Suppressed UN Document: war criminals—hold some top posts in Afghanistan

[maddezmom]

Suppressed UN Document: war criminals—not “freedom fighters”—hold some top posts in Afghanistan


One of the grim realities involved in establishing a government in post-Taliban Afghanistan was that just about anybody who's anybody in that country had blood on his hands. While the Bush Administration sought to paint its Northern Alliance allies as freedom fighters, many of the leading figures in the Mujahideen coalition that captured Kabul in late 2001 were bona fide war criminals.

For nearly two years, the United Nations has been holding up the release of a major report that chronicles Afghanistan's history of human rights abuses stretching back to 1978. According to a story published three months ago in the Guardian, the report was scheduled for release in January 2005, but “has been delayed repeatedly due to sensitivities over identifying former warlords still in positions of power.”

~~snip~~

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful member of parliament and ally of Hamid Karzai, was one of the earliest of the men to take up arms against the Soviets. In this period, he also reportedly mentored 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The UN report cites a former military commander who said that prior to the Afshar massacre, Sayyaaf told his men, “Don't leave anyone alive—kill all of them.”

The Guardian quoted Patricia Gossman, a co-author of the UN study, as saying the report was “not a bill of indictment” but a “truth telling” exercise to help Afghans confront their past. She told the newspaper that the delay in publishing “sends the wrong signals. This is something Afghans wanted to see and it's really disappointing we couldn't live up to that.” Meanwhile, the hope that a more genteel side might emerge among Afghanistan's post-Taliban political elite appears to have proved wrong.

more:http://harpers.org/sb-suppressed-un-afghanistan-1157555989.html

the report:http://harpers.org/art/silverstein/UNMappingReportAfghanistan.pdf

[Demeter]

1. Get a Clue! Same Thing's Happening Here! n/t

[maddezmom]

2. You're absolutely correct

:hi: