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February 2003
Vol. IX, No. 2
Rina Amiri |
Can Afghan Women Feed the Hunger for Democracy?
"I see great potential in Afghan women," says Rina Amiri.
Speaking to Institute staff and guests on January 8, Rina Amiri described the continued process toward democracy in Afghanistan, and particularly the place of women in the process. Amiri is presently the political affairs officer for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, focusing on political participation of women. The position has brought her home to Afghanistan.
While there has been much criticism of the Loya Jirga (Afghan grand council), Amiri is encouraged by the fact that 200 women were elected to parliament, and by the establishment of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, although she had hoped for more ethnic balance and more technocrats in the government.
Afghanistan is now at a critical crossroads, she said. Even though some hopes have not been realized, there are clear paths forward. The central government must now be strengthened for the peace process to succeed, and the rule of law and civil society must be developed.
Amiri is also a member of Women Waging Peace, a network launched in 1999 that facilitates connections among women working in conflicts. The Institute's Professional Training Program has supported the network most recently by organizing a colloquium in November 2002.
The Road to a Rule of Law
Symposium Attendees |
A cross-section of Afghanistan's legal community reaches consensus on reform of the Afghan justice system at Institute meeting.
There has been law in Afghanistan since the first century of the Islamic calendar, but there has been no real "rule" of law, says Judicial Commission chairman Bahouddin Baha. Law on paper is not enough, continued Baha, it must be implemented.
Afghanistan's Supreme Court, Ministry of Justice, Office of the Public Prosecutor, Judicial Reform Commission, Human Rights Commission, Constitution Drafting Committee, and the University of Kabul Law Faculty and Sharia Law Faculty were all represented at a four-day symposium organized by the Institute's Rule of Law Program in February in Washington.
Mohammed Farid Hamidi, member of the Human Rights Commission, concurred with Baha, adding that participation of civil society is necessary for the implementation of the rule of law, and it would help bring about a change from a purely reactive criminal law to a more preventive system.
Afghanistan has a rich legal tradition, participants noted. The country's current challenge is not the absence of law, but the reform and implementation of the law. In addition, they agreed that international human rights standards should be integrated into all aspects of the Afghan justice system, and that disarmament and demobilization are prerequisites to building respect for the rule of law.
A key part of the symposium was the involvement of international legal experts. From the U.S. government, Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for global affairs; Larry Thompson, deputy attorney general; Paul Simons, acting assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs; and David Johnson, ambassador-at-large for Afghan reconstruction, encouraged the activities of the Afghan legal community and pledged support for their efforts. This was important because the symposium discussion often returned to the need for resources to support legal reform.
The symposium's open dialogue bred consensus on recommendations. Participants advocated that these be applied beyond Kabul and that the International Security Force for Afghanistan (ISAF) should expand its territorial and operational mandate to extend the rule of law throughout the country in the shortest time possible.
Human rights, women's roles, civil society participation, and legitimacy of the justice system were cited as priorities. Additional recommendations included standards for judicial officials, police, and defense counsel; improving legal education and public education; encouraging informal justice systems; addressing human rights abuses; better integration of the components of the justice system; and compiling statistics.
The participants also noted the need for further information on the experience of other countries, as well as regular meetings among the participants upon their return to Afghanistan. The Institute's Rule of Law Program is organizing follow-on seminars with legal representatives in Afghanistan in the coming months.
