Category: Global

Dozens of activists from women’s rights and human rights groups filled a Senate hearing room yesterday wearing bright yellow stickers that read “Afghanistan: Where’s the Marshall Plan?” Andrew Natsios, USAID administrator, testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations on the President’s budget for 2004. In his opening remarks, Ranking Committee Member Senator Patrick […]

A recent rise in threats against Afghan citizens for expressing their views on the country’s draft constitution is a cause for concern, according to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and the United Nations. “We have received reports of increasing threats, physical aggression and even arbitrary detentions,” said Nader Naderi, an AIHRC commissioner, according […]

Hamid Karzai, the interim President of Afghanistan, called for an extra $15 billion from the West for his country’s reconstruction. According to The Observer, Karzai warned that the current $5 billion committed so far is not enough to meet the promises given by the United States and Britain to rebuild Afghanistan. Karzai also stated that […]

Afghanistan plans to begin voter registration for the 2004 elections this September. However, Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned the United Nations that with no recent electoral experience and after two decades of warfare, the country could not accomplish this task alone, according to the Associated Press. Registration is expected to cost around $80 million and […]

During a visit to Germany by Secretary of State Colin Powell, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for the expansion of international peacekeeping forces beyond Kabul. Since Germany currently leads the peacekeeping force of some 4,500 troops, Schroeder’s statement prompted NPR reporter Emilie Harris to speculate on whether his announcement signals a possible shift in U.S. […]

At United Nations Security Council briefing yesterday, Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi called the security situation in Afghanistan “unstable and insufficient.” Brahimi called for the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) outside of Kabul to the rest of Afghanistan in order to support the development of a new constitution, voter registration, and the 2004 […]

Three hundred Afghan demonstrators staged an anti-US, anti-British protest in Kabul today-the capital’s first since the Taliban fell in 2001. Shouting sentiments like, “We want Islam to rule. We want security. [The US and Britain] have failed to bring it to us and we want them out,” the protesters confirmed warnings that religious fundamentalism is […]

A 35-member commission appointed to review Afghanistan’s draft constitution includes seven women. A preliminary draft of the constitution was completed last November by an eight-member committee headed by Vice President Nayiamatullah Shahrani, according to the Associated Press. The new commission will spend a month refining the draft, and then they will solicit the views of […]

Religious fundamentalism is on the rise in Afghanistan, an international human rights group warned officials this week at the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative Loubna Freih addressed the Commission saying, “The international community has allowed warlords and local military commanders to take control of much of the […]

While the United States Office for the Reconstruction of Iraq sent teams to Iraq to establish offices in various parts of the country this week, Afghanistan continues to struggle for resources and security to make possible the rebuilding of its government and its country. According to the Washington Post “the military is splintered by factionalism, […]

US bombs were responsible for the deaths of 11 civilians in Afghanistan earlier this week, according to the Agence France Presse. Considered the most serious mistake by the US military in Afghanistan since the accidental bombing of an Afghan wedding party last June, the 1,000-pound laser-guided bomb struck a civilian home, killing seven women and […]

An eight-member committee created last October to write a new constitution for Afghanistan submitted a draft last week to President Hamid Karzai, reported the Associated Press. While details have yet to be disclosed, the general framework is expected to be based on the 1964 Constitution, incorporate some elements of sharia (Islamic law), and resemble an […]

As the United States military launched preemptive strikes on Iraq last night, 1,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne began a two-and-a-half day attack on three villages east of Kandahar near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Operation Valiant Strike, the largest operation in Afghanistan since Operation Anaconda last year, involved assaults by Chinook, Blackhawk, and Apache helicopters […]

At a two-day conference this week in Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told international donors his country’s reconstruction may now cost as much as US$15 billion to US$20 billion, according to new estimates. Citing agricultural devastation, decrepit infrastructure, and widespread fighting throughout the region, Karzai told attendees, “The needs of Afghanistan as we know it […]

Despite some measures of progress following the Taliban’s fall from power in late 2001, Afghan women and girls continue to suffer brutal acts of violence and inequality, according to a United Nations (UN) report released today. The 18-page document, entitled “The Situation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan” stated, “In the absence of an effective […]

At a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai testified on post-conflict Afghanistan. Karzai stated, “Whatever the United States does in Iraq it should not reduce its attention to Afghanistan.” Karzai also listed his priorities, which include more funding for reconstruction, the Afghan National Army, and for Afghanistan’s budget. In […]

German Defense Minister Peter Struck told reporters Friday that civilians and German peacekeeping troops serving in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) might evacuate Afghanistan should a US-led war with Iraq erupt. A German government report warned that Western security and aid groups will face increasing hostilities from Afghan forces harboring anti-Western sentiments that will […]

Command of international peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan transferred from Turkey to Germany and the Netherlands today, reported Reuters. Under the leadership of German Lt. Gen. Norbert van Heyst, the 22-nation, 4,800-member International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will include 2,500 German and 700 Dutch troops. On Saturday, German Defense Minister Peter Struck called for NATO to […]

UN officials are growing increasingly concerned that a war with Iraq could have severe consequences on humanitarian efforts elsewhere, particularly in Afghanistan, Angola, and the Ivory Coast, reported the BBC. Reports last month indicated that Ruud Lubbers, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, received warnings to prepare for Iraqi refugees, but “There’s not one government […]

Twelve women in Kabul took driving tests Saturday, marking the first time since 1992 women have been permitted to drive in Afghanistan. The tests followed four months of preparation and training–offered by the German aid agency Medica Mondiale. One of the students, Giti Negbin told the BBC, “It’s so that we can solve our problems […]