Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty October 5, 2018 Afghan officials have rejected a proposal to have foreign military contractors take over training and advising of the Afghan armed forces. The rejection comes after a renewed lobbying campaign by the founder and former CEO of the Blackwater security company, Erik Prince, who for the past few weeks
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 4, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s government has formally rejected and outlawed a plan, advocated by an American businessman, to privatize the 17-year-old war in the country, effectively ending a heated debate on the issue. Erik Prince promoted his proposal on Kabul television as recently as last week for the government to
1TV: Afghanistan has secured first place among 123 countries on right to information laws.cThat is according to the Halifax-based Centre for Law and Democracy and human rights organization Access Info Europe which published the annual list to mark International Right to Know Day. The rating system uses a 150-point scale to indicate the strength and weaknesses
Amnesty International: “Afghanistan’s human rights defenders have shown great courage despite the very difficult context in which they live in. Faced with grave threats to their lives and well-being, they continue to speak up against injustice and stand up for the rights of others. It is about time that the Afghan authorities and the international community
HRW: Thousands of Afghan civilians are losing their lives, their loved ones, or suffering devastating injuries in bombings, gunbattles, and other violence. Since January, the United Nations documented the highest number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan since it started keeping track in 2009. At least 1,692 civilians died in the first six month of 2018 and
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 11, 2018 The International Criminal Court (ICC) has said it will “continue to do its work undeterred,” responding a day after U.S. national security adviser John Bolton threatened sanctions if the tribunal investigates alleged war crimes by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. The Hague-based court, which investigates genocide, crimes against humanity,
Reuters: European countries must not rush to repatriate Afghan refugees to their increasingly insecure homeland or blame their community for isolated crimes such as recent deadly attacks in Germany and in France, the top U.N. refugee official [Filippo Grandi] said on Monday. “There is a lot of pressure for Afghans to return. Our advice is to carry
VOA News September 10, 2018 The Trump administration is set to threaten sanctions Monday if the International Criminal Court in The Hague carries out an investigation into allegations of war crimes by U.S. military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan. A draft speech that U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is scheduled to give before the
Ottawa Citizen: Australia is investigating recent accusations from some special forces troops that a group of rogue soldiers in the Special Air Service Regiment executed an elderly Afghan prisoner and kept a running tally of the number of Afghans they killed. Members of Australian special forces are also alleged to have kept the prosthetic led of
Brad Taylor via Bloomberg: Erik Prince thinks 6,000 mercenaries can do what 110,000 troops could not. That’s a deadly mistake. Taking a close look Blackwater’s role in Iraq shows why: profit over policy. While the company was initially formed with vetted Navy SEALs, over time the need to ramp up operations led to the firm