On Monday, the government and the people of Afghanistan began a two-day nationwide mourning in the capital and across the country for remembering thousands of the Afghans killed or disappeared during the Afghan communist state in late 1970s. The memorial being held has once again exposed the dilemma the Afghan government faces regarding keeping a balance between political stability and justice. The latest release of death lists of about 5,000 people killed in 1970s by then-communist state and the memorials being observed is also rekindling debates in the media, civil society organizations and the political arena of Afghanistan over the need for seeking justice and commitments of the Afghan government.
As the government is drumming up for public support for the ongoing peace efforts and the long-awaited negotiations with the insurgent groups, the release of names of thousands of Afghan war victims by the Netherlands’ intelligence once more highlighted the fact that Afghanistan needs to find a way out for responding to the calls for justice and establishing a legal and political ground for addressing the war crimes occurred in the past decades. According to Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), the death list had been obtained by the International Crimes Unit of the Netherlands National Police after it investigated immigration and later criminal case of an ex-interrogator of the intelligence agency of the former communist regime in Afghanistan.
The release of the death list came as a shock to many of the ordinary Afghans who are gradually forgetting the past, but as a bitter reminiscent of the past war crimes to the dependents of the victims whose names appeared in the list. The families of the victims, who, for sure, never gave up to hopes that they will see some day their loved ones missed in 1970s, felt a second time grief and somehow assurances due to an end for their long-lasting waiting. After the release of the death list, many Afghan citizens posted on social networks that they found names of their missed family members in the list. In Afghanistan, it is common to hear on radio announcements family members appealing the listeners for some news about their missed family members. It shows that there are thousands of Afghan families out there who have a missed family member and desperately searching for them. The recent release came as an end to the long-lasting wait for many such families.
On the other hand, the revelation of the death list crystallized the fate of a small portion of millions of victims of past wars that have been simply in numbers so far. In the course of implementation of justice in Afghanistan, the numbers should be personified and inserted to the collective memory of the society so that the process of transitional justice attains supports of the public. As Afghanistan is distancing from the recent history of war crimes and mass killings, the people are gradually being turning desensitized to the past war crimes and the need for justice in the country. The release of names of about 5,000 ordinary citizens such as shopkeepers, teachers, laborers, students and religious scholars played a remarkable role in recounting and reminding the sufferings of the Afghans in past decades.
Another fact about Afghan history of war crimes is that it not things of the past. In fact, it is perpetually repeating as thousands of innocent civilians are killed each year, leave alone security forces. The war crimes in Afghanistan is not only about 1970s and committed by the communist governments, but the Mujahedin and the Taliban are also responsible of war crimes the same as the Afghan communists. It is irrefutable that the most major obstacle to implementation of justice for Afghans and the Transitional Justice program is presence of powerful figures linked to the past crimes in the current establishment. This, combined with lack of political will in the leadership of the Afghan government, has led to ignoring the calls for implementation of Transitional Justice. Initially, the government supported the efforts for beginning a process for justice, but gradually backed off from supporting the moves in pretext of preserving stability and national harmony.
Implementation of justice would be a main factor and a progress index in the efforts for developing the country and building a democratic state after decades of war and instability. Justice would undeniably play a role in security and stability of the country in the future as immunity for perpetrators of war crimes would itself be a factor for prolonged instability and war that could repeat the history. The course for future development of Afghanistan goes through implementation of justice as well, and it is something that cannot be ignored in any processes of post-war state-building. And now, twelve years after the Taliban rule and about two decades after Mujahedin era and over two decades after the communists’ rule, a large portion of Afghan society remains affected by war crimes of the past and expect implementation of justice firsthand from the new establishment.
Experiences of various countries including Afghanistan have shown that immunity granted to perpetrators of human rights violation have considerably contributed to instability, and in some cases have stirred other wars. Immunity of the perpetrators of human rights violations leads to socio‐political disorder, loss of public trust and confidence in the government and further distances people from the government. The victims of past wars expect justice more than others, and are frustrated from the government of failing to do so. In most cases, falling victim to war crimes and human rights violations results to a cycle of revenges and reprisals. It’s said that most of Taliban insurgents are those who have lost one or several members of their families in the past conflicts. And the same narrative is about other wars in the past.
The latest release of death list once again highlighted that documentation of war crimes is a crucial part of the process. Documentation of human rights violations paves the ground for implementation of justice and is a vital part of the efforts for securing justice. Collecting documents and evidences on war crimes and crimes against humanity enables the civil organizations and the media to promote awareness campaigns among the people and urging the government to act.
The government of Afghanistan needs to take a long-term approach towards the past violations of human rights and prepare a legal framework for the issue. If the government fails to develop a sustainable framework for dealing with past war crimes, the issue would remain as a factor for repeat of hatreds and violence. Government’s commitment for implementation of justice will help rule of law and accountability in the country and lays a stable foundation for future stability and peace. In this case, the people would be supportive of the government as they see the state is providing them security along with justice. In Afghanistan’s future, therefore, stability would closely remain correlated with the implementation and restoration of justice and accountability.