Afghanistan

Amateur video footage of election-rigging

Team Observers — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:35:19 +0200

One of our Observers alerted us to three videos published on the Internet, which show men stuffing ballot boxes with fake ballots during the Afghan election.

The videos were posted on Youtube by a user who goes by the name of "littlebird2010". They were recovered and made public by the campaign staff of Hamid Karzaï’s main political opponent, Abdullah Abdullah. Oddly enough, the people stuffing the boxes appear to know they are being filmed on two of the three videos. Contacted by FRANCE 24, an Abdullah aide explained that the videos were sent to them by “young supporters”. According to him, they were filmed by Afghans who pretended to go along with the fraud, which explains why they could film so closely. A member of the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Committee (ECC) confirmed that Abdullah Abdullah sent them the videos of the alleged Ghazni province fraud, adding that the commission had opened an investigation into their content.

Journalists and international observers present during the poll reported numerous irregularities and the ECC received over 2,000 complaints concerning alleged voter fraud. Preliminary results show outgoing president Hamid Karzai ahead with more than 50% of the vote. However, under Afghan law, final results cannot be officially announced until all the fraud complaints are examined. This could take more than a month, according to a US diplomat.

Our Afghani Observers weigh in on the election

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:03:44 +0200

Posted on Flickr by From Afghanistan With Love

Four of our Afghani Observers, who have been to the polls today, explain how their country has changed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and what they're hoping to see from their next president.

There are 41 candidates in total, including current president and favourite to win, Hamid Karzai. His closest competitors are former Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Abdullah, and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani.

The election is proving to be a far from peaceful affair. The Taliban have made various threats of attack in the past few days and called for a boycott of what they consider a "sham orchestrated by the Americans".

Britney Spears to vote in Afghanistan

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:21:47 +0200

Afghanistan heads to the polls today. The event however, is likely to be tarnished by election fraud. To prove just how easy it is to buy a fake voting card, one Afghan thought it amusing to get one in the name of... Britney Spears.

Source: Afpax

Reuters reports that a voter registration card under the identification of American pop singer Britney Spears has been circulating by email for the past few weeks and has even been on display in a bar in Kabul. According to website Afpax, who broke the story in June, the document was bought by a Kandahar resident in order to demonstrate "how easy it is to buy a usable Afghan voter registration card with any name or photo you want".

The post goes on to explain that the card is entirely valid because it was created, like thousands of others, by an electoral services employee. The name on the card is "Jamila", which means "she's beautiful" in Pashto. These documents are mass produced and cost less than a euro in the major cities. This one in particular seems to prove that the anti-fraud systems in place are not very vigilant. In a country where almost all women are veiled, a white, blond and bare-skinned applicant should have raised a few eyebrows. Concerns over fake voting cards were raised again recently when in some provinces huge numbers of women signed themselves up to the electoral roll. Such a sudden and mass interest was perceived as suspicious in a country where the majority of women rarely show up to vote.

Obama boosts joystick funding for war on terror

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:13:32 +0200

The Obama administration has just handed over five billion dollars to the armed forces to buy more robots. The country's ongoing "War on Terror" employs more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for its operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan than it does manned planes. Our Observer and expert in robotics tells us that the ethical concerns behind the programme have gone unnoticed.

Below, videos of two of the planes in question. The first is an MQ-9 Reaper, capable of carrying 14 hellfire missiles. The second, its predecessor, is the MQ-1 Predator, which can take only two missiles onboard.

You’re watching Taliban TV

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:39:47 +0200

This little cyber-presenter, Dickie, seems pretty cute. Listen carefully to what he has to tell you, however. He's repeating - word for word - press releases from the Afghan Taliban.

FRANCE 24 contacted 'resistz2exist'; we'll update the post if they respond.

Good behaviour guide for U.S. soldiers

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:12:44 +0100

American soldiers can now get closer to their Iraqi and Afghani neighbours before their feet hit the ground. With virtual teachers, soldiers learn the lingo and the local customs at the same time... in a virtual game..

When the US Army touched down in Afghanistan in 2002, they barely spoke anything but English. When villagers ran into the streets, the soldiers, unable to communicate, couldn't work out if they were friend or foe. It was as the situation unravelled that a Californian defence professor came up with the idea of launching a "tactical language" programme www.tacticallanguage.com. Now, soldiers are briefed by their virtual counterparts in Arabic, Pashto or Dari, and given a few hints on how to follow the local customs and avoid cultural boo-boos. Former soldiers in Iraq tell us why the training isn't to be laughed at.

Blackwater contractors: mercenaries or reckless cowboys?

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:09:17 +0100

Photo by Steve Gubin

Five guards from US private military firm Blackwater were charged Monday with the killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last year. As the group faces growing criticism on several fronts, amateur video footage published by The Observers gives a concrete example of the contractor's reckless approach to combat, as if it was just one big video game.

Critics have repeatedly accused Blackwater combatants of displaying a "cowboy" mentality, conducting security operations on a "shoot first, ask questions later" basis. Some also accuse the company of harbouring obscure links with the Bush administration and Republican members of the US Senate.

As for the Iraqi government, it has pressed the state department to completely withdraw Blackwater from the country after last year's incident, but the security firm's contract was renewed earlier this year.

The contractor insists that its men were acting in self defence, even if a joint FBI and Iraqi police investigation shows that apparently the mercenaries opened fire without provocation. As the trial unfolds, video and audio footage of previous reckless behaviour on the part of Blackwater has further raised doubts on the professionalism of its men in the field.

"Afghan justice is under the influence of fundamentalists"

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:55:34 +0200

An Afghan student has been condemned to 20 years in prison for having downloaded and handed out a text, found on an Iranian blog, about sexual inequality in the Koran.

Afghan student Perwiz Kambakhsh received a 20 year prison sentence for "blasphemy" on 21 October. He had been originally sentenced to death after a basic trial.

His lawyer, Mohammad Afzal Nooristani, gives his account.

"I'm not surprised that Perwiz has been sentenced to twenty years in prison, because the Afghan justice is under the influence of fundamentalists. Most of the judges have graduated from a Madrassa where they've only studied theology, not law. That's why they don't respect the Afghani law and the criminal procedure. Most of the judges had only six month's training to familiarise themselves with the judicial system, which is not enough at all.

Perwiz denied downloading and distributing an article criticising Islam about the inequality between men and women, and even if he did it, it's not a crime regarding the law. He may have been targeted because of his brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi. He's a reporter who's investigated the political situation in northern Afghanistan, more precisely, warlords and their related groups.

My client's case will be re-examined by the Supreme Court in five months. Fortunately, some of the judges there have studied law and have a different approach, so we can expect a better judgment."

"I’m proud… we have the right to defend our country"

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:51:20 +0200

Pakistan and the US came to blows on Thursday after ground forces from the two countries exchanged fire over the border with Afghanistan. One of our Observers in Pakistan says the army was right to defend the country and is ready to fight, while another says the incident was no more than a "lovers' quarrel".

The two countries refuse to admit who's to blame for the crossfire, which follows weeks of escalating tension as US troops move further into Pakistan as part of the "war on terror". Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, is largely perceived as an ally of America. But since he was instated last Saturday, he's had to face the challenge of military confrontation with the world's most formidable army. According to Zardari, Pakistani forces set off two flares to warn US helicopters that they had crossed into Pakistani airspace on Thursday. The US, on the other hand, denies that its aircraft had crossed the border, arguing that they returned real fire to warn the ground troops to stop shooting.

Durra - the world’s largest illegal firearms market

Julien — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:36:07 +0200

Gunfire echoes in the streets of Durra, Pakistan. Test firing a 9mm handgun or a Kalachnikov AK-47 rifle in the village’s main market is an every day sight.

Durra or Darra Adamkhel, a village in the country’s northwestern tribal zone, is renowned for its weapon-making expertise and is the world’s largest illegal market. Gunsmiths in the village manufacture replicas of ammunition and popular guns, which are then sold to arms dealers across Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan.

Durra is part of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Pakistani central government does not directly control this region, known for harbouring Islamist insurgents. Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are said to be active in the region. While manufacturing arms within the FATA is legal, supplying them outside the tribal zone is prohibited. Durra’s weapons industry has existed for more than a century but the Soviet- Afghan war in the late seventies helped boost it.