Please note that the response was submitted in Dari; the English version below is a translation by Human Rights Watch
A. Security Force Accountability
- The Afghan Local Police (ALP) have been implicated in numerous abuses against civilians that have been traced to poor vetting of ALP members, limited governmental oversight, and the lack of a functioning disciplinary mechanism. As president, what changes, if any, would you make to reform the ALP program?
The police are the mirror of the government and their relations with the people must be very friendly and within the framework of the law. We strive that:
- The recruitment mechanisms for the Local Police are done according to the evaluation of the individual's personal particulars so that said individuals have no ethnic issues with the local people.
- A one-month training related to social interaction and awareness of human rights standards and laws of Afghanistan will be given to them [sic].
2. Afghanistan has no functioning system to provide prompt, fair and consistent compensation to civilians harmed by Afghan security forces. As president, would you create such a system?
- Yes, and efforts will be made to find solutions for their prevention and a comprehensive investigation about such incidents will be conducted.
3. As president, what steps would you take to end abuses by illegal militias (arbakis), some of which are aligned with and supported by the government?
- We will make efforts so that forces parallel to the army and police are reduced and all the responsibilities are delegated to the security forces and that the arbakis work within the framework of these forces.
B. Women’s Rights
4. As president, would you support and work to provide the necessary resources for the establishment of shelters for women fleeing domestic violence and specialized violence against women prosecution units within the Attorney General’s Office in each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces?
- Our efforts will be to do a serious and decisive fight against the phenomenon of violence against women and to investigate violence at the earliest opportunity. For this purpose, special courts will be created for the immediate investigation of such cases. Our aim is the overall reduction of violence against women, and if necessary, shelters will be created in other areas.
5. There are very small numbers of women in the Afghan National Police (ANP). Could you please describe what specific steps you, as president, would take to increase the number of women who join the ANP and the ANP’s success at retaining these women in the police force?
- The drafting and approval of regulations that can implement the principle of respect for women in the ranks for the army
- Creation of organs for oversight of the situation of women in the ranks of the army and police
- Gradual and need-based increase in the above two principles
6. As president, what steps would you take to improve enforcement of the provisions of the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which makes forced marriage and child marriage a crime?
- Distribution of the tazkira [ID card] for all individuals so age can be specified
- Making mandatory a check on the document [specifying the age of] the [woman] undergoing nikah [marriage ceremony] at the time of marriage by the person conducting the aqd [marriage ritual]
- General directive from the Ministry of Endowments for all ulema so that no marriage ceremony can take place when one party is underage
7. Following Afghanistan’s first review by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in mid-2013, the committee expressed serious concerns about discriminatory treatment of women in regard to personal status and family law matters. The committee called on Afghanistan to:
a) Repeal all discriminatory provisions of the Shia Personal Status Law and Civil Code;
b) Raise the age of marriage for girls to 18;
c) Adopt a Family Law providing equal rights for women and men in all matters related to marriage and family, including property, inheritance, divorce and child custody;
(d) Abolish polygamy.
As president, would you support and work for these changes?
The amendment of the Civil Code of Afghanistan is a dire need and efforts will be made so that, at a specific time, gradual reforms in the civil code can be implemented keeping in view social sensitivities and Afghanistan's international commitments.
8. In recent years, there have been many murders of high-profile women, including women who work for the government, such as Lieutenant Islam Bibi and Lieutenant Nigar in Helmand this year. As president, what would you do to protect female government employees from attacks?
Protecting every individual government appointee and employee is the government's duty. Our efforts will [be made to] identify individuals or appointees who might face threats and offer them necessary security precautions so that such cases can be avoided.
C. Transitional Justice and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
9. Many serious human rights abuses have been committed in Afghanistan over the past 35 years, yet no major perpetrators have been prosecuted or convicted for any of these abuses. As president, would you take steps to prosecute those people who credible evidence indicates were involved in serious human rights abuses?
In case credible evidence is accessed by the government, all efforts will be made for their prosecution. But in addition to that, we want a transitional justice process such as the one in Rwanda and want the people of Afghanistan to make that decision; the government will support the people's decision.
10. In 2012, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) completed an 800-page report mapping serious human rights abuses that were committed in Afghanistan between 1978 and 2001, but the report has not yet been released by the Afghan government. As president, would you release this report?
Our government will conduct a general referendum in this connection and if the result of the referendum is that the said report be published, it will be published, and if not, the will of the Afghan people and their decision will be consulted and implemented.
11. As president, what would you do to revive and implement the 2005 Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice?
We will welcome any process that can effect peace in Afghanistan. Our fundamental policy in relation to peace is to start a popular process to bring peace in the country because the people are the real victims of war and injustice. Therefore, we will plan a bottom-up, popular mechanism in order to follow the peace process more effectively and seriously.
D. Torture and Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment
12. After a government committee found widespread torture in Afghan detention centers, President Karzai in February 2013 ordered that any government officials who engage in torture would be prosecuted, yet there have been virtually no prosecutions. As president, what steps would you take to ensure that members of the police, military and other government officials who commit torture are brought to justice?
The Constitution of Afghanistan deems torture as against human dignity and, in order to prevent it, our government will form a supervisory administration within the Ministry of Justice for evaluation of the condition of prisons and prisoners. Their fundamental task will be ongoing and serious evaluation of prisons and dealing with violators of the law in a timely and lawful manner.
13. As president, would you ensure access to all Afghan detention facilities by the AIHRC, the United Nations, and humanitarian and human rights organizations to monitor conditions within these facilities?
Access to prisons will be provided to all human rights organizations within the legal regulations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
14. As president, what would you do to end compelled “virginity examinations,” a form of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that is carried out on all women and girls accused of “moral crimes” for use in legal proceedings, despite being medically invalid?
These tests will be conducted only in cases that necessitate such tests and civil and criminal cases where, without such tests, an investigation cannot be conducted; in other cases where there is no link [to such tests, these tests] will be stopped.
E. Children’s Rights
15. Only about half of Afghan girls currently go to school, and many boys are also deprived of education. As president, what steps would you take to increase access to and quality of education for Afghan children, especially girls?
The quality of instruction is related to the commitment, adequate pay and capacity building of teachers. Our fundamental attention at the beginning of the next government will be that teacher salary is increased gradually and in a manner consistent with teachers' capabilities [so that the pay can] guarantee a dignified life. Programs have been planned to build teacher capacity and will be implemented twice a year nationwide. And lastly, the hiring conditions for teachers through a better standard and transparent process will be studied and implemented.
16. Child labor, including in mining and in the carpet industry, remains a very serious problem in Afghanistan. As president, what steps would you take to reduce child labor?
- Drawing the cooperation of charitable organizations and consolidation of aid for the creation of vocational schools in important cities
- Collecting unaccompanied children from the streets under the supervision of a national program for assistance to children
- Approval of a plan for non-use of child labor and its implementation at different locations in the country
F. Afghan Refugee Children
17. Several European countries have requested that the Afghan government agree to the return of unaccompanied Afghan children from Europe, even if the children’s families cannot be located. As president, what would your response be to this proposal?
The government of Afghanistan will get a list of unaccompanied refugee children from European countries and will attempt first to identify families or their close relatives and then, upon their agreement and evaluation of their living conditions, repatriate the children to Afghanistan. In addition, the government of Afghanistan will speak with the respective countries to create a mechanism that allows them to live either in European countries or Afghanistan.
