Rights bodies and lawmakers condemn attack on parliamentarian

Rights bodies in Afghanistan have condemned an assault on a member of the newly elected national parliament in northern Jawzjan province and called on authorities to conduct an investigation into the incident. Faizullah Zaki was on holiday in his home town in Jawzjan province when he was attacked and beaten in early June. The lawmaker was airlifted to hospital in neighbouring Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, where he is still under treatment. “Such a cowardly attack on an MP is unacceptable and we hope that the government will investigate the incident seriously,” Ahmad Fahim Hakim, Deputy Chairman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), said in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Monday. “If the incident is not properly investigated, people will definitely lose their trust and faith in the current government and its security institutions,” Hakim remarked. Zaki was for many years the spokesman for Jambush-i-milli - an Uzbek ethnic party headed by ex-militia commander Abdul Rashid Dostam, who was accused of a wide range of human rights abuses during the 1992-1996 civil war. Dostam’s party has a strong presence in Jawzjan province. Condemning the attack on fellow lawmaker, MP Shakuria Barakzai said that Jambushi-i- milli party, which still owns private militia and enjoys strong rule in Jawzjan province was behind this act. “I don’t think that he [Zaki] was beaten by thieves or robbers, an entire organisation in Jawzjan province is behind this awful incident because of his strong support for President Hamid Karzai,” Barakzai told IRIN. An official in the lower house of parliament, who declined to be named, said Zaki had been assaulted because he had backed President Hamid Karzai's cabinet nominations during a vote in April. Dostam was never nominated for a cabinet position, but is pushing to get more of his Uzbek party loyalists into senior government positions. Commenting on the issue, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)’s spokesman Adrian Edwards said: ”The interior ministry is investigating this matter. If confirmed, we would take this issue very seriously.” “It is vital that MPs are free to work without threat and intimidation,” Edwards noted. Officials at the interior ministry said that they had earlier launched investigation into the case. “A serious investigation is under way,” Yousuf Stanizai, interior ministry spokesman, said in Kabul. “I am not sure that the current government would be able to prosecute the perpetrators of this incident because powerful warlords have strong militias and [have] high-ranking positions in the government,” Habibullah Rafi, a local analyst, told IRIN in Kabul. “As long as the culture of impunity exists, there won’t be justice for criminals and human rights abusers in the country,” he maintained. Dostam, a key rival to Hamid Karzai in the October 2004 presidential election, holds a senior post in the country's armed forces, set up by the president.