<<previous | index | next>> III. Abuses Against Civilians by Police, Military Forces, and Former FightersA climate of fear exists in much of southeast Afghanistan. Troops and police in many parts of the region, and parts of Kabul itself, are invading private homes, usually at night, and robbing and assaulting civilians. By force or by ruse, soldiers and police gain entry into homes and hold people hostage for hours, terrorizing them with weapons, stealing their valuables, and sometimes raping women and girls. On the roads and at proliferating official and unofficial checkpoints, local soldiers and police extort money from civilians under the threat of beating or arrest. Troops and police also extort money from shopkeepers and arbitrarily arrest and hold people for ransom, possibly torturing some. Rape of women, girls, and boys, often in connection with the above-described abuses, is common and almost never reported. This section documents these abuses and their effects on local populations and on returning refugees. Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, Kidnapping, and RansomAfghans interviewed by Human Rights Watch described numerous cases of soldiers and police arresting, beating, and holding people for ransom, and the existence of “private prisons” in Kabul city, and in Laghman, Paktia, and Nangarhar provinces.9 In both Nangarhar and in its capital, Jalalabad, Human Rights Watch found a pattern of arbitrary arrests by local police and army troops under the command of Hazrat Ali, the military commander for the Eastern Region of Afghanistan, and his brother-in-law, Musa, a high-level military commander in Nangarhar.10 Residents of Nangarhar, U.N. staff, and even government officials described soldiers and police regularly arresting people, often on the pretext that they were suspected of being members of the Taliban, beating them, and ransoming them to their families for money. U.N. humanitarian officials in Kabul told Human Rights Watch that they had documented cases of arbitrary or illegal detention of villagers throughout Nangarhar, as well as in neighboring Kunar and Laghman provinces.11 A student told Human Rights Watch about an arbitrary arrest and beating in Jalalabad in February 2003 by a police official under the authority of Hazrat Ali:
In early April 2003, in the nearby district of Charparhar, local troops under Commander Musa arrested twenty villagers after a bomb had exploded on the main district road, claiming that they were involved. The soldiers held the villagers in military custody until they each paid 15,000 to 20,000 Pakistan rupees (approximately U.S.$260-$350), said a journalist who spoke with several of them.13 A resident of Jalalabad described how police arrested and beat his cousin in February 2003:
In early March, troopsunder Hazrat Ali arrested a taxi driver and three passengers in Jalalabad and held them in a military prison. According to the brother of one of the detainees, the soldiers beat the prisoners when they arrested them:
The three taxi passengers, who had connections with the governor, were released three days later, he said.16 The brother of the taxi driver told us, however, that the driver was held for ten days:
A local government official in Jalalabad told Human Rights Watch that it was extremely difficult even to catalog where the private prisons were, except through listening to civilians’ complaints. The official listed some of the prisons he knew of, including some on the Pakistan border maintained by local leaders:
Officials in UNAMA and in the Afghan Human Rights Commission in Jalalabad told Human Rights Watch that they were aware of cases of arbitrary arrests, confirmed that they were occurring, and said that they are difficult to document individually, mostly because of victims being afraid to come forward.19 Another government official in Jalalabad also confirmed that arbitrary arrests and private prisons were common in Nangarhar, and said he had witnessed a confrontation between two military officers on the subject.20 In late April 2003, after a convoy of troops and officers under Commander Musa were injured outside of Jalalabad in a bomb attack, a senior officer visited one of the wounded officers, named [“Suhiel”21], and suggested to him that locals in Chaparhar district planned the attack because they were angry at the military for arresting and ransoming civilians:
Soon after this incident, the commanders of Liwa Nine in Jalalabad, apparently not realizing the significance of what they were doing, invited journalists in Jalalabad to attend a ceremony during which prisoners at Liwa Nine were released, said a journalist who was invited:
A Jalalabad resident familiar with the situation told Human Rights Watch that the governor was notified about the problem but, he believed, the governor was too weak to address it:
Besides Nangarhar, Human Rights Watch gathered information about arbitrary arrests in Kabul, Paktia, Wardak, and Ghazni provinces.25 Cases included instances of kidnapping of women and girls and boys for sexual purposes (these are outlined in the section on rape below), as well as simple ransoming cases. In late 2002, U.N. humanitarian staff in Ghazni province documented ransoming and kidnapping (including forced marriages of girls and women) involving both Hazara and Pashtun commanders.26 A UNAMA staff person described complaints about arbitrary arrests in Paktika, Paktia, and Logar provinces, and on the road from Gardez to Ghazni:
Two Afghan journalists in Kabul separately told Human Rights Watch that Din Mohammad Jurat, a senior official in the Interior Ministry (later dismissed, in early June 2003, but still with a private militia under his command), maintains private prisons near Kabul in which his soldiers hold people for ransom.28 Human Rights Watch was unable to locate anyone whom Jurat’s soldiers had detained, but a resident of Kabul told Human Rights Watch what he had heard from Jurat’s soldiers: “One of his own soldiers told me about it. He has private prisons and people are tortured, beaten, electrodes on the fingers, the whole bit. This man is a maniac, and he is dangerous.”29 A former loya jirga delegate from Kabul talked about how pervasive the problem of arbitrary arrests is in Kabul province: “There are arbitrary arrests all the time—people held by the authorities for money. They will arrest you at checkpoints for some crime they make up.”30 Human Rights Watch documented a case in western Kabul of a taxi driver arrested for ransom in late March 2003. According to a resident familiar with the incident, one night a family in the neighborhood summoned the driver to drive an ill family member (who was pregnant) to a Kabul hospital. When the driver returned alone from the hospital, the resident said, police arrested him and held him for ransom:
The same person visited the driver after he was released:
RapeHuman Rights Watch received credible reports of soldiers and commanders raping girls, boys, and women in provinces in southeast Afghanistan, including in Laghman, Ghazni, Gardez, and Nangarhar provinces, and in Paghman district of Kabul province.33 Although we were not able to conduct first-hand interviews with victims of sexual violence, partly because strong cultural taboos that inhibit discussion of such issues, we were able to obtain extensive information from a variety of sources, including neighbors and close friends of victims, U.N officials, NGOs, and witnesses to abductions. These interviews suggest that sexual violence against women, girls, and boys is both frequent and almost never reported. Women, girls, and boys are abducted outside of their homes in broad daylight and sexually assaulted. In some areas girls have been abducted on the way to school. Women and girls are raped in their homes, typically during the evening or night during armed robberies. One attack was seemingly intended to silence a women’s rights activist. Cases of sexual violence are also noted in other sections of this report in the contexts in which they occur. In Afghanistan, as in many other countries, documenting sexual violence is a challenge in part because of women’s subordinate status, family concern with “honor” and “dishonor,” cultural taboos about discussing sex, and women’s and girls’ own reluctance to share or relive details of a traumatic assault. According to independent studies, Afghan women symbolize their families’ and societies’ honor, with Pashtun communities in particular placing a high value on women’s chastity.34 Historically, some communities have sanctioned “honor” killings in which a woman could be killed by her own relatives for bringing “dishonor” upon the family by conduct perceived as breaching community norms of sexual behavior—including being a victim of sexual violence.35 At a minimum, a girl or woman who has been raped may be considered unmarriageable or may be cast out by her husband. Boys who are raped can also face discrimination, but the social penalties are not nearly as harsh. In many areas, social penalties are meted out even for the perception that a marriageable girl or woman is at risk, both on the woman or girl and on her family, who may be perceived as having failed to protect her adequately.36 This deep stigma may explain why most women and men were unwilling to provide details of specific incidents. “The problem is that if something happens to your family, you will never say,” a West Kabul man told Human Rights Watch. “I will never say if [armed men] come here because people will think that they did something to the women. This is the problem. . . . If something happens to me, I will not tell anyone about it.”37 As one woman from Laghman district said, after some armed men attacked some houses there: “We cannot tell what the soldiers did to the women—it’s very shameful.”38 A man from Paghman district, in Kabul province, explained:
As is true for the other abuses described in this section, victims of sexual violence by soldiers, their commanders, and police have nowhere to seek redress. Human Rights Watch interviewed one woman who summoned the police after she was stabbed and threatened with rape in the course of an armed robbery of her home around August 2002. She described how inadequately the police responded:
According to the woman, who believed the police themselves were connected with her attack, the police had made no arrests in the case as of March 2003.41 The consequences of sexual violence are dire for women and girls not only in terms of direct physical harm but also in terms of curtailed participation in civil society and the public sphere, including in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Sexual violence also curtails their rights to education, to work, and to health care. These consequences are detailed in the section “Denial of Basic Freedoms to Women and Girls” below. Rape of Girls and WomenIn Laghman province in March 2003, witnesses told Human Rights Watch, army troops under Ismatullah, the commander of a military base in Laghman, broke into the homes of two different women, and apparently raped one of them. A woman who talked extensively with the women afterwards said:
U.N. officials confirmed that the U.N. had received other complaints about Commander Ismatullah being involved in harassment and violence.43 Commandar Ismatullah is a commander in Laghman under Dr. Abdullah, another commander who reports directly to the Ministry of Defense in Kabul.44 A U.N. official told Human Rights Watch about another case from Laghman district, from April 2003, in which two commanders took women from each other’s tribes: “In Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province, two commanders affiliated with their tribes kidnapped two women. Each selected women from the other tribe and kidnapped the women from the bazaar in broad daylight. This was a month ago.”45 In Ghazni province, U.N. officials confirmed cases, based on their own field investigations, of kidnappings, rape, and forced marriages of girls and women, mainly in districts under the control of Hezb-e Wahdat forces, including Jaghori, Malistan, Qarabagh, and Sharistan districts:
U.N. officials said that some of these commanders’ troops were kidnapping and ransoming back girls and women to their families.47 For example, it was reported that in Bella Ghu village, close to Dalla (where Commander Hissani, member of a faction connected with Hezb-e Wahdat, has an office), in Malistan district, soldiers connected with Hezb-e Wahdat “were erupting into houses, picking girls and women of their choice and taking them to Dalla where they were ‘forcedly married.’ . . . [S]hould the family of the victims ask for the release of their daughters, they were asked to pay significant amounts of money.”48 A local NGO official also told Human Rights Watch about a case of a girl in Deh Yak district in Ghazni who was raped by soldiers: “Of course, no one will talk about it, but it happened.”49 In the Pay Jilga area of Jaghori district, it was reported that soldiers connected with Hezb-e Wahdat had kidnapped girls on their way to school, with one instance in late October or early November 2002 cited in particular.50 Human Rights Watch collected numerous second-hand reports of soldiers raping women and girls while they committed armed robberies of homes in Paghman district in Kabul province. A woman in Paghman told Human Rights Watch:
Another Paghman resident told us: “During the day, because people are taking precautions, these thefts don’t happen. But at night, people enter into houses to rob, they tie up the men, and they rape the women. I know it because women have gone to the hospital afterwards to document that they were raped.”52 In one well-known incident in Kabul province, on November 22, 2002, four armed men raped an international aid worker after forcing the car off a main road in Paghman, about twenty kilometers north of Kabul city.53 According to a news report, police arrested men in Paghman several weeks after the incident, but ISAF officials later told Human Rights Watch they had information that troops of Commander Ezatullah, one of the main commanders in Paghman, were linked to the rape.54 This incident is well known to Paghman residents, who take it as evidence of the Afghan troops’ power and their own vulnerability: that even an international aid worker—a foreigner much better protected than most Afghan woman—can be raped. A Paghman resident explained: “Of course [the perpetrators] have connections with the authorities. Can they stop a vehicle of international donors and rape a western woman if they don’t have power? Of course not!”55 Some residents in Paghman have actually overheard soldiers and police boast of committing rape. One Paghman resident told Human Rights Watch:
Another Paghman resident overheard a police commander from Kabul talking about how troops from Paghman who the commander was trying to arrest had been involved in a rape in Kabul city:
In West Kabul, Human Rights Watch received reports of armed men committing rapes during robberies there, and documented one account of troops threatening to rape a woman whom they robbed and assaulted.58 In that case, a robbery around August 2002 (described in more detail in the section “Armed Robbery and Home Invasions” below), troops held a woman in her home for approximately four hours, stabbing her repeatedly and threatening to rape her. She told Human Rights Watch:
Rape of BoysIn contrast with violence against women and girls, Human Rights Watch has found that witnesses spoke more freely about sexual violence against boys—another common type of sexual abuse in Afghanistan.60 In Gardez, several residents told Human Rights Watch that troops abducted young men for sex. According to one local NGO official:
Another Gardez resident told Human Rights Watch about a commander in Zurmat district who was creating problems in late 2002:
In Jalalabad, Human Rights Watch received reports of commanders abducting and raping boys. A shopkeeper in Jalalabad told Human Rights Watch about an incident he witnessed in early 2003 in which Sami, a notorious commander in Jalalabad implicated in several other abuses in this report, raped a young boy:
The shop owner next to the car shop confirmed the incident: “It was a very dirty thing that happened,” he said.64 Students from Jalalabad also told Human Rights Watch that several commanders under Hazrat Ali, the main commander of the eastern region (Sami’s father-in-law), regularly abduct boys, sometimes also employing them as soldiers.65 One explained:
Human Rights Watch also documented a case in which, according to witnesses, soldiers in Paghman abducted a boy from a wedding in October 2002. “They took him because he was a handsome man,” said one witness.67 Armed Robbery and Home Invasions
—Resident of West Kabul.68 Human Rights Watch documented numerous robberies and home invasions by soldiers and police in many provinces in southeast Afghanistan, including in Kabul. In many cases, people told Human Rights Watch that soldiers or police providing security by day are turning to robbery at night. And in the few places where more professional, newly trained police from Kabul are deployed, residents told Human Rights Watch that these police are not able to stand up to better armed and more numerous army troops. West Kabul, within Kabul city, is a particularly dangerous area. Many residents there complain of robberies by both local police and soldiers from neighboring Paghman district (directly to the west of Kabul city in Kabul province) under the command of Abdul Rabb al-Rasul Sayyaf.69 According to one man, “We stop them from robbing by raising an alarm and shouting. I have seen them, walking around. They are armed men from Paghman. I am 100 percent sure they are former mujahidin. The police are lenient, so we think they are involved. And of course, many of the armed men are police.”70 Human Rights Watch documented a set of robberies committed by soldiers in West Kabul (bordering Paghman district) on the night of March 8, 2003. As noted below, local police told the victims of the attacks that they thought the perpetrators were soldiers under the command of Zalmay Tofan, one of Sayyaf’s commanders. Human Rights Watch interviewed members of each of the three different households that were robbed. A resident described what happened at the first house:
The soldiers searched the house, the man said, and asked for the keys to their trunks: “‘Where are the keys for the trunks?’ they asked us. ‘Give us the keys to the trunks or you will be killed.’ Well, since they had pistols and Kalashnikovs [AK-47 assault rifles], we gave them the keys. They searched everywhere and took everything we had.”72 According to the man, the men were “mujahidin.”73 The soldiers then went to the second house. A woman there told Human Rights Watch that they robbed her family as well, taking all their valuables.74 Then, at about 1:00 a.m., the men went to the third house, where three women and their brothers lived. As in the other homes, they again claimed to be police searching for a murder weapon.75 They tied up one of the brothers and demanded the keys to the trunks, which they opened.76 The man who was tied up told Human Rights Watch they were soldiers. “They were fully armed,” he said. “And they were wearing military jackets. They had clip belts and clips for the Kalashnikovs. One of them had grenades.” Still pretending to be police officers, they told the women to take out all the gold jewelry and valuables from the trunks, saying they didn’t want to be accused of stealing the valuables during their “search.”77 The women’s brother explained what happened next: “The women went and took out all the money and the jewelry. And then [the armed men] said, ‘Well, O.K., now we are thieves. Give us all the gold.’”78 When the soldiers began to steal, one of the women said, her brother managed to untie his hands to try to fight them, but the soldiers stopped him:
The family was, in fact, Hazara, and told us that the men were Pashtuns. As it turned out, one of the soldiers gave away some information about where he might be based: “One man [picked up] my brother’s coat and asked, ‘Do you mind?’ My brother said, ‘O.K.’ [The man] said, ‘I should wear this because I am going to Paghman where the weather is cold.’”80 According to family members, the soldiers left at around 3:00 a.m., leaving a trail of footprints in the wet soil. One of the brothers went to the police station nearby (one of the few in Kabul staffed by newly trained troops) and tried to convince them to help:
The next day, he said, the police from the station did come to the house. The police and the residents followed the troops’ footprints leading away from their homes.82 As the brother described their investigation:
The brother said he was convinced that the men were “former mujahidin . . . with Tofan and with Sayyaf.” And when they returned to the police station, the head of the criminal branch seemed to agree, telling the brother: “The thieves were from Paghman, maybe Zalmay Tofan’s men. He is a strong man and we cannot do anything.”84 According to the brother, several other people had complained of being robbed by the same commander:
Human Rights Watch documented another robbery in the center of West Kabul that took place on March 14, 2003, during which armed men—believed to be local police—robbed a house at gunpoint and stabbed a man in the leg with a bayonet. One of the residents, “K.B.,” described the men, who he said were police:
A woman in the house explained how the men had entered, claiming to be intelligence agents:
But then the men began to rob the family, she said.88 They called each family member into a separate room, she explained, and questioned them individually about the location of the valuables in the house.89 One of the men at home at the time of the robbery described to Human Rights Watch what happened when he was questioned: They made me kneel, and they put their feet on my legs and didn’t let me move. They tied my arms behind my back with a handkerchief. I said I had come recently from Iran and didn’t know about this house. “Listen, my accent is different.” But they punched me, kicked me, and beat me with the barrels of their guns. I was in a miserable situation. They were searching all parts of my body to see if I had hidden money.90 The men then stabbed the man in the thigh with a bayonet, and asked him again where his money was.91 They said, “You came from Iran—how much money have you brought?” I said just 60,000 tumans [U.S.$79] and 50 afghanis [U.S.$1]. They made me stand with the barrel of the gun at my neck and made me walk upstairs and give them the money. They returned the 50 afghanis and said, “We will leave you 50 for your daily expenses—we are generous.”92 The telephone rang and, according to the woman, the men became very nervous.93 They told the family that they were going to rob the neighbors, and they climbed over the wall into the next compound, saying they would leave a guard on the wall and shoot anyone who made any noise.94 The children in the house didn’t understand what was happening:
A woman in the house explained that she and the other women present were terrified:
The rest of the family, including the owner of the house, returned about ten minutes after the thieves left.97 The owner called the police. When the police came, about a half hour later, the owner said that they were unhelpful and evasive—like they were only pretending to investigate.98 The owner said he began to believe that he couldn’t trust the police. He said two of the police officials, some older men, tried to warn him not to talk too much about what valuable items might still be left in the house: I said to one, “There’s a very valuable thing left—the laptop computer.” The man said, “Shh! Be quiet. Because they [pointing to the police] will come in a few hours and take it themselves. Be especially careful about what you are saying because there are suspicious people here.” This was from one of the police! He meant the police who were in the house. I was afraid and so . . . I told the police that I had no suspicions, because the old man told me to be careful, and we were [now] suspicious of the police.99 The family was convinced that members of the police had robbed them. “They were police,” the owner’s sister-in-law told us.100 “First, when they entered, they introduced themselves as police. Second, two of them were giving orders like police or army give . . . Third, they were calling their head man ‘Respected Commander.’”101 In addition, the men were wearing dark green police uniforms, and the home was located between a triangle of three nearby police stations, with the closest station one hundred meters away.102 The owner’s sister-in-law noted, “At 7:30 at night—it’s early. Who can dare to enter a house and rob it unless they themselves are police or have a connection with the police?”103 Much of Kabul city is, in fact, patrolled by police and army, and it would be difficult, but not impossible, for whole groups of armed men with Kalashnikovs, gun belts, and grenades to operate near police stations without approval or cooperation from local police and army troops. Many West Kabul residents said that they were especially afraid of robbery by soldiers at night, and kept dogs to guard for this purpose.104 “During the night we cannot sleep because we are nervous and are afraid that something will happen because the security is not good here,” one woman explained.105 A teacher from Karteh Seh in West Kabul told a story about a robbery of his relatives nearby:
Human Rights Watch documented another case in West Kabul from August 2002, in which armed men claiming to be police robbed a woman and her family in their house near the Kabul Polytechnic Institute, an area that is known to be under the control of Sayyaf’s troops.107 According to the woman, at around 8:00 p.m. six heavily armed men entered her house, saying they were investigating a murder committed nearby.108 Then they searched the house, took jewelry that the woman and her mother were wearing, and assaulted the younger woman:
The woman said she thought that the soldiers were under the command of one of Sayyaf’s commanders:
A U.N. official familiar with the case told Human Rights Watch: “This incident is not unique. It has happened to a lot of Afghans, who haven’t reported it. There is a need for monitoring. We find it extraordinarily difficult to get information.”111 In Paghman district, an hour’s drive to the west of Kabul, residents told Human Rights Watch that soldiers under commanders loyal to Sayyaf were also regularly invading people’s homes and robbing them. Typical cases involve troops from “checkpoints,” local military garrisons, or police stations. A Paghman man living outside the town told us: “The people who are at the checkpoint, they are the thieves. They gamble, bet money, and when they lose, they go and enter the houses to steal. I myself know a person who gambles and then steals from people here—he is at the checkpoint, I have seen him.”112 Human Rights Watch found numerous families there living in a state of almost constant fear. A farmer in rural Paghman told Human Rights Watch about a robbery in March 2003, in which he said local police were involved:
The farmer said the robberies terrified his family: “We do not sleep through the night. We have to keep guard in shifts. Every other night there is at least one robbery, and we have to keep our own guard.”114 He said that police had robbed another neighbor’s house, one hundred meters from the governor’s office, in late February 2003: “Listen: It is the police who commit these crimes. Besides them, no one is equipped with guns. . . . We as the local people, we know these thieves, we know who they are. These thieves are the police.”115 A returning refugee originally from Paghman told Human Rights Watch that soldiers robbed her relatives in Paghman in December 2002, coming during the night and forcing their way in:
“This happens all the time,” her husband added. “It’s a common thing.117 The woman and her husband said their family had settled in Kabul, afraid to return to Paghman because of the security problems there.118 A woman farming in rural Paghman told Human Rights Watch:
Her thirteen-year-old daughter added:
Human Rights Watch interviewed a group of some thirty women living nearby who confirmed the level of general terror. As one said: “All night long we have to be awake and patrol. We have to be on the roof and walk along the wall. We have lots of problems because of the armed men.”121 Many people in Paghman said they keep dogs, at considerable sacrifice, to ward off thieving soldiers and police. A Paghman farmer, who confirmed the high level of robberies by soldiers, explained:
Affirming his hatred for the dog, he added: “In the past, during Daoud’s time [1970s], there were no problems like this. What a nice time it was when we had neither thieves nor dogs!”123 In Ghazni province, several humanitarian workers and officials and local medical staff reported that army troops or police had committed similar robberies, including of a home in Ghazni city on or around March 21, 2003, and another earlier in March.124 According to one medical worker: “They are the different factions; they are with the authorities here.”125 Most of the people Human Rights Watch spoke with in Ghazni were too scared to speak openly about security issues. Many residents of Nangarhar province told Human Rights Watch that soldiers in Jalalabad often raid homes at night to steal property and money, besides conducting other crimes (discussed in more detail below).126 In Logar province, teachers, a farmer, and other residents reported that armed men had robbed homes and businesses, stolen cars and killed their drivers. A teacher told Human Rights Watch: “In Zarghonshah district, here in Logar, people keep guard all through the night because many armed men have come and stolen from houses. In Kalangar, there are some armed men from the [local military base] there—which is commanded by Dr. Fazalullah, who is with Jamiat[-e Melli].”127In addition, Human Rights Watch documented a case in which armed men robbed a gas station in Logar, killed two men, and wounded a third in early February 2003.128 According to witnesses, the men wore Afghan army uniforms and the station was around one kilometer from an army base. The witnesses said they thought the men were either affiliated with the local commander or were former fighters.129 Many victims across the region identified their attackers as soldiers under local commanders or as police. Many victims told Human Rights Watch there were no authorities they felt safe complaining to. One West Kabul resident explained: “The police are with the criminals. They work together always. Or they are, themselves, the criminals, in some cases.”130 An Afghan journalist told Human Rights Watch:
Extortion and Beatings of Shopkeepers, and Taxi, Truck, and Bus DriversHuman Rights Watch documented numerous cases of extortion by soldiers and police in almost every district in the southeast of Afghanistan—Ghazni, Wardak, Paktika, Paktia, Logar, Kabul, Laghman, and Nangarhar. Two major kinds of extortion were documented: extortion of drivers at roadside checkpoints, and extortion of small businessmen—usually shopkeepers—in cities and villages. Extortion of Taxi, Truck, and Bus DriversUnder current arrangements set up by the Afghan Transitional Administration, the Ministry of Transportation allows roadside checkpoints at which set “transport taxes” can be taken from trucks. When they pay, drivers are given a receipt. Afghan military and police in many places also maintain official checkpoints ostensibly to stop cars to check for weapons or to identify criminal suspects. Most “checkpoints” in the southeast, however, are unofficial sites set up by police or the army to collect illegal bribes. As in other countries with this problem, there is little that infuriates the local population more than the accumulated cost of checkpoint extortion, which can rob drivers of most and at times all of their earnings from their work. Human Rights Watch interviewed scores of taxi, truck, and bus drivers on the main roads between Kabul, Gardez, Ghazni, and Jalalabad, in bazaars, and at taxi, truck, and bus stations in Kabul. Almost without exception, they complained that army and police troops at official and unofficial roadside checkpoints regularly extorted money and goods from them. Their stories were often similar, involving frequent stops by soldiers and police, and threats and beatings if drivers refused to pay. In Nangarhar and Laghman, drivers complained about army troops under Hazrat Ali and police in Jalalabad city. In Kabul, drivers complained mostly about traffic police and ordinary Interior Ministry police under the command of the Kabul police chief, Basir Salangi. In Logar and Paktia, drivers complained about army troops under the command of local military leaders, including Commander Ettiqullah Ludin, and the four most powerful commanders in Gardez: Commanders Mateen, Momeen, Ziauddin, and Abdullah. The last of these, Commander Abdullah, was fired from his post by President Karzai twice in 2003, but has refused to step aside. A truck driver in Logar province (southwest of Kabul) described a typical set of stops on the road from Gardez to Kabul, and how soldiers in Kabul city had beaten him:
Another driver talked about the various stops on the road from the Pakistani border to Kabul.
Similarly, a bus driver told Human Rights Watch about his typical trip from Kabul to Jalalabad:
A truck driver talked about how soldiers beat him at Tangi, a checkpoint on the way to Jalalabad, near Sarobi:
A bus driver from Jalalabad described the post at Sarobi, halfway between Kabul and Jalalabad:
A driver from Paktika described the extortion on the road from Khost province: “I’ll tell you: The checkpoint on the way to Khost took 200 Pakistani rupees [U.S.$2.50] from me. This was the checkpoint that belongs to Padsha Khan Zadran.”137 When asked what would happen if he didn’t pay, the driver said, “Once I refused to pay, and they put a gun on me, and they took the money by force. You cannot say no to them.”138 Another truck driver described extortion on the road from Sayid Qarim district (in northeast Paktia) to Gardez city and in Gardez city itself: “All the checkpoints here in the city take money, too. If we do not pay, they will take our trucks from us; they will take our trucks to their compounds in the mountains.”139 Drivers also said that Kabul traffic police extorted and beat them. One truck driver said in March 2003 that he was beaten the week before when he was coming from Jalalabad:
Human Rights Watch also documented several cases of police or soldiers in Kabul ordering truck drivers to work for them, either by hauling materials or troops.141 Truck drivers said that in Kabul, police often commandeered them for compulsory labor, but that they could escape service for a bribe of 1,000 to 1,500 afghanis. On March 27, 2003, Human Rights Watch researchers actually overheard a police commander in Shar-e Naw district in Kabul trying to stop a truck, saying: “Stop that truck! We need four trucks to move some earth to the office! Stop that truck there!” Human Rights Watch observed police at Pul-e Charki taking bribes from motorists, especially before 6:00 a.m., and army troops extorting money at checkpoints in Jalalabad in early May. Almost every driver whom Human Rights Watch interviewed recounted an experience of being extorted, robbed, or beaten by soldiers, and some drivers chastised others who denied being extorted or beaten. For instance, a driver in Kabul told Human Rights Watch, “There are many checkpoints on the road from Jalalabad. . . . They take money, but so far, they haven’t taken any from me.” Another driver, listening, said: “He’s too proud to admit it! We are all robbed by them!” In Gardez, some drivers refused to talk to Human Rights Watch, but a truck driver turned to the other drivers and said, “Why are you afraid? You should tell them the truth!”142 Then he said:
A bus driver offered an explanation as to why drivers had to pay the local police and soldiers:
Human Rights Watch received additional information about extortion by army and police troops in Ghazni and Paktika provinces.145 UNAMA officials said they documented cases of police and army troops extorting money and goods in Wardak province, especially forces under the command of Abdul Ahmed, the police commander of Wardak province.146 This was confirmed to Human Rights Watch by a government official in Wardak, who added that the police commander in Sayed Abad, Gul Rahman, had also been involved in abuses.147 In addition to extortion, Human Rights Watch heard stories about roadside robberies by soldiers in Nangarhar and Logar provinces. A student from Jalalabad relayed the experience of a friend in southern Nangarhar province:
A farmer described how soldiers under the local district governor hijacked, robbed, and killed his cousin on a road in Kulangar village in Logar in early February 2003:
A resident of Nangarhar also recounted how a commander, Haji Ajab Shah, now a police official in Jalalabad, robbed three humanitarian aid trucks in Rodat district after the Taliban fled Jalalabad in December 2001.
Extortion of Shopkeepers and Other IndividualsHuman Rights Watch gathered extensive testimony about police and army troops extorting shopkeepers and other individuals in cities and villages in the southeast. Afghan journalists, government officials, and U.N. staff confirmed that this is especially common in Kabul city, in Nangarhar province, and Gardez city.151 A shopkeeper in Kabul city described how police from the Interior Ministry targeted certain shops:
Another shopkeeper explained where the money goes: “The money is for their pocket. They don’t give any tickets or receipts. It is outside the law.”153 A Kabul shopkeeper explained what happen if they did not pay:
Another Kabul resident told Human Rights Watch that police commanders extorted money from pool club operators in Kabul’s seventh district.155 In Gardez, Human Rights Watch received credible information about one local commander, Ziauddin, extorting local businesses—demanding vehicles or large sums of money under threat of arrests or beatings.156 Other shopkeepers in Gardez admitted they were being robbed or extorted by Afghan soldiers or police. In many cases, both in and outside of Kabul, shopkeepers were scared to speak openly, or spoke of extortion by police and army only if they could speak privately.157 Shopkeepers in Gardez, for instance, were extremely nervous about talking in public and evaded questioning about extortion: “There are no problems here. . . . There were some problems, but not now. . . . We have made our settlements. . . . It isn’t good to talk here.”158 Another said that most shopkeepers were being extorted but were afraid to talk: “They are afraid. We cannot say anything—how could we dare to say anything?”159 One shopkeeper in Gardez, after denying problems at first, whispered: “Well, they do make trouble. . . . They take goods and do not pay. . . . They have taken cigarettes and other items here—cola, raisins, soap, batteries, cameras. They do what they want to do.”160 One shopkeeper wasn’t worried. When asked whether he had problems with police and army troops, the shopkeeper laughed: “No, these commanders here are my relatives!”161 Human Rights Watch asked if shopkeepers unrelated to commanders faced problems with extortion and he said: “Yes, yes, of course.”162 Illegal Seizure and Forcible Occupation of LandHuman Rights Watch also received information that commanders in Nangarhar, Paktia, Gardez, Ghazni, and Wardak provinces have used their power to seize land and property, either for their own use, to rent, or to distribute to underlings and supporters. Complaints about land seizure were especially common in Nangarhar province. One Jalalabad resident described how his home was seized in 2002:
Another resident of Behsoud district, in Nangarhar, said a commander in his district seized his family’s property:
Jalalabad residents also told Human Rights Watch that Hazrat Ali, the military commander of Nangarhar, seized the land of “Abdullah Qasim,” a politically active resident who Hazrat Ali’s troops arrested in April 2003.165 (This case is discussed in more detail in the section “Attacks on Political Actors and Political Activities” below.) A journalist in Jalalabad told Human Rights Watch that commanders under Hazrat Ali had also seized homes and property from people who worked for the previous Soviet-backed government or the government of King Zahir Shah (including low-level and non-political officials).166 A U.N. official in Jalalabad told Human Rights Watch that land problems—specifically, seizures by commanders and troops—were one of the most serious problems affecting refugee return in the province.167 Local UNHCR staff confirmed this conclusion.168 U.N. staff in Gardez also told Human Rights Watch that commanders in Paktia province were seizing land and property in Paktia province and Gardez city.169 According to humanitarian officials reporting on security conditions in Ghazni province, army and police commanders there—both those associated with local Hezb-e Wahdat military commanders and those associated with the governor, an ally of Sayyaf—have seized land and property.170 This affects the decisions of refugees about whether to return to their home districts.171 UNAMA officials familiar with the situation in Ghazni confirmed these findings.172 A local journalist familiar with conditions in several districts in Wardak province said that local commanders were seizing property there.173 UNAMA offices have also received complaints about land seizures in Wardak.174 Effects on Returns of Refugees and Internally Displaced PersonsSome of the human rights abuses documented in this report have caused returning refugees to decide against returning to their places of origin. Human Rights Watch interviewed several refugees returning from Iran and Pakistan who had decided to stay in Kabul city and not return to their places of origin because of human rights abuses in their home provinces. In the southeast, the problems seemed to be especially serious for refugees seeking to return to Ghazni province, Paghman district in Kabul, and Nangarhar. H.D., a refugee, returned with her family from Iran, intending to go to her home in Paghman district. But after her family visited Paghman, they decided to remain with family in Kabul instead. H.D. explained:
Another woman whose family had also decided to stay in Kabul told Human Rights Watch:
A man who had returned from Iran a year ago, who decided to stay in Kabul rather than go to his family’s land in Paghman, gave similar reasons for not returning:
Human Rights Watch interviewed other men and women from Paghman living in Kabul who gave similar reasons for not returning.178 Several residents from Nangarhar also said their families had decided against returning home, mainly because of security problems.179 According to U.N. humanitarian officials, refugees have also been avoiding returning to several districts in Ghazni province. In fact, recent abuses by Hezb-e-Wahdat troops in Malistan, Jaghori, Nawur, and Qarabagh districts have reportedly caused people to leave those areas for Ghazni City, as well as for Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.180 Abuses include political persecution, extortion of money, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and kidnapping and forced marriage of girls and young women.181 One man from Jaghori, displaced in Kabul, who was afraid to return to Jaghori district, told Human Rights Watch that he feared the local commanders there: “[T]here are fundamentalist agents there, and I am afraid of them.”182 U.N. officials also told Human Rights Watch that seizures of land by commanders and their troops was one of the most serious problems affecting refugee returns in Nangarhar. [183] 9 “Private prisons” is a term used by U.N. officials, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and Afghan government officials to describe unofficial detention sites, including detention sites on military bases; unofficial jails located at military checkpoints, in houses, or in local commanders’ compounds; or other sites not officially designated as a police property or property under the control of the Ministry of Interior or Ministry of Justice. Existing Afghan law does not authorize detention by entities other than the police, such as the Ministry of Defense or Amniat-e Mille. For more on existing legal frameworks applicable to policing and prisons in Afghanistan, see Amnesty International, “Police Reconstruction Essential for the Protection of Human Rights,” An Amnesty International Report, March 12, 2003. 10 Place names are highlighted the first time they are mentioned in the violations section. 11 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 12 Human Rights Watch interview with A.H.V., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 28, 2003 13 Human Rights Watch interview with A.O.W., Kabul, April 20, 2003. 14 Human Rights Watch interview with Y.R.M., truck driver from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 26, 2003. 15 Human Rights Watch interview with A.M.R.D., Jalalabad, May 5, 2003. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. 18 Human Rights Watch interview with Z.R.D., Jalalabad, May 6, 2003. 19 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. official, Jalalabad, May 5, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with H.C.U., Afghan Human Rights Commission staff, Jalalabad, May 6, 2003. 20 Human Rights Watch interview with I.Y.K., security official, Jalalabad, May 6, 2003. 21 Name has been changed to protect the victim’s security. 22 Human Rights Watch interview with I.Y.K., security official, Jalalabad, May 6, 2003. 23 Human Rights Watch interview with L.W.S., journalist, Jalalabad, May 6, 2003. 24 Human Rights Watch interview with A.O.W., Kabul, April 20, 2003. 25 Human Rights Watch interview with I.I.R., Afghan NGO human rights monitor, March 8, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with A.S.M.S., local U.N. staff, Gardez, March 11, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with I.A.L., journalist, Kabul, March 18, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA political affairs official, Kabul March 19, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 26 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, May 26, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. [27] Human Rights Watch interview with A.S.M.S., local U.N. staff, Gardez, March 11, 2003. 28 Human Rights Watch interview with T.Y.E., journalist, Kabul, March 18, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with I.A.L., journalist, Kabul, March 18, 2003. President Karzai and U.N. officials suspected Jurat, a former mujahidin commander from the Panjshir valley, of being involved in the killing of the Tourism Minister, Abdul Rahman, in February 2002; he was arrested but never charged. See Ron Synovitz, “Afghanistan: Killing Of Pashtun Minister Qadir Leaves Karzai Vulnerable,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty News, July 23, 2002, available at http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/07/08072002165518.asp (retrieved July 10, 2003). 29 Human Rights Watch interview with T.Q.S., student, Kabul, March 16, 2003. 30 Human Rights Watch interview with G.S.P., former loya jirga candidate, Kabul, March 18, 2003. 31 Human Rights Watch interview with R.B., English language teacher, Kabul, March 27, 2003. 32 Ibid. 33 Although Human Rights Watch did not visit Parwan and Kapisa provinces, just north of Kabul, news reports indicated that local commanders are committing rapes in these areas as well. Institute for War and Peace Reporting, “Child Sex Abuse Alarm,” Afghan Recovery Report, February 24, 2003, available at http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/arr/arr_200302_49_1_eng.t (retrieved May 14, 2003). For example, a filmmaker in Kapisa told journalists:
Abdul Marouf, from Parwan province, told journalists:
34 See, e.g., Hafizulla Emadi, Politics of Development and Women in Afghanistan (New York: Paragon House, 1993), p. 22; Anna M. Pont, “Eat What You Want, Dress the Way Your Community Wants: The Position of Afghan Women in Mercy Corps International Programme Areas,” A Mercy Corps International Report, May 1998, pp. 2-4. 35 See, e.g., Emadi, Politics of Development and Women in Afghanistan, pp. 16, 23, 25; Benedicte Grima, The Performance of Emotion Among Paxtun Women (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 150-154, 163-165; Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. S., age forty, Mazar-i Sharif, February 23, 2002 (cited in Human Rights Watch, “Paying for the Taliban's Crimes: Abuses Against Ethnic Pashtuns in Northern Afghanistan,” A Human Rights Watch Short Report, vol. 14, no. 2(c), n. 13, available at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/afghan2/. 36 Human Rights Watch interview with gender expert, Kabul, March, 29, 2003; Emadi, Politics of Development and Women in Afghanistan, p. 22. 37 Human Rights Watch interview with B.K.I., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 38 Human Rights Watch interview with W.N., Kabul, March 30, 2003. 39 Human Rights Watch interview with J.P.M.S., Paghman, March 18, 2003. 40 Human Rights Watch interview with A.A., Kabul, March 19, 2003. 41 Ibid. 42 Human Rights Watch interview, Kabul, March 30, 2003. 43 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 44 Ibid. 45 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. official, Jalalabad, May 8, 2003. 46 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 13, 2003. Commander Qasemi is also known as Zabit Akbar. See also, Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003; Email to Human Rights Watch from U.N. humanitarian staff, May 28, 2003. 47 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003; Email to Human Rights Watch from U.N. humanitarian official, May 28, 2003; Email to Human Rights Watch from U.N. humanitarian official, June 8, 2003. 48 Email to Human Rights Watch from U.N. humanitarian official, June 8, 2003. The U.N. also received reports about a commander connected with Hezb-e Wahdat in the Dadi area sexually abusing girls there. Ibid. 49 Human Rights Watch interview with A.F.E., official in Afghan human rights NGO, Kabul, March 8, 2003. 50 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 13, 2003; Email to Human Rights Watch from U.N. humanitarian official, June 8, 2003. 51 Human Rights Watch interview with D.B., Paghman, March 16, 2003. 52 Human Rights Watch interview with J.P.M.S., farmer, Paghman, March 18, 2003. 53 U.N. News Source, “Afghanistan: U.N. Envoy Urges Investigation of Attack on Aid Workers,” November 24, 2002, available at www.reliefweb.com (retrieved June 10, 2003); and UNAMA, Press briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, UNAMA Spokesman, November 24, 2002, available at www.reliefweb.com (retrieved June 10, 2003). The men also stole money, equipment, and documents. Ibid. 54 “Afghan police arrest gang accused of attacking German aid workers,” Agence France-Presse, December 11, 2002 (reporting arrests); Human Rights Watch interview with ISAF headquarters official, Kabul, March 21, 2003. 55 Human Rights Watch interview with J.E.B., Kabul, March 18, 2003. 56 Human Rights Watch interview with E.N.S., Paghman, March 18, 2003. 57 Human Rights Watch interview with J.P.M.S., Paghman, March 18, 2003. 58 Human Rights Watch interview with A.A., Kabul, March 19, 2003. 59 Ibid. 60 Human Rights Watch has previously documented cases of sexual violence against boys in northern and in western Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch, “On the Precipice: Insecurity in Northern Afghanistan,” A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, June 2002, available at http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/afghanistan/afghan-bck-04.htm, section IV entitled “Continued abuses against Pashtuns in Faryab”; Human Rights Watch, “All Our Hopes are Crushed: Violence and Repression in Western Afghanistan,” A Human Rights Watch Short Report, vol. 14, no. 7(C), October 2002, available at http://hrw.org/reports/2002/afghan3/herat1002-06.htm#P997_155129, section IV entitled “Torture and Arbitrary Arrests.” 61 Human Rights Watch interview with official an Afghan human rights NGO, Gardez, March 11, 2003. 62 Human Rights Watch interview with R.G.D., journalist, Gardez, March 9, 2003. 63 Human Rights Watch interview with S.C.S., Jalalabad, May 8, 2004. 64 Human Rights Watch interview with P.I.M., Jalalabad, May 8, 2003. 65 Human Rights Watch interview with A.H.V., student, Kabul, March 28, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with P.M.Z., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 29, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with P.J.A., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 66 Human Rights Watch interview with P.M.Z., Kabul, March 29, 2003. 67 Human Rights Watch group interview with five men, Paghman, March 16, 2003. 68 Human Rights Watch interview with M.U.S., resident of West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 69 Human Rights Watch interview with L.S.L.N., West Kabul resident, West Kabul, March 22, 2003; and Human Rights Watch interview with Z.M.M., West Kabul resident, West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 70 Human Rights Watch interview with I.P.P.C., West Kabul resident, West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 71 Human Rights Watch interview with F.S.S., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 72 Ibid. 73 Ibid. 74 Human Rights Watch interview with F.Z.Z., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 75 Human Rights Watch interview with A.K.G.S., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 76 Ibid. 77 Human Rights Watch interview with B.Z. in group interview with three sisters, West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 78 Human Rights Watch interview with A.K.G.S., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 79 Human Rights Watch interview with B.Z. in group interview with three sisters, West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 80 Ibid. 81 Human Rights Watch interview with A.K.G.S., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid. 84 Ibid. 85 Ibid. 86 Human Rights Watch interview with K.B., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 87 Human Rights Watch interview with L.A., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 88 Ibid. 89 Ibid. 90 Human Rights Watch interview with K.B., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid. 93 Human Rights Watch interview with L.A., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 94 Ibid. 95 Ibid. 96 Ibid. 97 Human Rights Watch interview with H.W.D., owner of the house, West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 98 Ibid. 99 Ibid. 100 Human Rights Watch interview with L.A., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 101 Ibid. 102 Human Rights Watch interview with L.A. and H.W.D., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 103 Human Rights Watch interview with L.A., West Kabul, March 18, 2003. 104 One resident of West Kabul said: “We have to keep a dog. My two daughters work on rugs and this supports the whole family. We have to support—feed—the dog as well. . . . If everything was good, we wouldn’t keep the dog. . . . If we didn’t have a dog we would keep a chicken. But we have to keep the dog because we are afraid something will happen.” Human Rights Watch interview with B.K.I, West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 105 Human Rights Watch interview with Z.M., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 106 Human Rights Watch interview with M.B., teacher, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 107 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. official, Kabul, March 14, 2003; and Human Rights Watch interview with ISAF official, Kabul, March 21, 2003 (saying that area is under the control of Sayyaf’s troops). 108 Human Rights Watch interview with A.A., Kabul, March 19, 2003. 109 Ibid. 110 Ibid. 111 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. official, Kabul, March 14, 2003. 112 Human Rights Watch interview with M.A.Z.S., Paghman, March 16, 2003. 113 Human Rights Watch interview with A.B.S., Paghman, March 16, 2003. 114 Ibid. 115 Ibid. 116 Human Rights Watch interview with V.M., Kabul, March 13, 2003. The witness’s statement, that the gunmen were Sayyaf’s troops, is a reasonable deduction: it would be extremely difficult for armed men not connected to local authorities to move freely about an area so close to the Paghman district capital. Still, Human Rights Watch could not independently verify the assertion. 117 Human Rights Watch interview with O.M., Kabul, March 13, 2003. 118 Human Rights Watch interview with V.M., Kabul, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with O.M., Kabul, March 13, 2003. 119 Human Rights Watch interview with D.B., Paghman, March 15, 2003. 120 Human Rights Watch interview with G.Z., Paghman, March 15, 2003. 121 Human Rights Watch interview with W.Z. in group interview with approximately thirty women, Paghman, March 15, 2003. 122 Human Rights Watch interview with U.S.K., Paghman, March 16, 2003. He added: “Look at this dog I have to keep! [The dog stands almost one meter tall.] I am a poor man, and yet half the ration of the bread I assign for my family is given to this dog. It is very difficult for me to keep this dog.” Ibid. His neighbor added: “I had a dog for my house; now I am very sad because it died and I need to find another one. We need to these dogs because many times the thieves have entered houses when people are asleep.” Human Rights Watch interview with M.I.Z.K., Paghman, March 16, 2003. A third noted: “Yes, we keep dogs, trained dogs, to guard. You must keep yourself hungry to keep these dogs.” Human Rights Watch interview with I.H.R.F., Paghman, March 16, 2003. One woman, when asked what she would do with her dog if security improved, said: “We would get rid of it. I hate the dog! . . . I am also afraid of the dog. When you came here and the dog was barking, my son came to me and said he was afraid of the dog.” Human Rights Watch interview with P.D., Paghman, March 16, 2003. 123 Human Rights Watch interview with U.S.K., Paghman, March 16, 2003. 124 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with humanitarian workers, Ghazni, March 23, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with health workers, Ghazni, March 24, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 125 Human Rights Watch interview with H.O.H., health worker, Ghazni, March 24, 2003 126 Human Rights Watch interview with P.J.A., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 29, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with P.M.Z., resident of Jalalabad, Kabul, March 29, 2003; and Human Rights Watch interview with G.R.N., resident of Jalalabad, March 28, 2003. 127 Human Rights Watch interview with T.U.K., Logar, March 18, 2003. 128 Human Rights Watch interview with M.P.S., Logar, March 19, 2003. 129 Ibid., and Human Rights Watch interviews with B.B.L. and T.B.A., shopkeepers, Logar, March 19, 2003. 130 Human Rights Watch interview with V.A.H., West Kabul, March 22, 2003. 131 Human Rights Watch interview with I.A.L., Kabul, March 18, 2003. 132 Human Rights Watch interview with E.Z.A., Logar, March 19, 2003. 133 Human Rights Watch interview with F.M.I.U., Kabul, March 28, 2003. 134 Human Rights Watch interview with U.M.K., Kabul, March 26, 2003. 135 Human Rights Watch interview with H.K.M.S., Kabul, March 28, 2003. 136 Human Rights Watch interview with F.R.J.S., Kabul, March 26, 2003. 137 Human Rights Watch interview with A.H.J.G., Gardez, March 11, 2003. 138 Ibid. 139 Human Rights Watch interview with M.H.I., Gardez, March 11, 2003. 140 Human Rights Watch interview with A.K.W., Kabul, March 28, 2003. 141 Human Rights Watch interview with U.H.A., bus driver from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 26, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with A.J.B., bus driver from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 26, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with E.D.A.Z., truck driver, Kabul, March 27, 2003. 142 Human Rights Watch interview with M.A.G., Gardez, March 11, 2003. 143 Ibid. 144 Human Rights Watch interview with U.M.K., Kabul, March 26, 2003. 145 Human Rights Watch interview with A.S.M.S., local U.N. staff, Gardez, March 11, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with UNHCR local staff, Ghazni, March 23, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. See also interview, cited above, with A.H.J.G., truck driver, Gardez, March 11, 2003. 146 Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 24, 2003. An Afghan journalist familiar with the situation in Wardak corroborated this. Human Rights Watch interview with E.G.R., Kabul, May 24, 2003. 147 Human Rights Watch interview with F.W.Q., Wardak, June 3, 2003. 148 Human Rights Watch interview with P.J.A., Kabul, March 29, 2003. 149 Human Rights Watch interview with T.M.F., Logar, March 19, 2003. 150 Human Rights Watch interview with R.I.Z., resident of Rodat district (Nangarhar), Kabul, March 29, 2003. 151 Human Rights Watch interview with R.G.D., journalist, Gardez, March 9, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with I.A.L., journalist, Kabul, March 18, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with T.Y.E., journalist, Kabul, March 18, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with M.E.R., journalist from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 22, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with A.O.W., Afghan journalist, Kabul, April 20, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with I.Y.K., security official, Jalalabad, May 6, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with Z.R.D., Jalalabad, May 6, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with E.E.R., local U.N. staff, Jalalabad, May 8, 2003. 152 Human Rights Watch interview with G.A.D., Kabul, March 29, 2003. 153 Human Rights Watch interview with H.U.S., Kabul, March 29, 2003. 154 Human Rights Watch interview with Z.A.B., Kabul, March 29, 2003. 155 Human Rights Watch interview with A.D.D., driver, Kabul, March 24, 2003. 156 Human Rights Watch interview with human rights NGO official, Gardez, March 11, 2003. 157 Human Rights Watch visited numerous shops in Kabul city and found that most shopkeepers were reluctant to talk about extortion, and spoke about it (if at all) only if there were no other persons in their stores. [158] Human Rights Watch interview with Y.E.K. and A.E.K, two shopkeepers, Gardez, March 11, 2003. 159 Human Rights Watch interview with H.S.R., Gardez, March 11, 2003. When Human Rights Watch asked the same shopkeeper if he had been robbed by troops, he only nodded. Asked when, he said: “A month ago. . . . Problems do exist here, but it is not safe to talk here.” 160 Human Rights Watch interview with H.A.Y., Gardez, March 11, 2003. [161] Human Rights Watch interview with M.S.L., Gardez, March 11, 2003. 162 Ibid. 163 Human Rights Watch interview with U.H.A., Kabul, March 26, 2003. 164 Human Rights Watch interview with G.F.D.R., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 28, 2003. 165 Name has been changed to protect the victim’s security. Human Rights Watch interview with D.G.H., NGO official from Jalalabad, Kabul, April 16, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with K.Y.S., Jalalabad, May 6, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with I.Y.K., Jalalabad, May 6, 2003. 166 Human Rights Watch interview with M.E.R., journalist from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 22, 2003. 167 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. official, Jalalabad, May 5, 2003. 168 Human Rights Watch interview with local UNHCR staff, Jalalabad, May 8, 2003. 169 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Gardez, March 11, 2003. 170 Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 24, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 26, 2003. 171 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 172 Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 24, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 26, 2003. 173 Human Rights Watch interview with E.G.R., journalist, Kabul, May 24, 2003. 174 Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 24, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with UNAMA official, Kabul, May 26, 2003. 175 Human Rights Watch interview with H.D., Kabul, March 13, 2003. 176 Human Rights Watch interview with U.B., Kabul, March 13, 2003. 177 Human Rights Watch interview with D.F.W., Kabul, March 14, 2003. A man from Paghman living in Kabul gave another reason why he and his family did not want to return: “[I]n Paghman there is no place to go to complain about anything that has happened, like if a thief comes at night. In Kabul there are lots of places to go to ask for help but in Paghman there is nothing.” Human Rights Watch interview with O.Z.Z., Kabul, March 13, 2003. 178 Human Rights Watch interview with I.S.E., Kabul, March 14, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with D.S.Z., Kabul, March 14, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with V.M., Kabul, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with T.R., Kabul, March 14, 2003. 179 Human Rights Watch interview with G.F.D.R., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 28, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with A.H.V., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 28, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with P.J.A., student from Jalalabad, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 180 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 13, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. humanitarian official, Kabul, March 29, 2003. 181 Ibid. 182 Human Rights Watch interview with H.W.D., Kabul, March 18, 2003. 183 Human Rights Watch interview with U.N. official, Jalalabad, May 5, 2003; Human Rights Watch interview with local UNHCR staff, Jalalabad, May 8, 2003.
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