wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Taliban comeback in Afghanistan stirms alarm among rights

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Note #9055 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

06002
Jan. 3, 2006

Taliban comeback in Afghanistan
stirs alarm among rights advocates  

by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International  

NEW YORK - The appointment of a religious-affairs official of Afghanistan's
former Taliban regime to the country's new parliament is prompting concern
among international human rights advocates.   

	"There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost," Sam Zarifi, Asia
research director for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights
organization, said recently after a three-week visit to Afghanistan.   

	Zarifi's visit coincided with the convening on Dec. 19 of
Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament since the ouster of the
Taliban in a United States-led military campaign in late 2001.	

	He said the appointment of Arsala Rahmani, a high-ranking official of
the Taliban religious-affairs ministry, to the parliament's upper house is
contributing to a feeling of "real pessimism" among human-rights groups in
Afghanistan and elsewhere.  

	"A lot of Afghans see his presence now and ask, 'Why is he back?'"
Zarifi said, referring to Rahmani. 

	The former Taliban official was appointed by President Hamid Karzai,
who has the support of the United States and western allies. 

	The religious-affairs ministry was notorious for demanding strict
adherence to Islamic law when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The Taliban
reaped international condemnation for its human-rights record, particularly
for its treatment of women. However, Zarifi noted that the Taliban is
increasingly popular among ordinary Afghans. 

	Observers say its popularity is fueled by a growing perception that
the Afghan government is corrupt and ineffective and that day-to-day security
is declining.	

	"There are several districts, particularly in southern Afghanistan,
where the government doesn't even really exist," Zarifi said.  

	The Taliban and other government opponents, he said, are encouraged
by signals that the United States and its allies are undergoing "a wavering
commitment on the ground."  

	In some areas, "the U.S. projects control during the day, but the
Taliban projects control at night," Zarifi said.

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