Last March, the US and Afghan governments signed an agreement that led to the transfer of most detainees held at the Parwan detention facility, located north of Kabul, to Afghan authority.

This transfer brings significant changes for many detainees previously held by the US in an internment framework that was inscribed in international humanitarian law. The majority of detainees will now enter an Afghan judicial process that will ultimately lead to sentencing or release; some will continue to be held under an internment framework, but under Afghan authority. Detainees remaining in US custody at Parwan will, like those held under Afghan authority, continue to be visited by the ICRC for as long as the US detains them there.

United States

Asia & Pacific

Afghanistan

Detention

US detention

October 08, 2012 by Simon Schorno

Dispatch - Assessing seven years of humanitarian action in Afghanistan

On his last day on the job, outgoing head of delegation Reto Stocker warned today in Kabul about the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, where the future is more uncertain than ever for civilians who continue to bear the brunt of the violence.

Mr. Stocker headed our Afghanistan delegation from 2005 to early October 2012, a key period in an armed conflict that has affected tens of thousands of Afghans and continues to define humanitarian action in the post 9/11 era.

Mr. Stocker was in Washington last week for a last round of meetings with US government officials at the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the National Security Council and the US Congress. After seven years in the field, he leaves Afghanistan deeply worried about the future of the country.

Fundamental Principles

Health Care in danger

Multimedia

March 17, 2012 by Simon Schorno

From the field - Armed actors proliferating in Afghanistan

The ICRC is increasingly concerned about the proliferation of non-State irregular armed groups in Afghanistan.

Such groups are usually based within and around rural communities. Many define themselves as pro-Government. With poorly disciplined members demanding support from local populations. Often, these armed groups prey on civilians who increasingly do not know who to turn to when victimized.

Conrad Legendy as been working with irregular armed forces around Afghanistan for the past two years. He speaks about the efforts of our Afghanistan delegation to maintain contact with the multitude of parties to the Afghan conflict.

Asia & Pacific

Afghanistan

February 27, 2012 by Monica Campbell

Dispatch - At home with the wounded in Kabul

By Monica Campbell,

Kabul - On a chilly morning, Maimoona, a 41-year-old Afghan nurse, headed down a muddy path on a hill overlooking Kabul. It was a poor neighborhood. Tiny houses clung to the rocky terrain. There were stray dogs and men pushing wheelbarrows filled with plastic bottles for recycling.

For Maimoona, who stood out in her professional dress, a purple wool skirt and blazer, it was the start of a typical day. For nearly a decade, she has spent her days traveling to the outskirts of Kabul, to homes in the city’s poorest areas, to treat people left immobile because of spinal cord injuries. “They are the most vulnerable,” Maimoona said. “Not only is it tough to live in Afghanistan. But imagine being paraplegic in a place like this, up a hill without basic services. These people could easily be forgotten.”

January 17, 2012 by Simon Schorno

Outlook is bleak in Afghanistan

Our colleagues in Kabul and Geneva published an operational update yesterday. In summary, the humanitarian outlook for Afghanistan in 2012 is bleak.

The country today has better infrastructure and greater access to global markets, services and communications, especially in urban areas. But the lack of security is still a major problem in many rural areas, and communities in conflict-affected regions remain highly vulnerable.

Asia & Pacific

Afghanistan

Update

December 12, 2011 by Simon Schorno

Stuff I read - Many Afghan women face lonely, frightening births

Timely Reuters piece by Christine Kearney and Jan Harvey today on the difficulties Afghan women face when giving birth.

People' access to health care remains a major issue in Afghanistan. Fighting makes access to health care precarious and poverty means that the rural poor, women in particular, struggle to access medical services.

Our colleagues in Afghanistan see a clear deterioration of public health care in areas of the country affected by conflict.

November 17, 2011 by Monica Campbell

Dispatch - In Southern Afghanistan, a center for the war-maimed

Third Dispatch by Monica Campbell, a San Francisco-based freelance journalist. This article is part of a series by Ms. Campbell, who reports from Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan.

On a recent weekday afternoon in this capital city in southern Afghanistan, Rafiullah, a husky 22-year-old farmer, gripped two metal bars and slowly lifted himself from his wheelchair. Minus two legs, he was learning to rely on his new creme-colored prosthetic prosthetics to walk. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to walk. His brother slowly wheeled his chair behind him in case of fatigue.

“That’s enough,” Rafiullah said after three steps.

November 03, 2011 by Simon Schorno

HPCR - IRRC webinar on IHL and Afghanistan tomorrow

In need of stimulating post-breakfast conversation? Then make sure to join tomorrow morning's joint HPCR-IRRC online web seminar on IHL challenges in today's Afghanistan.

October 25, 2011 by Simon Schorno

Fiona Terry - Reasserting the neutrality of humanitarian action

While it remains a cornerstone of our modus operandi worldwide, the neutrality principle was in recent years roundly rejected by most aid actors operating in Afghanistan, a context where one party to the conflict commandeered assistance and aid organizations into a counter-insurgency campaign while the other rejected Western aid groups as agents of an imperialist West.

Author Fiona Terry wrote about neutrality and how strict adherence to it has enabled the ICRC to expand its operational surface in the latest issue of the International Review of the Red Cross.

Asia & Pacific

Afghanistan

Fundamental Principles

Humanitarian Action

October 21, 2011 by Monica Campbell

Dispatch - Urgent deliveries

Second Dispatch by Monica Campbell, a San Francisco-based freelance journalist. This article is part of a series by Ms. Campbell, who reports from Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The taxi driver sped through the darkness down a remote road, from a remote village. His passenger could not speak. His face strained in pain as he looked down at his knee, where his leg now ended because of a land mine. A third man, crouched in the back of the ragged Toyota hatchback held an intravenous fluids bag its tube inserted in the wounded man’s left arm.

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From the field - In Afghanistan, transition and continuity at Parwan detention facility

Dispatch - Assessing seven years of humanitarian action in Afghanistan

From the field - Armed actors proliferating in Afghanistan

Dispatch - At home with the wounded in Kabul

Outlook is bleak in Afghanistan

Stuff I read - Many Afghan women face lonely, frightening births

Dispatch - In Southern Afghanistan, a center for the war-maimed

HPCR - IRRC webinar on IHL and Afghanistan tomorrow

Fiona Terry - Reasserting the neutrality of humanitarian action

Dispatch - Urgent deliveries

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