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US-backed Afghan militias
accused of human rights
abuses
Human Rights Watch report catalogues groups acting with
impunity, undermining key plank in Nato troop reduction
plans
David Petraeus, now director of the CIA, introduced the Afghan Local Police scheme when
he was commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA
US-backed Afghan militias are committing murder, rape, torture and
extortion, risking increasing support for the insurgent groups they were
designed to fight against, a prominent human rights group has said.
Militias including the Afghan Local Police (ALP) – seen as a key plank in
Nato's troop reduction plans – suffer from poor oversight and no
accountability, and are prone to act with impunity, Human Rights Watch said.
The ALP programme was introduced by the former commander of foreign
forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, despite opposition from a
sceptical President Hamid Karzai, who had it "forced down his throat like a
foie gras goose", a military official told the Guardian.
One of Petraeus's predecessors, General Dan McNeill, had rebuffed British
attempts to arm militias after warning in 2008 that "there has been some
good work here to get those things back in the box".
The year-old ALP scheme is the latest attempt by the Nato-led mission in
Afghanistan to create local militias in areas where the country's security
forces are lacking. According to Petraeus, it was "arguably the most critical
element in our effort to help Afghanistan develop the capability to secure
itself".
It is supported by US special forces and overseen by the Afghan ministry
of the interior, and is being expanded after initial success in some areas
where the local militias beat back insurgents.
But Human Rights Watch's 102-page report, Just Don't Call it a Militia,
details how the US-funded "high-risk" and "quick-fix" solution has been
plagued by poor design, a lack of oversight and insufficient vetting of the
7,000 recruits, some of whom are criminals or insurgents.
The US has approved funding for a further 23,000 ALP recruits. Human
Rights Watch says the ALP has improved security in some areas, but it has
uncovered multiple examples of human rights abuses that threaten to
undermine its worth.
In one of the worst examples of brutality, ALP militiamen detained two
teenage boys on suspicion of planting roadside bombs in the district of
Shindand, in Herat province.
An elder told Human Rights Watch: "Other elders and I went to the ALP
base to collect [one of the boys]. He had been beaten and nails had been
hammered into his feet."
The most serious cases of abuse involve the killing and gang rape of child
suspects, beatings, land grabs and the forcible collection of ushr, an
informal tax.
None of the cases have resulted in any action against the perpetrators,
often because of the ALP's links to powerful figures, the report says.
"Patronage links to senior officials in the local security forces and the
central government allow supposedly pro-government militias to terrorise
local communities and operate with impunity," said Brad Adams, Asia
director at Human Rights Watch.
The report details the expansion of Afghan government-backed militias,
which are known as arbakai, in the northern province of Kunduz in order to
"prevent a Taliban takeover".
The district governor of Khanabad, Nizamuddin Nashir, told Human Rights
Watch the groups were operating lawlessly. "They collect [taxes], take the
daughters of the people, they do things against the wives of the people,
they take their horses, sheep, anything," he said.
Human Rights Watch called for the disbandment of such irregular armed
groups and for the US and Afghan governments to tighten vetting
procedures and provide better oversight of the ALP. It also wants to
ensure that allegations of abuse are investigated in accordance with the
Leahy law, which forbids US military assistance to any foreign security
force involved in human rights abuses for which it is not held accountable.
"While there is a need for more security at the village level, the Afghan and
US governments should be very careful not to repeat the mistakes of
militias past," Adams said. "If quick corrections are not made, the ALP
could end up being just another militia that causes more problems than it
cures."
A spokeswoman from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force
said the report "potentially provides a way ahead in refining and improving
areas" where the programme was deficient. Isaf would work with the
Afghan government in investigating the allegations of abuse and
mistreatment noted in the report, the spokeswoman added.
US-backed Afghan militias accused of human rights abuses | World news | guardian.co.uk
I knew as soon as I heard the plans for this Afghan Local Police idea what the result would be. This should of course not be surprising. The main news here is not the fact that these crimes have been going on but that this has been officially publicised by the Human Rights Watch. I don't see anything changing however. Yet another indicator as to the immediate fate that awaits the incompetent Karzai administration within the next few years (see: http://www.pashtunforums.com/politic...ospital-20749/).
accused of human rights
abuses
Human Rights Watch report catalogues groups acting with
impunity, undermining key plank in Nato troop reduction
plans
David Petraeus, now director of the CIA, introduced the Afghan Local Police scheme when
he was commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA
US-backed Afghan militias are committing murder, rape, torture and
extortion, risking increasing support for the insurgent groups they were
designed to fight against, a prominent human rights group has said.
Militias including the Afghan Local Police (ALP) – seen as a key plank in
Nato's troop reduction plans – suffer from poor oversight and no
accountability, and are prone to act with impunity, Human Rights Watch said.
The ALP programme was introduced by the former commander of foreign
forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, despite opposition from a
sceptical President Hamid Karzai, who had it "forced down his throat like a
foie gras goose", a military official told the Guardian.
One of Petraeus's predecessors, General Dan McNeill, had rebuffed British
attempts to arm militias after warning in 2008 that "there has been some
good work here to get those things back in the box".
The year-old ALP scheme is the latest attempt by the Nato-led mission in
Afghanistan to create local militias in areas where the country's security
forces are lacking. According to Petraeus, it was "arguably the most critical
element in our effort to help Afghanistan develop the capability to secure
itself".
It is supported by US special forces and overseen by the Afghan ministry
of the interior, and is being expanded after initial success in some areas
where the local militias beat back insurgents.
But Human Rights Watch's 102-page report, Just Don't Call it a Militia,
details how the US-funded "high-risk" and "quick-fix" solution has been
plagued by poor design, a lack of oversight and insufficient vetting of the
7,000 recruits, some of whom are criminals or insurgents.
The US has approved funding for a further 23,000 ALP recruits. Human
Rights Watch says the ALP has improved security in some areas, but it has
uncovered multiple examples of human rights abuses that threaten to
undermine its worth.
In one of the worst examples of brutality, ALP militiamen detained two
teenage boys on suspicion of planting roadside bombs in the district of
Shindand, in Herat province.
An elder told Human Rights Watch: "Other elders and I went to the ALP
base to collect [one of the boys]. He had been beaten and nails had been
hammered into his feet."
The most serious cases of abuse involve the killing and gang rape of child
suspects, beatings, land grabs and the forcible collection of ushr, an
informal tax.
None of the cases have resulted in any action against the perpetrators,
often because of the ALP's links to powerful figures, the report says.
"Patronage links to senior officials in the local security forces and the
central government allow supposedly pro-government militias to terrorise
local communities and operate with impunity," said Brad Adams, Asia
director at Human Rights Watch.
The report details the expansion of Afghan government-backed militias,
which are known as arbakai, in the northern province of Kunduz in order to
"prevent a Taliban takeover".
The district governor of Khanabad, Nizamuddin Nashir, told Human Rights
Watch the groups were operating lawlessly. "They collect [taxes], take the
daughters of the people, they do things against the wives of the people,
they take their horses, sheep, anything," he said.
Human Rights Watch called for the disbandment of such irregular armed
groups and for the US and Afghan governments to tighten vetting
procedures and provide better oversight of the ALP. It also wants to
ensure that allegations of abuse are investigated in accordance with the
Leahy law, which forbids US military assistance to any foreign security
force involved in human rights abuses for which it is not held accountable.
"While there is a need for more security at the village level, the Afghan and
US governments should be very careful not to repeat the mistakes of
militias past," Adams said. "If quick corrections are not made, the ALP
could end up being just another militia that causes more problems than it
cures."
A spokeswoman from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force
said the report "potentially provides a way ahead in refining and improving
areas" where the programme was deficient. Isaf would work with the
Afghan government in investigating the allegations of abuse and
mistreatment noted in the report, the spokeswoman added.
US-backed Afghan militias accused of human rights abuses | World news | guardian.co.uk
I knew as soon as I heard the plans for this Afghan Local Police idea what the result would be. This should of course not be surprising. The main news here is not the fact that these crimes have been going on but that this has been officially publicised by the Human Rights Watch. I don't see anything changing however. Yet another indicator as to the immediate fate that awaits the incompetent Karzai administration within the next few years (see: http://www.pashtunforums.com/politic...ospital-20749/).
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