at [email protected]. 1 UNAMA was concerned about uneven registration in some areas, especially in the south. He also noted that voter registration for women in some areas of the country, especially the south, was half (20 percent) of the national average of 40 percent. To address the situation, a delegation from the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), that includes Dr. Farooq Wardak, the director of the electoral secretariat, and Professor Reginald Austin, the chief technical advisor, who went to the south and reportedly met with the governors of Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz and Zabul provinces, as well as security officials and representatives of the US-led coalition force. The lack of security, a low literacy rate among women and an insufficient number of educated women to help with the registration process, were identified as key problems in the south. It is important to note that officials had earlier estimated eligible Afghan voters to be numbered around 10.5 million, however, last month these estimates were revised downward to some 9.5 million voters. Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum enters presidential race Afghan warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek, announced his plan to run for president in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for October 9. Dostum, who has been a military advisor to President Hamid Karzai, made the announcement yesterday (Thursday, July 22) at a large political rally in the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif shortly after turning in his resignation to President Karzai. Dostum is the first high-profile challenger to Karzai to emerge in Karzai’s reelection bid as President. Monday (July 26) is the last day to file papers for candidacy and candidates are required to announce the names of their two vice presidents. Dostum has yet to name his selections for those posts. Dostum blames Karzai for applying the label of “warlords” to only non-Pashtun commanders and running an “unbalanced” campaign to disarm factional militias. Addressing his supporters at the rally, Dostum said, “Everyone has their dignity. I will defend your rights.” According to the BBC, it appears that Dostum’s decision to run for the president’s office is likely to bring the divisive issue of ethnicity to the forefront of the election campaign. Dostum’s decision to run against Karzai comes less than two weeks after Karzai said he would impose the toughest punishment against warlords that refuse to cooperate in the government’s disarmament campaign. Although Dostum is not likely to win against Karzai, he could possibly try to deprive Karzai 50 percent of the votes required to avoid a runoff vote. Separately, in his efforts to reduce the power of warlords and to improve security, Karzai this week removed three of the country’s powerful militia leaders from their posts as army commanders, and assigned them civilian responsibilities in his government. The three militia commanders, General Ustad Atta Mohammad, General Hazrat Ali and General Khan Mohammad Khan have been removed from their military positions and have been given roles in the provincial government. Atta Mohammad has been appointed as the governor of the northern province of Balkh and Hazrat Ali and Khan Mohammad Khan have been appointed as the provincial police chiefs of eastern Nangarhar and southern Kandahar provinces, respectively. Torrential rains inundate Afghanistan's central and northern highlands with floods and mudslides The United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is reporting that dozens of villages in Afghanistan’s central and northern highlands have been inundated with floods and mudslides triggered by last week’s (July 13-14) torrential rains. According to OCHA reports, Khamard district of central Bamyan (also spelled Bamiyan) province has been hit the hardest, where some 4,000 of the 7,000 residents in twenty-three villages have been directly affected as a result of the flooding. At least four deaths have been reported and more than 340 houses have been destroyed. Some 60 percent of the harvest has been reportedly lost and sizable farmland is submerged under water and debris. There has been a significant loss of livestock. The landslides have created a natural dam, which is blocking flood flow, posing a threat of water-borne diseases. The natural dam also poses further flooding risk to people and farmland in the event it bursts its bank. According to OCHA, there is an urgent need to dislodge the dam. In northeastern Badakshan province, eight people have been reportedly killed and some 70 families in the districts of Shohada and Jurm have lost their homes. A joint UN and Afghan government assessment team is already in northern Samangan province, where at least 20 homes have been damaged, as well as an unknown area of farmland. Provincial authorities in Bamiyan are seeking international assistance for Khamard district. The government of Denmark has provided some US$18,500 in emergency assistance for road clearance and transportation of relief supplies to the affected population. The Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, in conjunction with NGOs Solidarites and the Agha Khan Development Network, have sent relief teams with supplies to Khamard who have begun distribution. Note: This report has been compiled from publicly available information. Although information has been gathered from reliable sources the currency and completeness of the information reported herein is subject to change and cannot be guaranteed. Except for Overview section that is rewritten weekly, any changes in the other parts of the report are highlighted in red. Inquiries, updates and comments are welcome and should be directed to PDMIN team at [email protected]. 2 Movement 3.5 million refugee and IDP returns since early 2002, with over 2.9 million refugees returning to Afghanistan and over 500,000 IDPs going home. Over 2 million refugees returned from Pakistan; 900,000 returned from Iran. In 2004, 450,000 refugees returned by 20 July - 210,000 from Pakistan, including 100,000 from urban centers. An estimated 242,000 also came from Iran, including more than 50,000 spontaneous returns. July should see 100,000 returns, like May and June. UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) plans for 500,000 to return from Pakistan this year and 500,000 returns from Iran. UNHCR plans to close new post-September 2001 camps near the border in Pakistan by September 2004. About 800,000 refugees remain in Iran and 1.6 million in Pakistan. Remaining in Pakistan are over 100,000 in cities, one million in old camps and nearly 200,000 in new post-2001 camps. Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June with 92,000 and July with 78,000. In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps. 265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics. UNHCR, the Afghan Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation, and IOM (International Organization for Migration) plan to assist 90,000 IDPs return home in 2004. UNHCR started modest 2004 IDP returns. There are 188,000 recorded active IDPs, with the actual total being, perhaps, some 300,000. Active IDP numbers are 145,000 in the South, 20,000 in the West, 20,000 in the Center, 10,500 in the East and Southeast, and 9,000 in the North. UNHCR assisted 60,000 IDPs to return in 2003. During the first quarter of 2004, WFP provided food assistance to over 2 million Afghans. During a typical week, up to half a million people receive 2,000 to 4,000 tons of food. Several hundred thousand Afghans are employed on work-for-food programs.