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Kabul Revisited | Jun 06, 2006 04:22

GUEST Marianne Elliot in Kabul, Afghanistan

Only hours after we published Marianne Elliot's cautiously optimistic report from Kabul (see previous post below), the city was consumed by violence. Now read Marianne's first-hand account of the riots, and her reflections on the bravery of ordinary Afghans, written at Kabul Airport while on the way home to NZ for some R & R.

After saying only a week ago that Kabul is fairly stable and that I don't worry too much about my safety here, we've since had a day of riots and looting - ostensibly directed at the international presence in Kabul. So was I completely ignorant? Is this city bubbling with anti-international sentiment?

I'll start out with a very personal account of events on Monday as I experienced them, then tell you more about what I've learned since. I probably have had access to much less media over the past week than anyone who reads this. So my impressions are a combination of first hand observation and analysis provided by friends and colleagues.

On Monday itself I was in a HRRAC Board meeting and we got a call from one of our Board members - the representative of Oxfam - to say that there had been a security incident in northern Kabul and he would not be allowed to leave his office to come to our meeting.

Throughout the meeting various Board members continued to receive phone calls with updates - and we learned that some ISAF vehicles had been involved in a road accident on the outskirts of Kabul, towards Shomali province. The initial reports were that someone had been killed in the accident and that when the crowds had approached the ISAF vehicles the situation had escalated until shots were fired and more people killed.

Angry about these deaths, people began to demonstrate. However, the reports we were receiving indicated that the situation was escalating rapidly and that large mobs of angry young men were moving about the city looting and destroying property.

The meeting broke up and we were dispersed by back roads to our homes or offices. I was with my Afghan driver and two Afghan colleagues, plus my colleague Jake from the USA. Our Afghan colleagues arranged us in the car so that Jake was seated in the centre of the back seat, as far out of sight as possible and I put on my head scarf and tried to look inconspicuous.

They dropped us off at our guesthouse and went back to the office to collect their things and our computers. By the time they got there the mob was in the street of our office and they had only minutes to get into the building and grab all the laptops. They called to say they would come back past my house to drop off the computers.

That was the last we heard from them - at about midday - until after six in the evening. It was a horrible afternoon. Apart from wondering what had become of our colleagues, I had a friend who had just flown in from New Zealand for a short tour and visit. He arrived just in time to spend the day holed up in our building, listening to hours of gunfire in the surrounding streets, watching the huge black clouds emerge from neighbouring buildings as they were burnt.

At the worst moment of the afternoon we were hiding in the back bedroom while our unarmed, grey-haired gardener held out against the mob. They had smashed out one of the panels of our front door and the frame itself was buckling under their pressure. He held his ground, and with the support of our neighbours convinced them that there were no foreigners in this house. They moved on.

Take note of this - it is only one of many examples of Afghans acting to protect their international friends, neighbours and colleagues on Monday. I think it is an important point, that by far the majority of Afghans in Kabul were not involved in the riots and in fact many of them acted decisively and bravely to avert further damage and violence.

Najiba - the 19 year old woman who cleans our house - produced a burka for me and told me that if there was more trouble I would put it on and go with her to her mother's house. I didn't like the idea of leaving Jake, Andrew and the two dogs behind, but also knew I wouldn't be of any help if I stuck around, so I was happy to have a possible escape route. Jake was busy instructing me that once I had the burka on I could not run: even if the mob was on my heels I had to crouch on the ground against a wall, hopefully in an excellent impression of an Afghan woman.

Throughout these long hours our phones were out, we had no radio, no television, no idea at all what was going on outside our four walls except what we could hear and see. From the clouds of smoke we correctly guessed that there was a fire at the UNICA guesthouse on the corner of our street and at the Dutch Embassy one block over.

At about 6pm the phones started working. We managed to call some friends and learned that the Oxfam office had been looted, the CARE office destroyed, and the guesthouses of several of our friends looted and burned, with all their belongings either stolen or destroyed. One friend who works at CARE lost everything in her office and her home.

Our Afghan colleagues were responding as well - some were shocked, some sad and some just mad that organisations like CARE had been targeted. Many of us had stories of brave Afghan friends, colleagues, employees and neighbours who had put themselves at some risk to protect either people or property. At our house we were inclined to think Murat, our gardener, was a genuine hero and all his other flaws were rapidly being forgotten.

The phone calls were only sporadically connecting and it was far too late for me to think about calling NZ, so I had to hope that my family either had not seem anything on the late news or would assume that I was safely tucked away.

Our night guard Ahmadullah arrived in the early evening and set about bringing his battered guard box in off the street. It was possibly the guard box that attracted attention to our house in the first place, since it is mostly only internationals who have guards. Ahmadullah is also unarmed and really just keeps an eye on the front door rather than providing any serious security.

The events on Monday have stimulated many conversations this week all across Kabul. In classrooms children have debated whether the riots were in response to the US military presence or the offensive lifestyles of infidel foreigners who are supposed to drink and fornicate their days and nights away. Others have suggested the anger and frustration were directed more at destabilizing the Government.

Within days, the Commander of Police had been removed and replaced, along with a number of other senior officers. I couldn't help thinking of Timor, where I have also worked a lot, and where the sacking of the FDTL soldiers appears to have triggered the current conflict.

We internationals discussed our different security arrangements. Those of us who live well outside of the big institutions and who have no armed security and very low profiles have generally felt ourselves to be more safe than those who have to drive about in large white 4x4s with armed guards. But on Monday we found that being low key doesn't guarantee that you escape attention.

Everyone was waiting for Friday, anticipating the possibility of further "demonstrations" which could again deteriorate rapidly into riots and looting. The Government imposed a "white city" curfew across the whole of Kabul, and apparently (this comes second-hand from the guy who has a carpet shop I like to browse in) issued stern warnings that if people rioted, the police would be ordered to shoot to kill.

Excessive and concerning as that warning was, it seemed to have the effect of keeping the city quiet on Friday and by Saturday many of us were venturing out of our houses again. I have, until Monday, walked about in the streets. But on Saturday I asked my driver to deliver me door to door and wait for me wherever that was suitable.

We all feel more conscious of our security. Many people are predicting more instability over the coming 18 months and the possibility of a general deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan overall. I hate to think that this is inevitable, and hope that strong leadership and some carefully planned (and effectively implemented!) "successes" in the national development project could help forestall further mass demonstrations of anger and frustration.

But others who understand the power dynamics in this country better than me are more pessimistic. They point out that the forces who want to destabilise this government have huge resources at their disposal, and access through national networks to people at all levels of the community. If they find a vein of anger that can be tapped for their own ends then people doubt they will hesitate to use it.

My own reflection as the days go by is that despite loss of numerous Afghan lives (including two members of the family of one of my colleagues, a 22 year old father and an 18 year old youth) and reasonably wide spread destruction of property associated either with international organisations or foreign residents, there have not been any reports of international fatalities or serious injuries. Either this tells us that our security arrangements basically worked or, as I am currently more inclined to think, the rioters never really intended to hurt or kill foreigners. Perhaps I'm simply trying to comfort myself with this thought, but I can't help thinking that they would have managed to kill or at least seriously hurt some of us if that had been the real intention.

Meanwhile, I'm heading home to New Zealand for a long break, with an even longer list of shopping to help restock homes and wardrobes. I have a feeling my family are happy to have me home right now, and I will be looking forward to the chance to walk out my front door to the local dairy without worrying about being targeted.

Marianne Elliot can be reached at melliottabroad@yahoo.com.au

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Bulletin from Kabul | May 30, 2006 08:05

GUEST Marianne Elliot in Kabul, Afghanistan

Marianne Elliot is a human rights lawyer and policy consultant who has worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Timor-Leste and New Zealand. In late December 2005 she moved to Afghanistan. Jolisa Gracewood interviewed Marianne via e-mail about how things look from Kabul.

So, what are you doing in Afghanistan?

I live in Kabul where I'm the advisor for the Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRC), which is a consortium of 14 Afghan and International non-governmental organizations plus the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. For a couple of months I've been Acting Director while the Director - a fabulous Afghan woman - was on parental leave.

These organizations come together to identify key human rights issues in Afghanistan, conduct community-based research on those issues and then carry out advocacy and lobbying based on the outcomes of the research. The guiding idea behind the consortium is that there should be more heard from "ordinary Afghans" in the policy-making process here. Based on our research, we can use our collective influence to raise those voices.

These are some of the issues we have addressed recently:

•  the effectiveness of civic education received prior to the 2005 Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan
  
•  progress in the compulsory (i.e. primary) education sector since 2003
  
• how the ongoing presence and power of commanders and warlords affects the security of Afghan people.
  

What does an "ordinary" day look like for you?

On an "ordinary" work day, I'm pretty office-bound. My role has been to support the Board in developing a strategic plan for the coming three years, conduct an organizational review to identify our strengths and areas for development and develop a plan to build organizational capacity. I also spend a lot of time working with the Afghan staff in the office, just managing the day to day implementation of our research projects.

Outside of HRRAC I've also been doing a bit of volunteer work with some Afghan women defense lawyers who work for a women's organization here that provides free legal aid to women either accused of a crime or seeking a divorce. Often in the criminal cases the charge is zina – i.e. having sex outside of marriage. Women will be charged with this if they have been raped, in which case the onus is on them to prove that force was used. In the civil cases (seeking a divorce) the women have often been subjected to violence.

When I'm not working I lead an exceedingly normal, rather dull life. I try to get to the gym as often as possible - security restrictions mean that we don't walk much here and so have to resort to the treadmill to keep our leg muscles in working order. There is a small but pretty decent selection of restaurants, cafes and even a bar.

Often, there are interesting (and sometimes influential) people passing through town, so there are opportunities to meet people and bend their ear with whatever topic is pressing at the time. Last week I had dinner with the NZ Ambassador, last night with the very interesting Deputy President of CARE Canada. Even without the visitors to lobby, our social discussions often drift back to local politics and other aspects of our work.

What are the biggest problems, day to day?

Do you mean my biggest problems, day to day, or the biggest problems in Afghanistan? For my part, my home and personal life is pretty easy. I'm curiously ashamed to admit it, but for the sake of transparency I'll confess that my office provides a driver who collects me from my door every morning and that my house has a gardener and housecleaner who keep my home life organized. But professionally I struggle with the limited resources we have in the face of such huge challenges, and with the need to prioritize amongst so many compelling and legitimate needs. I also struggle with my own desire to feel that I am in control of my life, to be organized and planned. Life in Afghanistan is much more chaotic than that, and I'm learning to cope.

For the country, the problems vary widely from province to province and different groups within society face different problems. But a general problem is the continuing lack of security and stability. This affects people's personal safety and their sense of personal and national stability, but it is also a barrier to the kind of investment and development that Afghanistan badly needs.

What are the biggest fears?

I don't have a lot of fears personally. I live and work in Kabul, which is relatively secure. I worry occasionally about being kidnapped, but very rarely. I never think about suicide bombings or rocket attacks unless I'm at one of the military bases or sitting in a car on Jalalabad Rd stuck in a traffic jam next to a military convoy. Those guys are the targets, unfortunately, so I don't like to get too close or stay close for too long.

My Afghan colleagues worry about the security situation deteriorating, they worry that the insurgency will spread, that the legitimacy of this new Government and Parliament will not take hold, and that the whole system will topple and chaos and violence will take over again.

My closest friend here has saved US$15,000 towards building a home for her family, and has a section and plans ready to go. But with the growth of instability into the west over the past few weeks she is wondering whether she would be wiser to keep the money in the back in case of conflict. They may need to leave the country, and in any case, if conflict breaks out property rights are quickly disregarded and there is a high risk of losing assets such as land and housing.

We heard a lot, a couple of years ago, about how ousting the Taleban would help liberate Afghan women. How's that working out?

I think that there is a group within Afghanistan, perhaps the upper and middle class here in Kabul, whose lives have really been affected by the end of the Taleban regime. Bookshops are free to sell a wide range of books, for example. Here in Kabul you can see sophisticated Afghan women wearing the latest fashions, modest certainly, but far from the burka.

But the social controls that limit the freedom of women in Afghanistan were never only about the Taleban. The Taleban represented a set of values that runs deeply through Afghan culture. These are not purely Islamic values, but they combine elements of Islamic teachings with the strong tribal traditions of, for example, Pashton-walee (the code of conduct that prescribes social behaviour in Pashtoon society).

Outside of Kabul the vast majority of the population live in small and relatively isolated social groupings, based on family and tribe, and controlled by tribal values rather than national laws and policies.

Even here in Kabul the lack of security now imposes limits that replace the moral dictates of the Taleban. An Afghan friend told me that although in theory she can now go out without her husband, the reality is that she wouldn't feel safe, so she doesn't.

There are other, more subtle, social and cultural practices that impact the lives of women. When my Afghan friend was recently expecting a baby and going in for her ante-natal checks she told me about the lack of privacy at the doctor's room. There is no waiting room, so all the patients (all women in this case) who are waiting to see the doctor sit in the consulting room while each patient is attended.

On one occasion, while she was waiting she overheard the woman ahead of her telling the doctor that she was having sexual problems – whenever her husband wanted sex she found she was not ready. The doctor told the patient that women generally don't enjoy sex anyway, gave her some pills to relax, and sent her home.

My friend was shocked. When it was her turn to see the doctor she asked why she had not talked more with the woman and tried to understand what the roots of the problem might be. The doctor told her that if she took the time to have that kind of conversation with every woman who came into her clinic presenting emotional and psychological problems then she would never get through her patients.

I commented to my friend at the time that this approach might not be very different from what could have been expected from many GPs in New Zealand fifty years ago, but still found the lack of privacy -- or even of any notion of the need for privacy -- shocking, and vowed I would not be going to an Afghan doctor except in the most dire emergency.

The other big constraint on women's lives is poverty. People in Afghanistan are very poor, the country rates extremely low on all the development index indicators. I read recently that one in three women in one district of the province of Badhakshan will die in childbirth. This distressing figure is partly due to social factors (the reluctance to allow women to be attended to by a male physician, and the scarcity of women doctors, for example). But it is also a result of poverty, the lack of resources to meet basic needs, both on the national scale and at the level of the individual household.

At the other end of the spectrum, even relatively well-off women face all kinds of barriers and challenges as a result of economic problems. Many of these are caused by infrastructural failings that also affect men, but which affect women in specific and unique ways. For example, my friend has now had her baby safely; she and her husband were able to choose to go to the best hospital in Afghanistan, a private hospital here in Kabul. She had only two months maternity leave, so she wanted to express milk to be stored for when she came back to work. Someone had previously brought her a pump from Dubai and I was able to find special breast-milk freezer bags on a trip out of country. All looked hopeful, except that the electricity here is so unreliable that in the end, all her frozen milk defrosted, went off, and couldn't be used.

The whole issue of power supply is a sore point with many Afghans who are furious that five years on they still don't have reliable power. (Personally, I'd put sewerage above power on my list of urgent things to do in Kabul - but then I have access to a generator and a solar panel so I'm hardly feeling the pain).

What do people need? In other words, how can anyone reading this help out?

Afghanistan needs investment - so if you are wondering where to build a cement factory then give Afghanistan some serious thought. A recent article by Anne Marlowe in the Wall Street Journal sets out a range of compelling reasons why investors in particular should be looking to Afghanistan for opportunities right now. Along with cement production, she identified a national postal service and drive-yourself rental car companies as two other opportunities ripe for the right investor.

There are also a number of excellent not-for-profit organizations here. Working through reputable organizations is a much sounder approach than simply sending goods or funds through to individuals. (I certainly wouldn't want to find myself with the responsibility of distributing money or goods -- I wouldn't know who needed it most or who was in the best position to make best use of different resources).

If you want to know where to start in finding a good organization to support then you could contact one of the big organizations that works with smaller local partners.

You and a group of friends may want to pool resources and support a widows' livelihood project, for example, or a girls' school. I can highly recommend Afghan Women's Education Centre. They have programmes for widows and girls, and have been around since 1991 and have a good reputation. They also work specifically for vulnerable women and children, including street children and women in prison.

Another reliable organisation is CARE International. Here's some information about the CARE Humanitarian Assistance for Widows of Afghanistan (HAWA) project, via CARE Canada's website.

Then there are other smaller organisations like PARSA. I'm not sure about their effectiveness - not because I have any reason to doubt it, just because I don't have that information.

If you don't have cash to spare, then you might want to play a role in holding your government accountable to be fully transparent about the role of international military forces in Afghanistan - what are they doing there, who are they working with and what kind of questions are being raised about their role.

The Provincial Reconstruction Teams are viewed favourably by many Afghans but the picture is not quite as simple nor as rosy as the PR story being told in most countries. Many NGOs here are concerned, for example, about PRTs involvement in development projects blurring the line between humanitarian assistance, development and military objectives.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk!

I am very interested in finding ways to communicate with the wider world about what I'm seeing here... This place is complex, layered and sometimes contradictory and I don't think that news, as a medium, is necessarily the best forum for communicating that complexity. News about Afghanistan is very carefully managed by the big donors to align with their respective national interests in this country. But there are a lot of stories that still need to be told, especially those stories about the ongoing lack of stability and security which are preventing basic services (like maternal health care) from getting to places where is it most needed.

Marianne Elliot can be reached at melliottabroad@yahoo.com.au

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