Transitional Justice and Peace

The human rights situation in Afghanistan continues to face serious challenges, with the 2014 elections and scheduled conclusion of security transition creating an environment of uncertainty, including for human rights. Many Afghans, especially women, fear that achievements made in the protection and promotion of human rights since 2001 will be increasingly at risk.

Abdullah Ahmadi is a human rights activist. He is the Program Director of the Cooperation Centre for Afghanistan, a human rights and conflict resolution organization where he has worked for the past 10 years.

Shakila Ibrahimkhalil is an Afghan journalist. During the time of the Taliban, she was forced to withdraw from her journalism studies and get married. Four years later, she suffered the loss of her husband.

Dr Daud Shah Saba was the Governor of Herat from 2010 to 2013. He resigned in July 2013, citing rampant corruption and the failure of the central government to bring about promised reforms.

Khadija Ghaznawi was the only woman who presented as a candidate for the 2014 presidential elections. She was disqualified from running by the Independent Election Commission.

Mohieddin Mahdi is a well-known politician, and a Member of Parliament. He was a member of the Northern Alliance in the 1980s and later the Deputy Ambassador of Afghanistan to Tajikistan.

Countries emerging from long periods of authoritarian rule must often confront a legacy of gross human rights abuses perpetrated over many years.

Maria Bashir is the Chief Prosecutor General of Herat province. She was the first woman to be appointed Chief Prosecutor in Afghanistan, and is the only woman serving as Chief Prosecutor in any of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Yassin Negah is the editor-in-chief of Porsesh [Question], a weekly magazine in Afghanistan, and the director of Writers Home, an association for young independent writers and poets.

Suraia Perlika is an activist for human and women’s rights. She founded the Democratic Women’s Organization with five other women in 1965. In 1978, she was held as a political prisoner and tortured for her activities related to women’s rights.