The High Commissioner’s statement:

I traveled to Afghanistan to support the launch of the consultation report of the AIHRC and in that spirit I participated this morning in the launching ceremony in the presence of President Karzai. At the ceremony this morning, I made a statement and copies of that statement are available and I will not repeat what I said on that occasion. Let me just say then a few words about the significance of this particular report and of the strategies and initiatives, which are being promoted by the national human rights commission.

I have been involved in initiatives for transitional justice for a very long time, in particular I have played a role in the ICT former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. There has been since then many other initiatives of the same nature which have been taken all over the world but one that has been launched here today, in my opinion is truly unique. And what is unique about the strategy and the initiative that have been pursued in this country is that it is based and originates in a consultation which has given a voice to the people of Afghanistan as to how they want to deal with their past, deal with their present and express their hope for the future.

In a society that has been very traumatized over a very long time by the grossest abuses of human rights, there is always a search for a healing process. I think that in the consultation report, we have heard very clearly the desire of the people of Afghanistan to launch this process, which has many features but is essentially based on telling the truth. The proposals which are made by the human rights commission are very ambitious, very far reaching. You have heard before that it includes a vetting process, a mechanism of personal criminal accountability and some forms of compensation. It is very far reaching but it expresses, I think, sophisticated views on how to tackle past abuses. In so far as the criminal justice report is concern, one hears very often that to launch a criminal accountability mechanism risks in an increase in security difficulty. I am conscious in the two days that I have been here I have heard from many sectors the serious concern which exist in this country with respect to current situation regarding security and law enforcement. But I believe that the proposal that is made in the report that you have with you today will in fact have a major step in increasing security by ensuring that there is an end to impunity at all levels.

I think the people of Afghanistan have said very clearly that they expect that in this country, starting from now, nobody is above the law, they expect their leaders to support that position and they expect the national community to stand by that vision. I will say in conclusion, that again very realistically the human rights commission recognizes that this is a process and none of that can happen over night. They set out a very realistic timetable for the setting up an institutional infrastructure; a specialized prosecutor’s office, a specialized chamber to deal with these cases projecting a few years into the future.

In short I believe that this is a process, which needs to be supported and in the end of the day there is much healing in the process itself than in the intended destination. That’s why I’m very happy to reiterate the support of my office for the initiative that has been launched by the AIHRC.

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