Afghanistan: Human Rights Commission Disregards UN

Afghanistan's political deadlock deepened October 19 as the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) announced that it had invalidated a large number of the ballots cast in the August 20 presidential poll. The commission did not specify an exact number, but many experts now believe the ECC's action will require a run-off between the incumbent, Hamid Karzai, and his top challenger, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which will make the final decision regarding the election, has received the full findings of the ECC. IEC officials indicated that an announcement on the final election results would be forthcoming within 36 hours. Unconfirmed reports indicated that the final results would leave Karzai with less than the 50 percent-plus-one-vote total needed to avoid a run-off. Sources suggest that hectic back room negotiations on a power-sharing deal between Karzai and Abdullah were continuing. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Meanwhile, the sense of political discord in Kabul was reinforced October 19 by the unilateral decision of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) to release an election-monitoring report that had been jointly prepared with the United Nations. In making its findings public, the AIHRC ignored the plea of the UN's top official in Kabul, Kai Eide, to delay the report's release until the completion of the electoral process.

The report was released without public fanfare on the AIHRC's website, a manner of publication that suggests the UN's authority and prestige in Afghanistan is eroding. The widely respected Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission is considered an independent body with strong critics in both the Afghan government and the country's parliament. Some Kabul officials dislike the commission for its emphasis on human rights and for calling to account those responsible for war crimes.

The UN and the AIHRC collaborated on two out of three monitoring reports that covered this year's electoral process. While the third was due to be made public earlier in October, the release was reportedly held up amid the ongoing controversy over fraudulent votes and the international community's role in the electoral process. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The October 19-released report, the third in the series of monitoring briefs, scrutinized the Afghan election process, covering the period from August 1 to October 5. It focused on four issues: insecurity and violence; participation of the Afghan people, with a particular focus on women; electoral irregularities; and freedom of expression. "Allegations of ballot-box stuffing are of a serious nature, considering that if proven true and given the extent of the problem, the integrity of the elections results could potentially be severely affected," the report states. It went on to note that the overwhelming number of complaints received by the UN and AIHRC pertain to ballot stuffing.

In response to a question at an October 11 news conference, Eide said the release of the third report was being delayed and went on to express a clear preference that the report cover "the final stage that we are in - it is a critical stage." He maintained that by waiting and examining late-stage developments, the report would enable officials and experts to "learn lessons that we can draw on for subsequent elections."

"I think that's important," Eide stated. The leadership of the AIHRC clearly thought differently. The commission's unilateral action means that the report contains no late-stage analysis. It also indicates that the AIHRC and UN may have been having trouble reaching consensus on how to interpret the most recent developments. Some observers note that the UN over the last few weeks became enmeshed in allegations and counter-allegations concerning electoral fraud and the handling of the vote count. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. AIHRC representatives may have felt that the UN's direct involvement in the controversy might influence the UN's monitoring of the final stage.

While the UN is likely to push all interested parties to accept the ECC's decisions, the joint monitoring report notes that this may be no easy task. "It remains to be seen whether the methodology agreed upon by the IEC and the ECC to address the complaints of fraud will pave the way to the certification of results that will be acceptable by all parties, and above all the Afghan people," the report concludes.