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OPED: October 6th, 2004
Dateline Washington
Afghans Fed Up With Civil War
Warlords Pose Threat To Free Elections
by Ashish Kumar Sen
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| A UN official explains to a student in Kabul on Tuesday the proper procedure to vote. The Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan says it expects a large turnout for the first Presidential election. — Reuters photo |
According to a recent report by New York-based Human Rights Watch, “the political rights of Afghans are not being adequately protected or promoted.”
“The warlords are still calling the shots,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Many voters in rural areas say the militias have already told them how to vote, and that they’re afraid of disobeying them.”
Senior officials in U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration and the U.S. military have said Afghanistan is heading into a dangerous period leading up to the October 9 elections.
John Sifton, an Afghanistan researcher with Human Rights Watch, said in an interview from New Delhi that although many of the minimal requirements for a democratic election have been met, the overall process has been severely affected by the overriding atmosphere of threats, harassment and fear.
“An undeterminable number of politically active people have decided against taking part in the process, and many voters are simply not free to enjoy their political right to vote… they are afraid to vote as they wish,” said Mr Sifton.
The Human Rights Watch report says while many observers inside and outside Afghanistan continue to focus on the Taliban as the main threat to human rights and political development, in most parts of the country Afghans said they are primarily afraid of the local factional leaders and military commanders — not the Taliban insurgency.
“Far from a Taliban problem, most Afghans tell us that their main fear is of jangsalaran — the Dari and Pashto word for ‘warlords’,” the report noted.
Peter Tomsen served in the first Bush administration as the U.S. special envoy to the Afghan resistance from 1989 to 1992. “The warlords want to keep their independent authorities in their strongholds,” Mr Tomsen explained. “They don’t want other larger warlords or still others to affect their domination in their local areas.”
“This personal pursuit of power is their main goal,” he said.
But, Mr Tomsen added, “Afghans do not want the Taliban back.”
“The people of Afghanistan are fed up with civil war,” said Masooda Jalal, the only female presidential candidate in this male dominated society and election.
Other key candidates include Yunus Qanooni, a Tajik who played a prominent role in the Northern Alliance and who has the backing of Defence Minister Mohammed Fahim. Mr Karzai dropped Gen. Fahim as his running mate in favour of Ahmed Zia Massoud, the brother of slain Mujahideen commander Ahmed Shah Massoud and the son-in-law of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Another contender, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek, in July stepped down as military adviser to Mr Karzai.
Manizha Naderi, New York-based administrative and community outreach director for Women for Afghan Women, said people in Afghanistan don’t feel safe with the warlords in power. “These are the same people that destroyed Kabul and brutalised the people. They raped women and destroyed Afghanistan,” Ms Naderi said. “Now they are ministers and governors.”
“These people have no place in government,” Dr Jalal agreed. If she comes to power, Dr. Jalal says she will appoint “specialists and professionals who are democrats and believe in democracy” to her Cabinet.
Human Rights Watch warned that if the international community does not take urgent steps to disarm the warlords and provide adequate security for average Afghans, serious human rights problems could disrupt next year’s local and parliamentary elections.
“The signs are ominous,” said Mr Adams. “The Afghan government and its international allies have to act fast. What’s needed is a significantly increased international security force and U.N. human rights monitors.”
“Afghan leaders and external powers such as the United States continue to underplay the dangers posed by warlord dominance,” he said. “For a long time there has been widespread agreement that elections cannot be successful unless additional international security forces are deployed and warlord militias are disarmed. If Afghanistan is a priority of the international community, where are the troops?”