Citizens threatened for expressing views on constitution

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and the United Nations in the capital, Kabul, have expressed concern over a reported rise in the number of threats and incidences of harassment against people in the provinces expressing their political views on the country's new constitution. "We have received reports of increasing threats, physical aggression and even arbitrary detentions," Nader Naderi, an AIHRC commissioner, told IRIN in Kabul on Sunday. According to the AIHRC, some factions and armed groups in the provinces have been threatening citizens who have publicly expressed their political opinions and/or have criticised the stance or behaviour of government representatives, official institutions or individuals known to be affiliated to powerful political groups. "They have stopped people on streets or have knocked on their doors and intimidated them for what they had said," Naderi said, adding people had been forced or pressed to support a particular political agenda. In a joint statement, both the AIHRC and the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) have urged the police and other law-enforcement authorities to use their mandate and resources to counter any attempts aimed at disrupting the consultations on the draft constitution, and to bring such perpetrators to justice. "We will work closely together, and will denounce and condemn any disruption of the consultative process, and recommend legal prosecution of anyone involved in hindering the smooth completion of this important consultation with the people of Afghanistan," the statement said. UNAMA described the consultations a historic undertaking, of critical importance for the country's transition to democracy and the rule of law. "It is indispensable that they take place in a safe and supportive environment, free from interference, pressure or threat," Manoel de Almeida e Silva, a UNAMA spokesman, told IRIN, calling on the Afghan transitional authorities and law-enforcement agencies, to refrain from unlawful interference in the consultative process, and to take all the necessary measures to guarantee the enjoyment by all Afghans of their inalienable rights to freedom of expression. Meanwhile, despite concerns expressed in the joint statement, the constitutional commission told IRIN it had not received any reports of threats from its representatives in the provinces. "I have not received or noticed any kind of reports expressing threats or intimidation from our offices in the provinces," Faruq Wardak, the director of the commission's secretariat, said, noting that the commission had established eight regional offices nationwide, which were educating the people on the constitution-making process. As the first draft of the new constitution was prepared last month, the constitutional commission said it had sent teams to major provinces of the country to launch nationwide consultations on the document and bring the people's comments and viewpoints to the capital for further consideration.