Taliban calls for joint civilian death inquiry

In a statement posted on their website the Taliban called for Nato and the UN to establish a joint committee to investigate civilians being killed and wounded in Afghanistan.

The body would be given “free hand” to collect information, facts and figures and “disseminate the findings worldwide”, the statement said.

The Taliban said the committee should include members from the Organisation of Islamic Conference – although there was no mention of the current Afghan government.

“The stated committee should by given a free hand to survey the affected areas as well as people in order to collect the precise information and the facts and figures and disseminate its findings worldwide,” the Taliban said.

Media savvy Taliban
Since Wikileaks published thousands of confidential field reports from US troops a month ago and General Petraeus took over as Allied supreme commander there has been a marked PR surge from ISAF, writes Channel 4 News Foreign Editor Ben De Pear. 

Especially, in the reporting of civilian casualties allegedly caused by the Taliban and of ISAF assistance to these victims. General Petraeus is said to have ordered his PR department to paint the Taliban in as bad a light as possible.

For their part the modern Taliban may be illusive on the battlefield, but they have long since abandoned their aversion to the media, and as insurgents they have used internet and journalist contacts to fight a more sophisticated battle than when they ruled Afghanistan from Kabul. 

The group criticised as “biased propaganda” last week’s UN report which stated a 31 per cent rise of civilian deaths in Afghanistan was largely down to insurgent forces. Out of almost two and a half thousand civilian deaths and injuries 76 per cent were blamed on insurgents – up from 53 per cent in 2009. Deaths and injuries attributed to Nato and Afghan forces fell to 12 per cent, the report said.

A UN spokesman told Channel 4 News they were aware of the Taliban’s call for a joint inquiry.

A Nato source today told Channel 4 News that ISAF, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, had flatly dismissed the calls.

“The bottom line is that ISAF is not considering this ‘call’ for a joint committee, just as President Karzai is not considering it either,” he said.

The proposal has renewed debate about whether talks can be held with factions of the insurgency as part of a “non-military” solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.

One senior source in Afghanistan told Channel 4 News that this call, or similar suggestions, could provide an entry point to opening dialogue. Although it is unlikely unless the Afghan government are involved and wider issues addressed.

Afghan women's rights: the wedding that defies convention
Faramarz is a security guard in a women's refuge, writes Channel 4 News correspondent Kylie Morris. In fact, the refuge in Kabul where Samia, his new bride, had sought solace and safety.

She had been kidnapped and gang-raped by eight armed men, in a district near Sar-e-Pul, hundreds of miles north west of the Afghan capital. Her father had lodged an official complaint with the authorities. But its only effect was to prompt death threats from the gang, led by a local warlord.

The family was forced to leave their farm, and their livelihood behind, and flee to the relative safety of Kabul. Once there, Samia sought and found refuge. In that she was unusual – many young women turn to self harm or suicide. Others are killed by their own families who can’t bear the shame. 

And there the story would normally end. Samia had lost her honour in her tribe, and in her community. Custom dictates she would never marry, forever paying the price for the crime against her. 

But, Samia defied convention.

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One human rights organisation has already cautiously welcomed the Taliban statement, which reiterates a similar idea suggested four years ago. Afghanistan Rights Monitor told Channel 4 News they had acknowledged the proposal but asked the Taliban to ensure the safety and security of human rights investigators.

Diplomats in Kabul have indicated that Nato and the UN are considering the proposal, according to The Guardian newspaper.

On Sunday General David Petraeus, the US commander of forces in Afghanistan, held out the prospect of eventual reconciliation with the Taliban, including negotiations with insurgents with “blood on their hands”.

He told NBC’s Meet the Press that certain members of the Taliban could be reintegrated into society although: “It doesn’t mean that [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar is about to stroll down main street in Kabul anytime soon and raise his hand and swear an oath on the constitution of Afghanistan.”

General Petraeus, famous for turning around the war in Iraq, said a new policy on reintegration was “fairly imminent”.

“You know, ultimately we had to face the question in Iraq of, “Will we sit down across the table with people who have our blood on their hands?”” And the answer was yes,” he said.

Earlier this year Channel 4 News found the number of UK compensation payouts to Afghan civilians had trebled. Military records obtained by Channel 4 News showed that relatives killed in error by British forces had risen sharply.

Yesterday it emerged that Taliban forces had overseen the execution of two young people who faced being stoned to death for adultery. It is believed that the execution in the northern province of Kunduz took more than an hour with the man being bludgeoned to death while the woman eventually had to be shot.

Nato military spokesmen have been keen to attack the Taliban’s record on civilian deaths.

“Any claim by the Taliban that it is genuinely interested in safeguarding the lives of Afghan civilians is not borne out by their actions,” a spokesman told Channel 4 News.

He added: “Furthermore, every incident where Nato forces may have caused civilian casualties is fully reviewed by a joint government of Afghanistan and coalition team of experts, as well as by various international bodies, to include the United Nations.

“The international community is in Afghanistan to help the people and their government build a better future; the Taliban seem only interested in turning back the clock and destroying the very fabric of Afghan society.”