By Brendan Sweeney
The letter’s goal according to CSHRN is to create understanding and a basis for collaboration between the new Afghan government and civil society “in order to promote human rights and to create respect for the rule of law in Afghanistan.”
While alluding to improvements made during the last eight years, the Network highlighted the lack of progress in fields such as economic, cultural and social rights, civil and political liberties including freedom of speech, security, access to information, women’s rights, the right to education and the rights of children.
CSHRN makes a number of concrete recommendations, and reiterates its call for a new law on access to information, pointing out that one of the reasons that fraud was rampant during the previous elections was that, “citizens did not receive information about the programs of the candidates, the role of the state and the role of their votes for the democratisations process in Afghanistan.”
According to the letter, the state’s failure to provide adequate equipment and logistics is the main reason for the large numbers of pregnant women dying in remote parts of the country. Likewise, the lack of adequate programmes for creating jobs has led to a situation where many young Afghans are either recruited by fundamentalists or get involved in organised crime, corruption or the drug trade.
Senior Advisor and Programme Manager at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Malek Sitez, who is responsible for DIHR projects in Afghanistan and currently stationed in Herat province, welcomed the letter and explained its background:
“President Karzai is currently finalising work on creating a new Afghan cabinet. With that in mind, the CSHRN has submitted an open analytical letter to him in the hope that it will play an important role in helping him to understand the real problems, challenges and abuses of human rights taking place in Afghanistan. The letter was submitted on 10th of December, International Human Rights Day, a day that attracts a lot of attention from the national and international community.”
CSHRN presented the letter during a press conference attended by Afghan and international media. According to Adriana Television Network, the letter was widely appreciated by Afghans who are anxiously waiting for a new government to be finalised.
The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) is a DIHR partner which consists of nearly 60 organizations. The Network was established in August 2004 as an umbrella structure to coordinate human rights activities among local non-governmental organizations. CSHRN works to promote human rights and to strengthen civil society in Afghanistan and carries out activities in more than 20 provinces.
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