The Boston Globe: Afghan warlords seen as threat

July 29, 2003

Afghan warlords seen as threat

By TODD PITMAN

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Warlords are creating ''a climate of fear'' in Afghanistan that is threatening efforts to draft a new constitution and could derail national elections expected next year, a human rights group said.

In a report released last night, Human Rights Watch accused soldiers and police loyal to powerful warlords -- many of whom are in the government -- of kidnapping, extortion, robbery, and the rape of women, girls, and boys. The group, based in New York, also detailed numerous death threats against Afghan journalists and low-level politicians who criticized authorities.

''If allowed to continue with impunity, these abuses will make it impossible for Afghans to create a modern, democratic state,'' the group said.

President Hamid Karzai's administration has been struggling to rebuild the war-shattered country and extend the central government's authority beyond Kabul, the capital. Most of Afghanistan is controlled by warlords who rule as they see fit and have private armies.

Most of those now in power were backed by the United States and its allies in the war that toppled the Taliban in late 2001, and many still work as allies alongside American troops in the country.

Karzai appointed many of the warlords as governors because they already controlled areas in the lawless wake of the Taliban's collapse.

His government is supposed to draft a new constitution in October and government officials are traveling through the countryside to solicit public views on what the charter should contain. National elections to choose a new head of state are scheduled for next June.

Presidential spokesman Jawid Luddin said both processes are on track and the government is doing all it can to cut down on rights abuses. He said it is a difficult job in a country where few members of security forces have received training on respecting human rights.

''It's obviously a gigantic task,'' Jawid said. ''We still have a long way to go, but we're moving forward to the extent it's possible for the government.''

The US military command at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul did not respond to an e-mail request seeking comment on the Human Rights Watch report.

Most abuses detailed in the 101-page report were ''ordered, committed, or condoned by government personnel in Afghanistan -- soldiers, police, military, and intelligence officials and government ministers,'' the rights group said.

Testimony from victims and witnesses implicated soldiers and police serving senior officials, including Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim, Education Minister Yunus Qanooni, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful former leader of guerrillas who fought against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.

The report also details abuses against women and girls and says threats, violence, political intimidation, attacks, and ''resurgent religious fundamentalism'' are keeping countless women indoors or out of work and millions of girls out of school. The report focuses on southeastern Afghanistan and documents abuses it says were committed ''in virtually every district'' in the region in the first six months of this year.