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“We are Accidentally Alive in Afghanistan” Reflections on Peace and Justice in Afghanistan
International Parliamentary Conference on Peacebuilding: Tackling State Fragility, Wednesday 3 February
Sari Kouvo, International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) &Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN)[email protected] / sari@afghanistan-
analysts.net
A Brief Timeline of Conflict in Afghanistan 1978-2010
1978 Afghan communist coup;
1979 Soviet occupation starts and Afghanistan becomes a Cold War battleground;
1989 Soviet withdrawal and establishment of sovereign Afghan government;
1992 Coup and civil war;
1996 Taliban takeover;
2001-10 US-led international military intervention, supported from the ground by Afghan
Mujahedeen forces. Afghanistan becomes a battleground for the War on Terror;
2001-12 Bonn conference;
2004 First Presidential elections;
2005 Parliamentary elections (Bonn process comes to a close) ;
2006 First London conference (Afghanistan Compact adopted);
2009 Second Presidential elections ;
2010 Second London conference.
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No Peace, No Justice
Towards Peace (or Not) :
• The Bonn Agreement was not a peace agreement, but a power sharing agreement between select commanders/political groupings in Afghanistan;
• A “politics of accomodation “has marked the peace- and state-building agenda;
• No comprehensive disarmament; • Governance, rule of law and security sector reform
marked by ad hoc and short-term solutions;• Reconciliation efforts focused only on mid- and low-
level commanders/fighters and no overall political strategy for reconciliation has been attempted.
Transitional Justice:
• No focus on justice in the Bonn Agreement;• “A Call for Justice”, Afghanistan Independent Human
Rights Commission (2005);• Government Action Plan for Peace, Justice and
Reconciliation (2005);• Amnesty Law (2008);• Governance deficit and culture of impunity (“Telephone
justice”).
Image: Tank with election poster, Bamyan Province 2006 (Copyright, S Kouvo)
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Warlord Governance: Failure by Design?
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Questions?