July 2003 Vol. 15, No. 5 (c) “KILLING YOU IS A VERY EASY THING FOR US”: Human Rights Abuses in Southeast Afghanistan TABLE OF CONTENTS Glossary ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Index of Names Used in This Report......................................................................................................................... 5 Map 1: Afghanistan .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Map 2: Southeast Afghanistan.................................................................................................................................. 9 I. Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 10 Effects on Security, Free Expression, and Political Activity............................................................................... 11 Effects on Women and Girls................................................................................................................................ 12 The Failures of Afghan and International Actors ................................................................................................ 13 II. Background ........................................................................................................................................................ 16 The Southeast: Regional Background................................................................................................................. 18 III. Abuses Against Civilians by Police, Military Forces, and Former Fighters..................................................... 20 Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, Kidnapping, and Ransom ......................................................................................... 20 Rape ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Rape of Girls and Women................................................................................................................................ 26 Rape of Boys.................................................................................................................................................... 28 Armed Robbery and Home Invasions.................................................................................................................. 30 Extortion and Beatings of Shopkeepers, and Taxi, Truck, and Bus Drivers ....................................................... 37 Extortion of Taxi, Truck, and Bus Drivers ...................................................................................................... 38 Extortion of Shopkeepers and Other Individuals............................................................................................. 41 Illegal Seizure and Forcible Occupation of Land ................................................................................................ 42 Effects on Returns of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons...................................................................... 44 IV. Attacks on Political Actors and Political Activities.......................................................................................... 46 Attacks on Political Parties, their Members, and Leaders ................................................................................... 46 The Legacy of the Loya Jirga .......................................................................................................................... 46 Threats and Arrests after the Loya Jirga.......................................................................................................... 49 The Chilling Effect of Political Intimidation ................................................................................................... 51 Attacks on Others Who Criticize the Government .............................................................................................. 53 Attacks on Women’s Rights Advocates .............................................................................................................. 55 V. Attacks on Media ............................................................................................................................................... 59 Press and Media Activity in Afghanistan ............................................................................................................ 59 Threats, Arrests, and Harassment ........................................................................................................................ 60 VI. Restrictions on Social Activities....................................................................................................................... 67 VII. Denial of Basic Freedoms to Women and Girls.............................................................................................. 70 A Note about Culture and Women’s Rights ........................................................................................................ 71 Basic International Legal Standards .................................................................................................................... 72 Specific Abuses of the Human Rights of Women and Girls................................................................................ 73 Liberty of Movement ....................................................................................................................................... 73 The Right to Education.................................................................................................................................... 76 Control of Women’s and Girls’ Dress ............................................................................................................. 84 The Right to Work ........................................................................................................................................... 87 VIII. Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................... 89 Recommendations regarding the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ............................................. 89 Recommendations regarding the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs)....................................................... 89 Recommendations regarding the Afghan National Army.................................................................................... 89 Recommendations regarding disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR)....................................... 90 Additional recommendations to the Afghan Transitional Administration and President Hamid Karzai............. 90 Additional recommendations to the United States Government.......................................................................... 92 Additional recommendations to the U.N. Secretary-General, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and U.N. Agencies ........................................................................................................................... 92 Additional recommendations to donor nations, nations involved in security, and other nations involved in Afghanistan.......................................................................................................................................................... 93 Recommendation to nations hosting Afghan refugees, including Iran and Pakistan........................................... 94 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................... 95 Appendix.................................................................................................................................................................. 96 2 Will warlordism end, or will it grow stronger? Will ISAF and the United States deal with warlordism, or let it strengthen? What assurances can we have for future elections? In the loya jirga, 85 percent of the elected were with the warlords, or were warlords. If the international community takes no action to correct this situation, those elected in the [2004] elections will be 100 percent warlords. —Engineer from Ghazni province, Kabul, March 8, 2003 They [military commanders] call themselves the original and pure representatives of the people because, according to them, they defended the freedom of Afghanistan in the past [against the Soviet Union]. And now they consider themselves the future protectors of Afghan freedom too. On the contrary, they are neither the representatives of the Afghan people, nor the protectors of Afghan freedom. They are simply gunmen. —Civil society organizer, Kabul, March 15, 2003 First, we wish the girls who live in the provinces would have schools—not just grades one through five at most. Second, we wish that they would collect all the guns from the gunmen, so girls can go out and go to school. Third, we wish they would talk with families—girls are interested but some families won’t let them go out. Yes, people are afraid of what would happen from the gunmen if they allowed their girls to go to school. Of course they are afraid of men with guns or other groups. —Women