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Afghan warlords in amnesty rally
Around 25,000 people have rallied in the Afghan capital Kabul, calling for a proposed war crimes amnesty for former military commanders to be made law.
The protesters, who gathered in a stadium, included ex-mujahideen and several top government officials.
The upper house of parliament has passed the controversial bill but it has yet to be signed by the president.
Tens of thousands of people were killed and tortured during decades of war and unrest in the country.
If the bill were to become law, those who led fighting first as leaders of the anti-Soviet resistance during the 1980s and then during the 1992-1996 civil war would be immune to prosecution for war crimes.
International rights groups and the UN have voiced opposition to the proposal, saying justice must be done.
The protesters, waving placards with pictures of political leaders, gathered in the city's Ghazi football stadium, where people were executed and tortured during the Taleban era.
"Whoever is against mujahideen is against Islam and they are the enemies of this country," former fighter Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, now an influential lawmaker, told the crowd of demonstrators.
Rights violations
Mr Sayyaf is one of several commanders linked to human rights violations committed during the country's civil war.
The rally was also attended by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, as well as current Vice-President Karim Khalili and Energy Minister Ismail Khan.
Youths later marched through the streets of the city, shouting "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and "Death to America!".
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6389137.stm
The upper house of parliament has passed the controversial bill but it has yet to be signed by the president.
Tens of thousands of people were killed and tortured during decades of war and unrest in the country.
If the bill were to become law, those who led fighting first as leaders of the anti-Soviet resistance during the 1980s and then during the 1992-1996 civil war would be immune to prosecution for war crimes.
International rights groups and the UN have voiced opposition to the proposal, saying justice must be done.
The protesters, waving placards with pictures of political leaders, gathered in the city's Ghazi football stadium, where people were executed and tortured during the Taleban era.
"Whoever is against mujahideen is against Islam and they are the enemies of this country," former fighter Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, now an influential lawmaker, told the crowd of demonstrators.
Rights violations
Mr Sayyaf is one of several commanders linked to human rights violations committed during the country's civil war.
The rally was also attended by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, as well as current Vice-President Karim Khalili and Energy Minister Ismail Khan.
Youths later marched through the streets of the city, shouting "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and "Death to America!".
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6389137.stm
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By Hafizullah Gardesh and Wahidullah Amani (ARR No. 242, 20-Feb-07)
Forgive and forget may be a noble aspiration, but it is not playing well in Afghanistan today. A wide spectrum of public opinion, both at home and abroad, has weighed in against a parliamentary resolution passed on January 31, which would grant blanket immunity for war crimes.
The resolution, passed by parliament’s lower house, the Wolesi Jirga, states that all those “who fought each other for various reasons during the past two and a half decades should be [included in] the national reconciliation process and should forgive each other. They should not be dealt with through legal and judicial channels”.
The resolution, which still has to be passed by the upper house and approved by the president before becoming law, would make it impossible to prosecute those responsible for numerous crimes against humanity during the past 25 years of Afghanistan’s long and bloody history. Given the deep and lasting scars from the successive conflicts - jihad, civil war, the fight against the Taleban - there are multiple layers of enmity to unravel, and dozens, if not hundreds, of war crimes suspects.
Many of those who stand accused of war crimes by human rights organisations are now in positions of power within the government. There are several behind the resolution itself.
Supporters say that it will promote national healing. With Afghanistan’s troubled history, they argue, it is in no one’s interests to start picking at old wounds.
“Those who have been named as criminals are actually those who defended the country,” said Maulawi Din Mohammad, a parliamentarian who backed the bill. “We need peace and security, and we cannot progress by more violence.”
But one man’s hero is another man’s warlord.
More
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=arr&s=f&o=333408&apc_state=henh