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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)skouvo@ictj.org / 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?