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Most Afghans `live in fear` under warlords: Amnesty
Kabul, July 09: More than 19 months after the fall of the Taliban, most Afghans still `live in fear` under the rule of local warlords, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan said here.
Kabul, July 09: More than 19 months after the fall of the Taliban, most Afghans still "live in fear" under the rule of local warlords, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan said here.
"The people of Afghanistan were promised security, development and human rights for all," she told reporters at a press conference to launch a report on Afghan prisons.
"But with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confined to Kabul, the real power is back in the hands of feudal power holders and regional commanders," said Khan, who is from Bangladesh. "The vast majority of the population live in fear under their control," Khan said yesterday.
President Hamid Karzai is attempting to extend the influence of his government to the provinces, which remain largely under the sway of powerful governors and warlords. Karzai and the United Nations have been repeatedly rebuffed in their calls to the international community for ISAF to be extended to the provinces to improve security.
Improving security was the key to rebuilding Afghanistan after 23 years of war, she said.
"A year after the historic Bonn Agreement, the most important rebuilding project in Afghanistan is bringing security to the country. Without it everything is in jeopardy."
The UN-brokered agreement reached in Bonn in Germany in late 2001 put together a new interim administration in Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban.
Bureau Report
"But with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confined to Kabul, the real power is back in the hands of feudal power holders and regional commanders," said Khan, who is from Bangladesh. "The vast majority of the population live in fear under their control," Khan said yesterday.
President Hamid Karzai is attempting to extend the influence of his government to the provinces, which remain largely under the sway of powerful governors and warlords. Karzai and the United Nations have been repeatedly rebuffed in their calls to the international community for ISAF to be extended to the provinces to improve security.
Improving security was the key to rebuilding Afghanistan after 23 years of war, she said.
"A year after the historic Bonn Agreement, the most important rebuilding project in Afghanistan is bringing security to the country. Without it everything is in jeopardy."
The UN-brokered agreement reached in Bonn in Germany in late 2001 put together a new interim administration in Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban.
Bureau Report