A Case Study of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
Commitment to Human rights means being brave, being patient and being consistent.
Commitment to Human rights in a country like Afghanistan may also mean working from the inside of a crocodile. (Image by Iranian political cartoonist Mana Neyestani)
Introduction
Afghanistan became a member of the United Nations (UN) on November 19, 1946. Afghanistan was one of the countries that voted in favor of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), leading to its adoption on December 10, 1948. That was indeed a historical moment to be part of and Afghans must take pride in it. If in nothing that signifies our devotion to the cause of human rights, Afghanistan at least was a positive contributor to the global recognition of human rights at the global platform of UN. I have seen many Afghan men and women taking pride in becoming a UN member before this or that country.
However, should we really take pride in being a member? Does the fact that we voted positively for the UDHR suffice in terms of our contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights? Can our words, our votes, our statements, our speeches, our claims, our plans, our national strategies, can any of these speak louder than the ground realities of our country, those realities that overwhelmingly speak nothing but the opposite? It is an unfortunate fact, but a fact, that the answer to these questions is NO.
Perhaps we have succeeded in the battle of words, but have failed in the battle of life time and again. Apparently we respect resolutions, we ratify conventions, we spend billions of dollars on drafting our national development strategies and we claim that human rights is one of the main pillars of that strategy, yet we succumb to authority and power, under whatever name, and thus fail in holding our government accountable to human rights resolutions, conventions and strategies. The gap between our words and our actions is so wide that it resembles a trench that sucks our determination to its fullest.
To stand for filing this ditch, for bridging this gap and for recollecting our willpower in the face of human rights violations is a noble yet challenging task. One entity that has shown determination in owning this task is the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). This paper aims at a personal review of the activities and achievements of AIHRC since its inception in 2002, an assessment of the challenges in the face of which it has progressed, and a humble set of recommendations based on and inspired by an analysis of the opportunities that it may have missed to explore, with the aim of improving its working for the future.
Historical Background and Legal Base[1]
The bleak situation of human rights in Afghanistan is close to its golden jubilee. If we decide not to go too deep into history, mid to late 1970s marks the beginning of a series of politically unstable regimes, creation of armed and internationally and regionally backed left and right factions, civil wars and thus violations of human rights, the victims of which have been ordinary citizens of Afghanistan, in particular women and children. Extrajudicial killings, forced evictions and migrations, torture, use of force against political prisoners, rape, and mass and arbitrary detention have been among common practices carried out by different regime authorities as well as armed opposition groups.
The first phase of world attention that Afghanistan received came with ammunitions for the Mujahideen to fight the Soviets, and thus it only contributed to the aggravation of human rights situation. The second and current phase of world attention came after 9/11, leading to the fall of Taliban in December 2001 and the creation of the Interim Administration in early 2002. The establishment of AIHRC was part of this package, proposed and agreed upon at the Bonn Conference of December 2001. AIHRC receives its legal legitimacy from Bonn Agreement of December 5, 2001, Decree of the Chairman of the Interim Administration of June 6, 2002, and Article 58 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.[2]
AIHRC is a national, Constitutional and independent human rights monitoring, promoting and protecting body, with the power to investigate the violations of human rights, and envisions “a just, democratic and developed society where human rights are observed, respected and protected.” [3] The Afghan Cabinet approved the Law on the Structure, Duties, and Mandate of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, followed by the Presidential endorsement in May 2005. This Law emphasizes on the independence of AIHRC in its financial and administrative affairs.[4]
Challenges
AIHRC was established as a consequence of national and international commitments, policies and strategies that aimed at improving human rights conditions. Yet, many Afghans suffered from lack of access to basic life amenities such as education, housing, health care and jobs. Adding to all of these have been the high levels of poverty and lack of access to basic services. Over three decades of political unrest had rendered government institutions such as the judiciary weak and incapable of service provision, which included rule of law and enforcement and implementation of legislative initiatives. Lack of access to education for Afghanistan meant three generations of uneducated men and women, where men had grown up with one common hobby: War.
In such circumstances, to expect public awareness about human rights principles would have been very unrealistic. Striking lack of public awareness about human rights principles had long been used as means to justify horrifying ends: violations of human rights. Women, children, persons with disabilities and internally displaced persons were subjected to a variety of human rights violations, from child marriages, to child labor, to complete denial of right to education and work to women. Political participation of women in such circumstances seemed to be nothing but a dream with no deadline.
Though AIHRC possessed legal legitimacy and had a mandate approved by the Government of Afghanistan and the International Community, it was to promote and protect human rights of Afghan citizens only through proposing human rights norms and monitoring the human rights situation. AIHRC lacked enforcement capacity and in a country with a history of warlordism, where money and arms speak louder than knowledge of global humanitarian standards, this was a big blow. It literally meant that AIHRC will not be taken seriously, or seriously enough. For instance in the case of factional fighting and crimes of war, in practical terms what AIHRC could do was to condemn acts of human rights violation in its statements and ask the government authorities for proper measures in doing justice and bringing the violators into court trials, or emphasize on transparency in the recruitment process of officers of enforcement agencies such as police, army and intelligence. It could not however, enforce any of these statements. AIHRC’s lack of enforcement authority has been felt more and more in the face of absence of rule of law in the country and wide and persistent culture of impunity. Powerful individuals and groups have continuously abused this situation and the weak system of judiciary.[5]
Another factor that negatively affected the image and thus the capacity of AIHRC was its budget. No doubt, AIHRC was not alone in its total dependence on the financial assistance of the international community to Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is not the only country where heavy dependence on international support and backing has negatively affected the certification process of the values that a national human rights entity represents.[6] However, as the promoter, protector and monitoring body of human rights in Afghanistan, its dependence on foreign aid raised questions, in the eyes of Afghans, about its independence in policy and in political terms. The people of Afghanistan had witnessed a history of dependence of institutions of all sides on regional and international powers, and this dependence had resulted in millions of deaths and national and international displacements. Adding to this history was the severe lack of public awareness about human rights principles. In such circumstances, the promotion of human rights carried out by AIHRC turned out to be a stranger to Afghans, because for an average Afghan Islamic justice system can bring the best form of human rights. Many, innocently, unknowingly and some intentionally, linked AIHRC propagated human rights values to western values of social life and rejected them without further thinking.[7]
Lack of security in most parts and absence of any sense of security in some parts of Afghanistan has been a challenge throughout the life of AIHRC. The fact that the security situation deteriorated since 2002, has greatly damaged the human rights situation, by not only hampering human rights work, but posing greater threats to the life of citizens.[8] AIHRC still has no presence in 59% of Afghanistan (20/34 provinces.)
Source: Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009.
Achievements
It was only after reviewing the annual reports of AIHRC since 2002 that I realized how much amazing work has been done. AIHRC has truly come a long way, a description of which is beyond the patience of this paper. I could not hold my tears when I saw the image of a page from a school text book that contains the logo of AIHRC and cites Article 24 of the Afghan Constitution and Article 3 of the UDHR related to the right to life, liberty and security of person.[9] That was when I felt that this paper will be incomplete without a brief highlight of some of AIHRC achievements in the past nine years.
AIHRC literally began from scratch. As immediately as the entity was born, it was tasked to observe the process of the Emergency Loya Jirga held in 2002, while simultaneously, building the institutional and human resource bases of the organization. In less than a year AIHRC managed to establish its regional offices and thus began the first in the series of achievements: deterrence; the mere presence of AIHRC offices in provinces proved effective in deterring human rights violations.
If there is one thing that the human rights deprived people of Afghanistan and human rights advocates should take pride in, is the establishment of AIHRC. In spite of grave challenges such as lack of public awareness, scarce technical, financial, logistic and human resources, AIHRC built its credibility bit by bit where now Afghan people look up to it as their advocate, their protector and their voice. AIHRC Annual Report of 2003 quotes a local participant in the inauguration of one of satellite offices saying, "Even if we are not able to enjoy our rights, but at least there is a place to talk and be listened about our troubles and violations against us. That place is indeed the AIHRC office." This public backing is a great source of moral support and a proof of gained public credibility for AIHRC.
AIHRC is a credible member of the Afghanistan civil society. The knowledge, background, work experience and activities of its Chairperson, Dr. Sima Samar and other Commissioners have led to it gaining a leadership position amongst the greater civil society community.[10]
At the organizational level and from the perspective of organizational growth and development, AIHRC has grown from a group of activists to professional human rights advocates and educators. It was after AIHRC began functioning that the presence of Afghan human rights organizations was felt at the international level.
In a society where economic dependence is often equated with political dependence, AIHRC has been successfully cautious in maintaining its relations with the international community and the United States on one hand, and strengthening its roots and enhancing its popularity amongst the people of Afghanistan on the other, who on an ascending trend, denounce the allied troops’ unacceptable house searches and civilian casualties as human rights violations. On its website, AIHRC has a section on Frequently Asked Questions where detailed and clear answers are given to the most asked questions by the general public.[11]
In addition to the contribution that the results of the monitoring visits of AIHRC made to the governmental missions, these results were also made public through their publication in the periodical journal of the commission. In the first year of AIHRC functioning, it received around 2000 complaints of which there were 1323 cases of violations of human rights. It was as a result of efforts made by the commission that 400 arbitrarily detained prisoners were released. This is only one example of such achievements.[12]
While addressing cases of human rights violation, AIHRC did not lose grip of its long term approach towards human rights education. In close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, AIHRC attempted at revising the curriculum of the educational institutions at secondary as well as undergraduate and graduate levels with the aim of developing a human rights curriculum of national scale. This step was of particular importance considering the history of militarized school curricula. One example of such militarization of school books was exposed during the Jihad School Book scandal[13] which was extensively covered by the western media in 2002-2003. The story was about school books prepared and published by the Center for Afghanistan Studies of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, with $51 million financial support of the USAID[14]. These school books, for instance, taught math through counting guns, bullets or number of dead soldiers of infidels killed by Muslims. This situation was not only a matter of concern for the Ministry of Education, as its impact was beyond negatively affecting the minds of young students. By exposing young pupils to such violence, their perception of punishment and of violence by the powerful was rendered to be normal and therefore acceptable, and as a result their levels of sensitivity against violence and for complain about it was severely reduced.
As part of efforts aimed at spreading the word about human rights, AIHRC tirelessly worked towards the provision of easy access to human rights books and literature in local languages at national and sub national levels. Though many political women’s rights organizations such as the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan continued to observe the International Human Rights Day on December 10 every year,[15] AIHRC, for the first time, celebrated this day in Afghanistan on December 10, 2002 and the wide coverage of this event by media ensured that the people of Afghanistan were now aware of such a day through a less political and more humanitarian source.
Early 2004 witnessed the Constitutional Loya Jirga which gave Afghanistan its new Constitution. AIHRC’s presence and advocacy during this discussion led to some human rights protection clauses to be included in the constitution, such as the Article 7 which states that “The State shall abide by the UN Charter, international treaties, international conventions that Afghanistan has signed and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” It was also as a result of efforts by AIHRC and other civil society organizations that the newly drafted Constitution included the Chapter on Fundamental Rights of Citizens which ensures equal rights for women.[16] 2004 also witnessed the introduction of revised curricula throughout Afghanistan, courses on human rights at major universities in four provinces and three teacher training institutes including Kabul as well as adult literacy books on human rights. The wide distribution of books, leaflets, brochures, periodicals and other AIHRC publications throughout Afghanistan addressed the needs of those who could not access the website that is functioning in three languages.[17]
As an effort to appeal to the emotional side, in addition to the cognitive, AIHRC has joined hands with Afghan filmmakers to produce tens of dramas on a range of human rights violations. AIHRC has made extensive use of TV, Radio and print media to reach public and give awareness on human rights principles. For instance in 2009 only, AIHRC produced and broadcasted 7,975 minutes of television programs and 22,280 minutes of radio programs which was a 70% increase compared to 2008 and covered issues ranging from women’s rights to child rights, connections between human rights and Islam, justice, elections and human rights violations.[18]
AIHRC has rightly realized the importance of religion and religious elements and its relevance to its work. Following Harvey Cox’s diagnosis which suggests that fundamentalism must be “undone from the inside,”[19] AIHRC, in recognition of the role that religion plays in the socio-political debates, has focused on engaging Islamic scholars and Ulema. Monthly and weekly training sessions held for religious Ulema have led to human rights’ value inspired Friday prayer sermons, which are a significant indication of cooperation between human rights and Islam, a notion that is stereotypically rejected by many.[20]
Promoting the culture of voluntarism is another significant achievement. As per the 2009 annual Report, AIHRC worked with 50 human rights volunteers, which was a significant new development considering the fact that there had been no volunteers in the previous years.
AIHRC has successfully maintained a dynamic link between the human rights situation in Afghanistan and other countries with similar conditions. An indication of this achievement comes from efforts such as the screening of Confronting the Truth in local languages for a large group of students, media representatives and civil society organizations. The film was followed by a discussion about the lessons that could be learned from other post conflict countries for the case of Afghanistan and in particular on the issue of the role of truth commissions, which the film addressed. AIHRC also distributed copies of the film dubbed into local languages for further wider circulation. [21]
In a country where to speak about crimes and atrocities committed by powerful groups has been a taboo, to open and successfully run a war crimes museum is a significant achievement. AIHRC’s role in the establishment of Afghanistan’s first war museum on the location of a mass grave in 2009 is something to be proud of.
AIHRC has come out of the ashes, proud and strong. Its strength is based on its ability to constantly review previous work with an eye to improve it. Welcoming and appreciating criticism from within and outside the organization, in addition to formal external evaluations have added to the strength of the organization. The participatory method of developing the 2010-2013 Strategic Plan is an evidence of this tendency.
The Missing Link: Opportunities on Waiting list and Recommendations
I began reading about AIHRC with much underestimation, not expecting to find much to talk about in terms of achievements. Now I do not see an end to the extent of progress that the entity has made in the past nine years. The unfortunate fact is that many in Afghanistan and perhaps outside of Afghanistan don’t get to read or hear on the positive aspects of the past nine years, in the face of sensationalized coverage of negativities, suicide attacks and human rights violations. This lack of awareness about achievements of the past nine years is not only depressing, but it also leads to a less thought out process of reconciliation with Taliban and other insurgent groups. For someone unaware of achievements, there is less to lose and therefore less caution to be exercised in how much we compromise upon human rights values in a government that includes Taliban elements. On the other hand, for those who know that Afghanistan of today cannot be compared to Afghanistan of 1979 or 1992 or 1996, there is more to cherish, and therefore more caution to be exercised while negotiating peace deals.
This review process put me under its awe so much that for a minute I thought I have nothing else to recommend. Their work overwhelmed me and I was embarrassed by my underestimation of this entity, only to be awakened by the still grim realities of human rights situation in Afghanistan. No doubt AIHRC has come a long way, but Afghan nation, in the words of Robert Frost, still has “miles to go” before it rests.
Sustainability and Certification: As discussed, AIHRC continues to be completely dependent on international financial resources. This intervention was necessary at the beginning, but there must be efforts towards integrating AIHRC in the Afghan system in order to put an end to its heavy dependence on international support. If AIHRC continues to be identified as an international intervention, the possibilities of its integration into Afghan society and the sustainability of that integration process, as well as the certification of the values that AIHRC represents by the Afghan Government will be negatively affected.[22]
Social Media: According to the Social Bakers website, the number of Facebook account holders in Afghanistan grew over three times in the past six months (October 2010-March 2011), from 57000 to 156000.[23] Though this figure is less than 1% of the entire population, the fact that over 76% of it are users between the ages of 18 and 34, renders it significant. To add more perspective, according to UNDP estimates, 68% of Afghan population comprises of youth below the age of 25.[24] While these figures do not suggest that a social media revolution is looming large in Afghanistan, they certainly do indicate towards the fertile and yet unexplored grounds for it. AIHRC’s social media based presence and advocacy is close to nil and therefore needs immediate attention. It is worth mentioning however that AIHRC needs to strike a balance between its virtual and physical presence among the masses in Afghanistan. While virtual presence can save time and resources, the physicality of being in the same place, of interacting at a personal level has an in-depth impact that is irreplaceable.
Video Advocacy: Learning from 10 Tactics: Most major universities in Afghanistan have journalism, fine arts and literature departments. AIHRC’s work towards revising educational curricula and equipping it with human rights values is important. However, it seems that AIHRC has completely ignored the young and energetic brains that bring revolutions if led. To learn from Sam Gregory of Witness and the 10 Tactics of advocacy, there is need for AIHRC to collaborate with university departments in providing training and equipment to students who would like to pursue investigative journalism, video production or writing as a career field.[25] The human rights movement in Afghanistan is in dire need of creativity, expressed through serious or humorous stories, videos and press articles. Years of patient and continuous training of professionals by Witness in Egypt may not have caused the overthrow of Mubarak, but it certainly was a factor that empowered young Egyptian revolutionaries in their struggle against oppression.
National and Transnational Campaign Coalitions: While AIHRC has had international presence, it has not yet connected the national human rights movement in Afghanistan with transnational actors. The human rights situation in Afghanistan has either been perceived as internal and devoid of transnational linkages, or as altogether international with sensationalized images that lack sustainability. Civil society organizations respect and accept the leadership role that AIHRC has, but AIHRC has been reluctant in taking that role and providing practical leadership. With the attention, resources and legitimacy that AIHRC has, it would have been relatively easy to form national coalitions of human rights advocates and link them to international coalitions. AIHRC has been issuing statements. While the ground in Afghanistan, in particular due to the presence of international partners and world moral and financial attention is ready for campaign coalitions to ensure higher degrees of national and international involvement as well as more long term sustainability of achieved human rights values.[26]
Supremacy of International Law when in Conflict with National Law: It was as a result of tireless efforts of AIHRC and other civil society organizations that the 2004 Constitution guaranteed fundamental rights and committed to international law as a binding force. However, what still lacks is a constitutional article that ensures the supremacy of international law in case it comes into conflict with national law. There are examples of Constitutions of other countries that include this provision, such as Turkey.[27] Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution states: “… In the case of a conflict between international agreements in the area of fundamental rights and freedoms duly put into effect and the domestic laws due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the provisions of international agreements shall prevail.” To ensure protection, in particular when Afghanistan is going towards reconciling insurgent elements and offering them positions in the government, it is critical to ensure that they do not get away with suppressing fundamental rights only because the Constitutions fails to address the situations of conflict.
Reconciliation vs. Retribution: When we talk of reconciliation in Afghanistan, the perception is generally that Taliban elements will be allowed to join the government. When the debate is around war crimes and families of victims, the alternatives are either retribution or the act of absolute denial of the occurrence of war crimes ever. Since retribution is a cycle that never ends, and absolute denial of war crimes is unjust, reconciliation comes out as the best option, which needs more focus from AIHRC as the leading entity in the debate. To follow the example of South Africa, what AIHRC and other civil society organizations need to initiate is a debate where the alternative to retribution is reconciliation and not absolute impunity.[28]
Youth Participation: Youth make a segment of Afghan population, in which AIHRC is yet to invest. They are our future leaders of the process of development, and it is only fair to consider them to be the “central subject, active participant, owner, director and the beneficiary of the development process.”[29] The role that they could play in the sub national elected councils is too significant to go unnoticed. Since the development process is going to affect youth, they must be active participants of the process of development and for this to happen they must be empowered.[30] At the moment, the participation of youth is blocked by the age restrictions on running for office, which is different for different positions. Afghan citizens can vote at 18, but they cannot run for office at 18 years of age. Following the example of countries like France, this calls for a campaign, preferably led by AIHRC that advocates for making the age of legal capacity for both voting and running for office the same.[31]
Concluding Remarks
A look at human rights violations in other developing and developed countries of the world makes one think and ask a question: will human rights values survive in Afghanistan? If human rights continue to be violated in developed countries, what chance does Afghanistan stand?
Democracy and human rights in Afghanistan has a long way to go. It is tempting to blame the over three decades of war and political instability and feel disappointed over our baby steps towards the full realization of human rights, but it is not wise to do so. What is important to note is that we are taking steps ahead and we are on the path towards progress. The realization of women’s rights in the US took 19 successive congresses.[32] It would be unfair to lose hope when we have gone through only two parliaments since the fall of Taliban. Patience is a virtue and that is what we really need here. But being patient must not mean losing consistency in efforts. “We always need to remember that behind almost every great moment in history, there are heroic people doing really boring and frustrating things for a prolonged period of time,” said Gail Collins.[33] She is right. Afghan people, as evident from AREU research, have only begun developing a liking for the idea of democracy and human rights.[34] Developing support for the manifestation of these values and their sustainability in the long term will require the building of new foundations, which is going to take a long time.
Afghanistan is not an easy case, definitely not a case of short term intervention with expected immediate results. The campaign for the realization of human rights values has to start from scratch, and they need to be given the chance to be born in Afghanistan and not adopted. They have to not only appear indigenous, but also truly be indigenous.
Afghans are wary of being robbed of their tradition and beliefs, as they have been robbed of their peace, security, land, beauty and freedom. This fear drives their reluctance in embracing certain democratic values including human rights, which they see as a stranger for now. But if given time, they can and will help a rebirth of Afghan democracy and human rights. They have been betrayed too many times to be able to easily trust even themselves, let alone entities and efforts established through foreign intervention. Time is all they need and time is all human rights needs to return to Afghanistan.
[1] For AIHRC Organizational Structure, see Annex 1.
[2] The Constitution of Afghanistan, AIHRC, accessed on April 4, 2011, http://aihrc.org.af/en/Page/817.
[3] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009, available at
[4] Available at http://www.aihrc.org/2010_eng/Eng_pages/about/Law_AIHRC.pdf, at p.5.
[5] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, A Call for Justice: A National Consultation on Past Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan, available at http://www.ictj.org/static/Asia/Afghanistan/aihrc.callforjustice.eng.pdf. at p.4.
[6] Sidney Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 200.
[7] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, A Call for Justice: A National Consultation on Past Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan, available at http://www.ictj.org/static/Asia/Afghanistan/aihrc.callforjustice.eng.pdf. at p.7.
[8] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009, available at
[9] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009, available at
[10] Zala Ahmad, personal interview with founder of Humanitarian Organization for Local Development, April 2, 2011.
[11] Frequently Asked Questions, AIHRC, accessed on April 4, 2011, http://aihrc.org.af/en/FAQ.
[12] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2002-2003, available at
[13] Jared Israel, “The Jihad School Book Scandal” The Emperor’s New Clothes, April 9, 2002, http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/jihad.htm
[14] Martin Schram, “The United States and Madrassas”, The Globalist, September 21, 2003, http://www.theglobalist.com/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=3453
[15] Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, accessed on April 4, 2011, http://www.rawa.org/events.htm.
[16] The Constitution of Afghanistan, AIHRC, accessed on April 4, 2011, http://aihrc.org.af/en/Page/817.
[17] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2003-2004, available at http://aihrc.org.af/Content/Media/Documents/Annual20042212011151834343.pdf. p 13.
[18] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009, available at http://aihrc.org.af/Content/Media/Documents/Annual200921120111884413.pdf, at p. 29.
[19] Harvey Cox, “Why Fundamentalism will Fail: A seemingly unstoppable force is being undone from the inside”, Boston.com, November 8, 2009, http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/11/08/why_fundamentalism_will_fail/
[20] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009, available at
[21] Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2009, available at
[22] Sidney Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 200.
[23] Available at http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/afghanistan/last-3-months#chart-intervals and
[23] UNDP/ Afghanistan National Joint Youth Programme Annual Report 2007, Kabul: UNDP/ JNYP, 2007.
[25] Gillian Caldwell, “Using Video for Advocacy”, in Video for Change: A Guide to Advocacy and Activism, Sam Gregory, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni and Thomas Hardings, (London: Pluto Press), http://www.witness.org/images/stories//pdf/VideoforChange_VideoAdvocacy_Titled.pdf. p 17.
[26] Sidney Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 167.
[27] Constitution of Turkey, accessed on April 4, 2011, http://www.anayasa.gov.tr/images/loaded/pdf_dosyalari/THE_CONSTITUTION_OF_THE_REPUBLIC_OF_TURKEY.pdf.
[28] Sidney Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 184.
[29] United Nations Philippines, Rights Based Approach to Development Programming: Training Manual, July 2002, Available at http://ph.one.un.org/publications/RBAManual.pdf. p.13
[30] Dr. Hilde Hey, Strengthening the human rights based approach in German development cooperation with Guatemala: Final report of the Advisory Mission to the Education Quality Programme,April 2006, Available at http://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/uploads/tx_commerce/mission_report_applying_a_hr_based_approach_in_primary_educ.pdf. p 6.
[31] Afghanistan does not have a uniform age of legal capacity at the moment. Every Afghan citizen can vote at 18, but cannot run for office. The age for running for office is different for different positions. For further detail, see text of Afghan Constitution available at http://aihrc.org.af/en/Page/817.
[32] Gail Collins, “My Favorite August” New York Times, August 8,2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/opinion/14collins.html
[33] Gail Collins, “My Favorite August” New York Times, August 8,2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/opinion/14collins.html
[34] Anna Larson, “Afghanistan’s New Democratic Parties: A Means to Organizing Democratization”, in Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Briefing Paper Series, March 2009, http://www.areu.org.af/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=73