KashifAsrar
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By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 11, 2007; Page A21
KABUL, March 10 -- Afghan lawmakers on Saturday overwhelmingly passed a bill granting limited amnesty to suspected war criminals after President Hamid Karzai inserted measures that he said would allow victims from three decades of conflict to seek justice.
Parliament had earlier approved a bill that granted perpetrators a near total amnesty. Karzai countered that on Saturday with a new version that protects groups suspected of war crimes but allows for the prosecution of individuals -- provided that victims come forward with accusations.
Every citizen still has the right to call for justice and to go to court. This is the most important point," said Karim Rahimi, a presidential spokesman.
Karzai's proposal was an attempt to find a middle ground between the former commanders who dominate parliament and human rights advocates who have called for many of those men and others to be held accountable for war crimes.
Still, human rights groups said the bill goes against international law and will keep violators from being punished for their crimes. The measure also appears to place the burden of proof on the victims, and legal experts said its wording was vague.
"It's a confused bill, and the law needs to be clear," said Shukria Barakzai, one of only four members of the lower house who voted against the bill. Barakzai said lawmakers debated the language in the new bill for less than an hour after Karzai sent it to parliament Saturday morning.
The bill will now go back to the president, who intends to sign it, Rahimi said. Karzai has come under intense domestic and international pressure on the issue.
Legislators who had supported the first amnesty bill said they were pleased with the new wording, even if it did not give the total protection they had sought. Many former commanders have argued that war crimes trials will only open old wounds and encourage more violence.
"It's clear that this is less powerful than the first version. But it will not bring major difficulties," said Mir Wali Khan, a former mujaheddin fighter who represents the southern province of Helmand. "Nobody wants to abandon their power, to surrender their guns and go to court for trial. No one wants to be hanged like Saddam."
The issue of amnesty has proved extraordinarily contentious in Afghanistan. The country has been at war almost continuously since the late 1970s, and independent researchers have exposed evidence of war crimes through the decades, committed by nearly every faction. Communist supporters, mujaheddin commanders and Taliban leaders have all been accused.
Parliament is dominated by former mujaheddin fighters who beat back the Soviet presence in the 1980s but then turned their guns on one another during the 1990s in particularly horrific fighting that devastated Kabul, the capital.
Last month, former mujaheddin commanders staged a rally in Kabul in which thousands turned out to advocate amnesty.
John Sifton, a senior researcher at the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch, said that while the new bill eliminates some of the most questionable aspects of the original -- including a provision that protected commanders from criticism in the media -- it remains deeply flawed. He said victims should not have to prove they were wronged.
"Afghanistan has not just the right but the obligation to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture," he said. "If they pass this law, they will be violating those obligations."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001263.html
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 11, 2007; Page A21
KABUL, March 10 -- Afghan lawmakers on Saturday overwhelmingly passed a bill granting limited amnesty to suspected war criminals after President Hamid Karzai inserted measures that he said would allow victims from three decades of conflict to seek justice.
Parliament had earlier approved a bill that granted perpetrators a near total amnesty. Karzai countered that on Saturday with a new version that protects groups suspected of war crimes but allows for the prosecution of individuals -- provided that victims come forward with accusations.
Every citizen still has the right to call for justice and to go to court. This is the most important point," said Karim Rahimi, a presidential spokesman.
Karzai's proposal was an attempt to find a middle ground between the former commanders who dominate parliament and human rights advocates who have called for many of those men and others to be held accountable for war crimes.
Still, human rights groups said the bill goes against international law and will keep violators from being punished for their crimes. The measure also appears to place the burden of proof on the victims, and legal experts said its wording was vague.
"It's a confused bill, and the law needs to be clear," said Shukria Barakzai, one of only four members of the lower house who voted against the bill. Barakzai said lawmakers debated the language in the new bill for less than an hour after Karzai sent it to parliament Saturday morning.
The bill will now go back to the president, who intends to sign it, Rahimi said. Karzai has come under intense domestic and international pressure on the issue.
Legislators who had supported the first amnesty bill said they were pleased with the new wording, even if it did not give the total protection they had sought. Many former commanders have argued that war crimes trials will only open old wounds and encourage more violence.
"It's clear that this is less powerful than the first version. But it will not bring major difficulties," said Mir Wali Khan, a former mujaheddin fighter who represents the southern province of Helmand. "Nobody wants to abandon their power, to surrender their guns and go to court for trial. No one wants to be hanged like Saddam."
The issue of amnesty has proved extraordinarily contentious in Afghanistan. The country has been at war almost continuously since the late 1970s, and independent researchers have exposed evidence of war crimes through the decades, committed by nearly every faction. Communist supporters, mujaheddin commanders and Taliban leaders have all been accused.
Parliament is dominated by former mujaheddin fighters who beat back the Soviet presence in the 1980s but then turned their guns on one another during the 1990s in particularly horrific fighting that devastated Kabul, the capital.
Last month, former mujaheddin commanders staged a rally in Kabul in which thousands turned out to advocate amnesty.
John Sifton, a senior researcher at the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch, said that while the new bill eliminates some of the most questionable aspects of the original -- including a provision that protected commanders from criticism in the media -- it remains deeply flawed. He said victims should not have to prove they were wronged.
"Afghanistan has not just the right but the obligation to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture," he said. "If they pass this law, they will be violating those obligations."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001263.html
