The Conversation: For the past two years, Paul Brereton, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and Army Reserve major general, has been conducting an investigation into the conduct of members of the SAS in Afghanistan. While the findings are not yet known, leaks from within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have suggested that as many
Institute for War & Peace Reporting (UK): Afghan officials have hit back at a UN report that criticised their government for allowing mediation to replace formal justice proceedings in cases of violence against women. Rights activists, however, argue that the study highlights key problems with the legal approach to gender abuse. Click here to read more
McClatchy: Robert Bales, the former Army staff sergeant who killed 16 Afghan civilians, including seven children, will likely ask the president to commute his life sentence once he exhausts his legal appeals for one of the nation’s most notorious war crimes. Click here to read more (external link).
Human Rights Watch: The accounts are both shocking and horribly familiar. Soldiers acting as if they were above the law assault and murder civilians in a barbaric competition to outdo each other. New recruits compelled to prove themselves by killing. The victims are not enemies in battle but the elderly, men with disabilities, a farmer
WASHINGTON, June 14 (Sputnik) – A former Navy sailor and defense contractor with access to classified nuclear secrets has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for stealing classified information related to US military operations in Afghanistan, the Justice Department said in a press release. “During his employment overseas, and particularly [as a contractor] in
Mohammad Habibzada VOA News June 4, 2018 WASHINGTON — Human rights organizations have voiced “grave concerns” over the rise in summary court convictions in Afghanistan after a video of one such trial was posted on social media last week. In the video, which was filmed outside the capital, Kabul, a group of four men and a
The Intercept: In October 2008, the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration heralded the arrest of Haji Juma Khan on narcotics and terror charges. His capture, they said, dealt a punishing blow to the Taliban and the symbiotic relationship between the insurgent group and Afghan drug traffickers. Yet, unbeknownst to all but the closest observers of
The Nation (Pakistan): Pakistan has been the target of a steady and ever-growing stream of accusations linking it with the ‘control’ or ‘influence’ over certain groups in Afghanistan; an accusation that has been denied persistently… A detailed reading of the Request, however, shows that Pakistan is not immune from the Court’s jurisdiction in this case. The
Tolo News: The approval of ‘the law on prohibition and prevention of harassment against women and children’ was welcomed by human rights activists and parliament’s human rights and women’s affairs commission. The law has three chapters and 29 articles which is aimed to end women and children harassment in the country. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV: Kabul traffic police have started fining drivers who overload their vehicles with passengers. Abdul Tawab Ahmadi, head of supervision board of traffic police, said that the measure was put in place following complaints by residents of the city. He said that drivers who overload a five-seat car could be fined 200 afghanis. Click here to read