Capital Punishment in Afghanistan

Despite all the troubles in Afghanistan I thought until today that at least this country and its struggling government had the integrity to maintain its moratorium on capital punishment, a practice I find abhorrent and wrong for so many reasons. (Readers may remember my fervent blogging over a threatened execution in Liberia last year.) Sadly, this morning I read about an official execution of 15 Afghans two days ago.

Here is Amnesty International's statement. I agree with all of it except that I personally do not choose to emphasize most of their points in the sixth paragraph because I believe capital punishment is equally and morally wrong in all cases - I could not have advocated the execution of Hitler or Pol Pot... though if I'd been in charge they would have wished for it.

Amnesty International condemned the executions of 15 people on Sunday 7 October 2007 in Afghanistan. The 15 men were executed by firing squad at the Pul-i Charkhi high security prison outside Kabul. They had been charged with a variety of offences including rape, murder, attacking security posts, robbery and looting.

Amnesty International particularly regrets these executions at a time when there is a real global momentum towards the abolition of the death penalty. A total of 133 countries from all regions of the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice and there is an overall decline in the number of reported executions. On 10 October, World Day against the Death Penalty, people around the globe will be protesting against the use of the death penalty, and later this month the UN General Assembly will be voting on a resolution calling on all governments to support a global moratorium on executions.

These executions mark an end to a three year moratorium on executions in Afghanistan, and comes shortly after the Taleban executed a 15 year old in southern Afghanistan.

Amnesty International considers the death penalty as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As the world continues to turn away from the use of the death penalty, the execution of these 15 men is an anomaly. Such state sanctioned killing is all the more unacceptable where, as in this case, there are serious doubts about the fairness of trials.

The last execution in Afghanistan was that of Abdullah Shah in April 2004. At the time of his trial in October 2002 the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, following her observance of his trial proceedings, stated there were concerns “that the safeguards and restrictions according to international standards for imposing capital punishment cannot be observed at this stage.” In 2003, the UN Commission on Human Rights called on the Afghan government to "declare a moratorium on the death penalty in the light of procedural and substantive flaws in the Afghan judicial system."

The death penalty is often discriminatory in its application, used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities. It is often imposed after unfair trials, the risk of executing the innocent has been persistently demonstrated, and executions have never been proved to have any unique deterrent effect against crime. Amnesty International believes that executions are brutalizing, dehumanising those that carry it out and devaluing the worth that society places upon human life.

Amnesty International again calls on the Afghan government to immediately impose an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Kabul security

I've had a few people write to ask about the security situation here in Kabul and where I'll be travelling in Afghanistan.

The facts about abductions are interesting and not as bad as people seem to think.

In Afghanisan so far in 2007 there have been 142 abduction cases involving 350 people. Twenty seven of those people have been foreigners but 23 of those should be discounted. Those 23 were the special case of the South Koreans who were traveling in a known dangerous area with few security precautions, illegally evangelizing their Christian faith, and in the country without the blessing of their own government. (The Afghan government is also to blame for giving them visas.) I am extremely sorry that two of them were killed and relieved that the others were released but we can discount them from the representative statistics. In 2007 there have been four other international abductions - all of whom were released (although one died of a heart attack).

My organization is being careful not to provide a fifth victim. I think our rules are very appropriate - neither over reactions or carelessness. We do not have a curfew because it would not be relevant - the problems seem to happen in the daytime. We are not allowed to walk around Kabul and are not allowed in taxis. (We rely on our own driver or a reliable minicab company.) The rules in the other towns I've been to vary by situation - I was free to walk alone around Bamiyan but not Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat or Jalalabad. We get excellent reports and alerts from both a private security company and an international agency. We are careful but realistic - we need to be able to breathe to do our jobs.

I am touched by all the caring messages and encourage everybody not to worry. I'm enjoying my work and life and I'll be safe.

Crackbook photos

Like zillions of people and many of my friends I have succumbed to Crackbook (also known as Facebook).

Now I am uploading my snapshots of my crackbook friends. Here.

From my Afghan photo archives part I

Young teacher in Hazarajat, in the central highlands of Afghanistan at her school. June 2005.