THE CURRENT CIVIL WAR
* The American Embassy in Kabul has been closed for security reasons
since January, 1989. Information on the human rights situation
is therefore limited.
Afghanistan in 1996 continued to experience civil war and political instability, although more of the country was free of fighting and violence than in past years. There was no central government. At year's end, the Pashtun-dominated ultra-conservative Islamic movement known as the Taliban had captured the capital of Kabul and expanded its control to over two-thirds of the country. General Abdul Rashid Dostam, an ethnic Uzbek, controlled several north-central provinces. After the loss of Kabul, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani and his military commander, Ahmed Shah Masood, controlled only three northeastern provinces. Rabbani and Dostam formed an alliance to check the growing power of the Taliban.
Taliban forces took Kabul on September 26-27 after Masood's forces retreated northward. The Taliban gained some ground north of Kabul, but were pushed back by the combined forces of Masood and Dostam. The year ended in a military stalemate. Despite intensive efforts, United Nations Special Envoy Norbert Holl did not secure a cease-fire agreement but made some progress towards getting the factions to begin political talks. The fighting forced thousands of Afghans to flee their homes in Kabul, areas north of Kabul, and in the northwestern and eastern parts of the country.
There is no constitution, rule of law, or independent judiciary. Former President Rabbani, relocated to Takhar in the north, claimed that he remained the head of the Government of Afghanistan. His delegation retained Afghanistan's U.N. seat after the U.N. General Assembly deferred a decision on Afghanistan's credentials. The Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammed Omar, formed a six-member ruling council in Kabul which ruled by edict. Ultimate authority for Taliban rule rested in the Taliban's inner Shura (Council), located in the southern city of Kandahar, and in Mullah Omar. In Taliban areas, order was established by disarming the local commanders and the populace and by instituting stiff punishments for crimes. Several provincial administrations maintained limited functions. Civil institutions were mostly nonexistent. General Dostam has established some administration in the 5-6 north-central provinces under his control, including customs collection at border points, but law and order in these areas is enforced by local commanders. The ethnic Tajik-majority areas of the northeast were controlled by Masood's commanders and his political organization.
The lives of hundreds of thousands of Afghan women and children have been shattered in the human rights catastrophe that has devastated Afghanistan in the past three years. Thousands have been killed in artillery attacks apparently aimed deliberately at residential areas by the various political factions who have been fighting for territory since April 1992 when the Mujahideen groups took power. Thousands of others have been wounded.
Armed groups have massacred defenceless women in their homes, or have brutally beaten and raped them. Scores of young women have been abducted and then raped, taken as wives by commanders or sold into prostitution. Some have committed suicide to avoid such a fate. Scores of women have reportedly "disappeared" and several have been stoned to death. Hundreds of thousands of women and children have been displaced or are living as refugees abroad. Many are traumatized by the horrific abuses they have suffered or witnessed.
These gross human rights violations of so many unarmed civilian women have been committed with total impunity. The Constitution has been suspended. Laws have become meaningless. The judicial structures have been destroyed. The central authorities have become virtually defunct. As a result, there has been little prospect of any of the perpetrators being brought to justice.
The perpetrators are members of the main Mujahideen groups and warlords, or indeed anyone who establishes control over a pocket of territory. As territory changes hands after long battles, an entire local population can be subjected to violent retaliatory punishments by the victorious forces. The conquerors often celebrate by killing and raping women and looting property.