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March 10, 2002
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Sunday
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Zilhaj 25, 1422
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Afghans, UN seek ‘truth commission’
KABUL, March 9: Afghanistan’s interim leader Hamid Karzai and UN leaders on Saturday called for a “Truth Commission” to investigate civilian killings and human rights abuses so the wounds of the deposed hardline Taliban could be healed.
But any terms for a Truth Commission were not spelled out. The suggestions, made at a UN workshop on human rights in Afghanistan, appeared similar to the commission set up in South Africa at the end of apartheid when confessions were made before a tribunal in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
“I believe we must have a Truth Commission very soon to find out more about the atrocities committed and to address those people who have been violated, those whose relatives have been killed, their homes have been destroyed,” Karzai said.
“Afghanistan must find a way to cure those wounds and to look after those people and to give them respect,” he said at a joint news conference with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.
“In different parts of Afghanistan we have been witness to mass graves,” Karzai said. Afghan people, notably women, also endured years of harsh treatment under the strict rule of the Taliban before they were toppled by US-led forces in December. Several mass graves have been discovered in western Afghanistan, where the Taliban tried to crush challenges from minority Shi’ite Muslims.
RULE OF THE GUN: Afghanistan is also yet to emerge from a long tradition of tribal rivalries and warlordism which frequently lead to clashes and civilian deaths.
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