VZCZCXRO7000
RR RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1770 1970652
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150652Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4714
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 6737
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 4414
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS KABUL 001770 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/A,DRL/NESCA 
NSC FOR WOOD 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-101 POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: AFGHAN UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 
 
¶1. The GIRoA will issue a Universal Periodic Report (UPR) on 
its human rights record at the request of the UN's Human 
Rights Council (UNHCR).  The government is open to including 
a modestly robust criticism of the its recent track record on 
human rights, especially in relation to treatment of 
prisoners, rule of law, and the failings of the court system. 
Local NGOs may lack the sophistication to participate 
effectively in the review. 
 
Report Due By Spring 2009 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. President Karzai has appointed an 11-member (10 men, one 
woman) committee headed by Foreign Minister Spanta to finish 
the report by April 2009.  As with other countries' UPRs, 
UNHRC requests the GIRoA submit a 20-page description of the 
human rights situation.  The Office of the High Commissioner 
for Human Rights, NGOs, academic institutions, and civil 
society representatives may also submit shadow reports. 
 
¶3. The drafting committee includes Mohammad Farid Hamidi, a 
commissioner with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights 
Commission (AIHRC), who briefed PolOff on the committee's 
first two working meetings.  Additional committee members 
include representatives of the justice, defense, and social 
affairs ministries, as well as civil society representatives 
and a law professor from Kabul University. 
 
¶4. Although UPRs for some countries have sparked numerous 
shadow reports from local NGOs and human rights watchers, 
Afghanistan's weak civil society and small number of NGOs 
working outside of the humanitarian assistance field may 
struggle to take advantage of the opportunity to provide 
alternate assessments of the GIRoA's human rights record. 
Other AIHRC staff not associated with the 
government-appointed UPR drafting committee said they have 
begun meeting with the NGO community to encourage human 
rights watchers to pool resources and submit a shadow report 
together. 
WOOD