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	Afghanistan - A Decade of Missed Opportunities by Human Rights Watch & agencies   Mar 10, 2013   Deploring suicide bombings, UN calls for end to attacks harming Afghan civilians.   The United Nations political mission in Afghanistan has condemned two recent suicide attacks carried out by anti-government forces which resulted in the deaths of at least 19 civilians, including nine children, and the wounding of at least another 31 civilians.   The attacks resulted in the high number of civilian casualties, with minimal impact on their purported military targets, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a press statement.   UNAMA renewed its call for all anti-government elements to stop the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks against civilians or in public locations frequented primarily by civilians.   “In particular, UNAMA notes that the indiscriminate use of such tactics, which fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants, is a violation of international humanitarian law,” the UN mission stated, in addition to offering its condolences to the families of the victims killed in the attacks, and wishing a speedy recovery for the wounded.   UNAMA was established by the Security Council in 2002 at the request of the Government of Afghanistan to assist with the laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development in the country.   February 2012   Civilian casualty numbers in Afghanistan rise again, UN reports.   The number of civilian casualties resulting from the conflict in Afghanistan has risen for a fifth consecutive year, the United Nations has reported, blaming a change in tactics by the Taliban and other anti-Government forces for the higher death toll.   The annual report on protection of civilians in armed conflict, prepared by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), recorded 3,021 civilian deaths last year -- an increase of eight per cent on the previous year"s.   Since 2007, at least 11,864 civilians have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict between the Government, backed by international forces, and the Taliban and other insurgent groups.   Jan Kubis, the head of UNAMA and the Secretary-General"s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that "for much too long, Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war. Parties to the conflict must greatly increase their efforts to protect civilians to prevent yet another increase in civilian deaths and injuries in 2012."   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay described the figures are extremely worrying. "Behind these numbers is real suffering and loss for families in Afghanistan," she said.   Anti-Government forces were responsible for an increasingly large majority of the deaths, and last year accounted for 77 per cent of all civilians who were killed.   The report noted that the Taliban and related groups use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) more frequently and more widely, with the IEDs detonating whenever a person, including a child, steps on them or whenever a vehicle drives over them.   Anti-Government forces also conducted more deadly suicide attacks that led to higher death tolls, and stepped up the targeted killings of civilians.   And while the number of civilians killed by pro-Government forces fell overall last year, the number killed from aerial attacks rose.   The report found that the conflict is playing an increasingly intrusive role in the day-to-day lives of Afghans, with nearly 200,000 people displaced last year by the fighting, thousands of others losing their livelihoods and property, and many more having their freedom of movement restricted because of the clashes.   "Unremitting civilian casualties coupled with pervasive intimidation by parties to the conflict and an expanding number of pro- and anti-Government armed groups affected many Afghan civilians directly, and many more indirectly, by fueling uncertainty, tension and fear," the report stated.   The report"s authors lay out a series of recommendations for participants to the conflict, including urging anti-Government forces to stop using victim-activated pressure-plate IEDs, cease targeting civilians, hold accountable those members who kill and injure civilians and stop attacking places of worship.   The report calls on the Afghan Government to ensure its troops are trained adequately in tactics and procedures, particularly concerning alternatives to lethal forces, and to improve the recruitment and oversight of the Afghan Local Police.   International military forces are called on to further review their procedures aimed at preventing any incidental loss of civilian life in the carrying out of military operations, especially aerial attacks, and to promote transparency and accountability when dealing with Afghan civilians and communities.   Georgette Gagnon, the director of human rights at UNAMA, noted that new proposals have been put forward in recent months that could lead to a process of peace negotiations between the pro- and anti-Government sides.   "To the Afghan people, the credibility and value of a negotiation process and progress toward peace will be measured by reduced civilian casualties and real improvements in security, particularly in conflict-affected areas," she said.   "Only through increased actions to protect civilians will the relentless toll of death and injury to Afghan children, women and men be ended during and following a peace process."   Dec 2011 (Human Rights Watch)   The Afghan government and its allies abroad have failed to make human rights a top priority in the decade since the fall of the Taliban government, leaving Afghans to face an uncertain future, Human Rights Watch said. The Bonn Agreement, signed on December 5, 2001, created a transitional government under President Hamid Karzai and laid the groundwork for elections and a new Afghan constitution.   Afghan government leaders, civil society groups, and foreign delegations will meet for a conference in Bonn on December 5, timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the agreement. As this second “Bonn Conference” gets under way, Afghans still struggle, often unsuccessfully, to exercise their basic human rights and freedoms, Human Rights Watch said.   “Human rights, and in particular women’s rights, were cited as a key benefit of the defeat of Taliban rule in 2001,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.   “But ten years later, many basic rights are still ignored or downplayed. While there have been improvements, the rights situation is still dominated by poor governance, lack of rule of law, impunity for militias and police, laws and policies that harm women, and conflict-related abuses.”   Afghanistan’s justice system remains weak and compromised, and a large proportion of the population relies instead on traditional justice mechanisms, and sometimes Taliban courts, to resolve disputes. Human rights abuses are endemic within the traditional justice system, with many practices persisting despite being outlawed.   Women’s rights issues need special attention, Human Rights Watch said. Afghan women leaders and activists had to lobby strenuously simply to obtain representation at the conference and a small slot to speak. Human Rights Watch called on Afghan government officials and other conference participants to work harder to improve women’s participation in decision-making about Afghanistan’s future, including any future peace processes.   Afghan women have taken on more leadership roles in the post-Taliban era, as members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police officers, soldiers, civil society officials, and human rights activists. But many have been targeted for threats and at times violence.   Ordinary Afghan women lack even the most basic protections, Human Rights Watch said. The Taliban and other armed groups attack and threaten women, frequently focusing on women in public life, school girls, and the staff of girls’ schools. The government incarcerates women and girls for “moral crimes” such as running away from home – even when doing so is not prohibited by statutory law, with an estimated half of the approximately 700 women and girls in jail and prison facing such charges.   Infant mortality and maternal mortality remain among the highest in the world, with 1 in 10 children dying before age 5 and a woman dying of pregnancy-related causes approximately every two hours.   Recent reforms, like the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, have largely failed to improve the lives of ordinary women, as the government is not enforcing its provisions, Human Rights Watch said.   Many Afghans, and women in particular, fear that decreased international assistance and involvement will erode what limited progress has been made on human rights.   Human Rights Watch calls on all participating countries to make a long-term commitment to support human rights, the security of the population, and development in Afghanistan.   “Afghanistan’s partners need to learn from the mistakes of the past decade,” Adams said. “Critical support is still needed on accountability, justice reform, women’s rights, education and health, and support for Afghan civil society and human rights activists.”   Conflict-related violence remains a daily reality in many parts of the country. During the past decade, thousands of Afghans have suffered as a result of serious violations of international humanitarian law by insurgent forces, militias, and Afghan government and international forces.   The Taliban and other insurgent forces have committed widespread violations, in particular bombings that target civilians and other attacks that do not discriminate between military targets and civilians. All sides have mistreated people in their custody.   Large areas of the country, especially the south, are now held by insurgent forces, who frequently violate human rights. Other areas are lawless zones in which no real governance exists.   “All sides to Afghanistan’s long-running armed conflict need to respect the laws of war,” Adams said. “Ending war crimes by the Taliban and other forces is key to Afghanistan’s future.” Visit the related web page
	Abolitionists target Funds behind Nuclear Arms Industry by Thalif Deen IPS / International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons   The world’s nuclear weapons industry is being funded – and kept alive – by more than 300 banks, pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in 30 countries, according to a new study.   And these institutions have substantial investments in nuclear arms producers.   Released by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 180-page study says that nuclear-armed nations spend over 100 billion dollars each year assembling new warheads, modernising old ones, and building ballistic missiles, bombers and submarines to launch them.   Much of this work, the report points out, is carried out by corporations such as BAE Systems and Babcock International in the UK, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in the United States, Thales and Safran in France, and Larsen & Toubro in India.   “Financial institutions invest in these companies by providing loans and purchasing shares and bonds,” says the report, described as the first of its kind.   Titled “Don’t Bank on the Bomb: The Global Financing of Nuclear Weapons Producers”, the study provides details of financial transactions with 20 companies heavily involved in the manufacture, maintenance and modernisation of U.S., British, French and Indian nuclear forces.   A coordinated global campaign for nuclear weapons divestment is urgently needed, it says.   Such a movement could help put a halt to modernisation programmes, strengthen the international norm against nuclear weapons, and build momentum towards negotiations on a universal nuclear weapons ban, it adds.   “Divestment from nuclear weapons companies is an effective way for the corporate world to advance the goal of nuclear abolition.”   The study appeals to financial institutions to stop investing in the nuclear arms industry.   “Any use of nuclear weapons would violate international law and have catastrophic humanitarian consequences. By investing in nuclear weapons producers, financial institutions are in effect facilitating the build-up of nuclear forces,” it says.   In a foreword to the report, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu   Writes, “No one should be profiting from this terrible industry of death, which threatens us all.”   The South African peace activist has urged financial institutions to do the right thing and assist, rather than impede, efforts to eliminate the threat of radioactive incineration, pointing out that divestment was a vital part of the successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa.   The same tactic can – and must – be employed to challenge man’s most evil creation: the nuclear bomb, he added.   Tim Wright, ICAN campaign director and co-author of the report, told IPS some of the financial institutions identified in the study “have already indicated to us they intend to adopt policies proscribing investments in nuclear arms makers”.   Asked how confident he was of the success of the divestment campaign, Wright said, “Our divestment campaign will probably be most successful in places where opposition to nuclear weapons is strongest, for example, Japan and Scandinavia.”   He said more and more banks are coming to accept that some kind of ethical criteria should be applied to investment decisions, and manufacturing weapons capable of destroying entire cities in an instant is clearly unethical.   Of the 322 financial institutions identified in the report, about half are based in the United States and a third in Europe.   The study also singles out Asian, Australian and Middle Eastern institutions.   However, the institutions most heavily involved in financing nuclear arms makers include Bank of America, BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase in the United States; BNP Paribas in France; Allianz and Deutsche Bank in Germany; Mistubishi UJF Financial in Japan; BBVA and Banco Santander in Spain; Credit Suisse and UBS in Switzerland; and Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland in Britain.   The report emphasises the humanitarian, legal and environmental arguments for divestment, noting the unique destructive potential of nuclear weapons.   Asked if it would be feasible to launch a global campaign to boycott these financial institutions, Wright told IPS, “If banks refuse to divest, customers should seek ethical alternatives.”   There is no shortage of banks, particularly smaller banks, that refuse to have anything to do this this industry, he noted. “If people begin to leave en masse, this will send a powerful signal to the bank that its support for nuclear weapons companies is unacceptable.”   For multinational banks, he said, a coordinated boycott campaign in several countries could be effective.   The study also quotes Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, who points out that anyone with a bank account or pension fund has the power to choose to invest his or her money ethically in a way that does not contribute to this Earth-endangering enterprise.   In addition to stating the ethical case for divestment, the report also warns of the reputational risks associated with financing nuclear arms, and highlights the positive role that financial institutions could play in the quest for a world free from such weapons. 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