Afghan appointee worries rights activists.ECUMEICAL NEWS INTERNATIONAL The appointment of a religious affairs official of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime to the country's new parliament is prompting concern among international human rights advocates. "There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost," said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, after his return in December from a three-week visit to Afghanistan. Mr. Zarifi's visit coincided with the convening on Dec. 19 of Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament following the ousting oust tr.v. oust·ed, oust·ing, ousts 1. To eject from a position or place; force out: "the American Revolution, which ousted the English" Virginia S. Eifert. of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a United States-led military campaign. But he said the appointment of Arsala Rahmani Arsala Rahmani (born in 1937?) is an Afghanistani politician, who served as Prime Minister. He was a mujahideen commander during the "Jihad" against Soviet occupation forces. , a high-ranking official of the Taliban religious affairs ministry, to the Parliament's upper house was contributing to a feeling of "real pessimism" among human rights groups inside and outside the country. "A lot of Afghans see his presence now and ask, 'Why is he back?'" Mr. Zarifi noted about Mr. Rahmani. President Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (Persian and Pashto: حامد کرزي) (b. December 24, 1957) is the current President of Afghanistan, since December 7, 2004. He became the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime. , who has backing from the U.S. and western allies The Western Allies were the democracies and their colonial peoples, within the broader coalition of Allies during World War II. The term is generally understood to refer to the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations and part of the military of Poland (from 1939), exiled , appointed the former Taliban official. The religious affairs ministry was notorious for many of the rules imposed on Afghans at the time when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. what they said was strict adherence to Islamic law Noun 1. Islamic law - the code of law derived from the Koran and from the teachings and example of Mohammed; "sharia is only applicable to Muslims"; "under Islamic law there is no separation of church and state" sharia, sharia law, shariah, shariah law . The Taliban reaped international condemnation for their human rights record, particularly for their treatment of women but, Mr. Zarifi noted, there was now a steady increase in popularity of the Taliban among ordinary Afghans. Observers say such popularity is fuelled by a growing perception that the Afghan government is corrupt and ineffective, and that day-to-day security within Afghanistan is rapidly declining. "There are several districts, particularly in southern Afghanistan, where the government doesn't even really exist," Mr. Zarifi said. The Taliban and other government opponents, Mr. Zarifi said, are reportedly encouraged by signals that the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and its allies are undergoing "a wavering commitment on the ground." In some areas, "the U.S. projects control during the day, but the Taliban projects control at night," Mr. Zarifi said. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion