The Honorable Colin Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Secretary Powell:
In light of recent developments in Kabul and Mazar-i Sharif, it is more important than ever that future arrangements for governing Afghanistan include strong protections of human rights, so that there is no return to the lawlessness and brutality that paved the way for the Taliban in the early 1990's.
We appreciate the sustained effort the United States has made to discourage the Northern Alliance from carrying out reprisal killings and other violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Nevertheless, some Northern Alliance forces have committed serious abuses, including summary executions of captured Taliban fighters and looting, which can only hinder efforts to build a stable, broad-based government that commands the support of all Afghans.
And the danger of continued conflict and human rights abuses has not diminished now that the Northern Alliance has achieved most of its immediate military goals. On the contrary, the risk of fighting among factions competing for power may now be higher, and their incentive to heed U.S. calls for restraint may be smaller. But the United States and the international community still have great leverage, because of the role they will play in establishing and supporting a transitional Afghan government. The United States should make clear now to the future leaders of Afghanistan, both privately and publicly, that it will support an internationally coordinated effort to hold all parties accountable for grave abuses against civilians. And it should insist on arrangements that make such abuses less likely in the future.
We would very much like to see the following principles incorporated in any efforts to build a future government in Afghanistan:
1. Excluding Perpetrators of International Crimes from a Future Government
Persons responsible for the most serious abuses of human rights and humanitarian law must not be included in a new government. Discussions on how to achieve this goal should begin now, at the earliest stages of planning for a post-Taliban Afghanistan. Though many potential Afghan leaders may not have clean hands, at the very least, those implicated in crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other crimes of universal jurisdiction should be sidelined. Experience shows that past abusers who return to power often become repeat abusers. The inclusion of such leaders could also undermine efforts to create a government with broad support among Afghanistan's ethnic communities.
2. No Amnesties from Prosecution
There should be no amnesties from prosecution for persons who have committed grave violations of international humanitarian law or crimes against humanity. Amnesty arrangements often seem expedient in peace-building. But more often, they undermine progress, by giving victims the sense that their grievances do not matter, and leaders the sense that they can get away with further acts of violence. In Sierra Leone, for instance, a broad amnesty as part of the 1999 peace agreement contributed to its collapse a year later. That should not be allowed to happen in Afghanistan.
3. Obtaining Basic Human Rights Commitments
Negotiators involved in efforts to establish of a broad-based government for Afghanistan should seek commitments to uphold Afghanistan's obligations as a party to international human rights treaties, as well as fundamental principles of human rights and humanitarian law. These should include guarantees of non-discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, particularly ethnic Hazaras and other Shia Muslims, as well as groups that may form minorities within specific regions, such as ethnic Pashtuns in northern Afghanistan. Attention should also be paid to developing transitional justice mechanisms that could adjudicate competing claims over land and property, while providing accountability for any continuing abuses committed by government officials and security forces. International assistance in the post-armed conflict period should include financial and other support, including training, for institutions involved in the administration of justice at all levels.
4. Women's Rights
While the Northern Alliance have made a point of liberating women from the cruel policies of the Taliban, the Alliance's own practices have been far from perfect. It is vital that a new government establish clear laws guaranteeing the women's rights to education, free expression, mobility, employment, and health care, while ending the punishments for which women have been singled out in the past. Women who are currently in detention for violating discriminatory laws and edicts should be immediately released. The international community should also proactively seek out Afghan women to ensure that they are receiving the relief and aid they need, especially for education and health. Just as important, it should ensure that Afghan women are included in negotiations on the formation of a new government. There are many Afghan women leaders who have struggled for years against the brutality of the many factions of the civil war. Indeed, they have done more than anyone else to keep Afghanistan on the international agenda in recent years. A process that rejects their input from the outset will fail to meet their needs in the future - and it will lose any claim to being truly "broad-based."
5. Establishing an International Monitoring Presence
We hope that you will recommend the creation of an international monitoring capacity which can be deployed as soon as possible and wherever feasible in Afghanistan, to investigate past abuses and to monitor continuing violations of human rights. Valuable lessons can be drawn from past international missions: In El Salvador, the U.N. deployed an investigative commission even before hostilities ended in 1992; its work was vital in creating a climate of confidence in which a peace agreement could be reached. In Haiti and Kosovo, monitoring missions, by the U.N. and OSCE, respectively, helped to protect civilians in insecure areas. At a later date, when security in Afghanistan is improved, the establishment of a full-scale investigative mechanism should be considered, with three goals: creating a comprehensive record of abuses in Afghanistan, ending the climate of impunity within the country and laying the foundation for further steps to ensure accountability, including the possibility of a future special tribunal.
6. Screening out human rights violators from Afghan military and police forces
Every effort should be made to disarm persons who have been implicated in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and to exclude them from Afghanistan's new armed forces and civilian police. Screening could be carried out by local authorities in conjunction with international monitors. Such screenings have been implemented in other contexts, for example in El Salvador, where the U.N. assisted efforts to disqualify military personnel from service on the basis of their past records, and in Bosnia and Hercegovina, where the U.N. conducted vetting of applicants for the civilian police.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Sincerely,
Sidney Jones
Executive Director
Asia Division
Tom Malinowski
Washington Advocacy Director
