Afghan Parliament passes resolution granting conflict immunity

Kabul, Feb 1 (UNI) Afghanistan's parliament has passed a resolution granting immunity to all Afghans involved in the country's two decade conflict, saying none of them should be tried.

The resolution, passed yesterday by the Meshrano jirga, or lower house of Parliament, is non-binding and carries no legal status, but it is an important political pointer for the future introduction of legislation on amnesty.

The government had introduced an action plan on peace, justice and reconciliation in December last after it was criticised for its impending delay.

The resolution is being viewed as a reaction to this plan as also increasing calls for criminal proceedings against those accused or those considered guilty of war crimes.

The parliamentary resolution has called for honouring all those involved in the conflict of the past two decades without making any distinctions.

Shukriya Barakzai, MP, was among the few who opposed the resolution and said it was a sign of growing extremism. She described it as a big threat to democracy and human rights and the future of Afghanistan. Saying the resolution had been passed at the behest of a few mujahideen leaders, she said peace was not possible in the country without justice. She, however, insisted that since the resolution was not yet made a law but just words, nothing would be changed by it.

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission spokesperson Nader Nadiri also criticised the resolution saying neither the parliament nor the AIHRC was entitled to grant amnesty for the crimes of the past and only the victims of the crimes could do that.

He called for the implementation of the action plan on peace, justice and reconciliation saying this was the only realistic approach for promotion of reconciliation and prevention of the recurrence of such crimes that had occurred in the past.

This was also in accordance with the Sharia law, he said.

UNI