VZCZCXRO0561
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0613/01 0751252
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161252Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7774
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0149

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000613 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM AF
 
SUBJECT: BAMYAN: Six Month Review 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: While Bamyan remains one of the most secure 
provinces in Afghanistan, instability and violence are on the rise, 
particularly in the northeast corner of the province.  The central 
Afghan province is seeing increased Iranian influence.  Financial 
assistance from the Afghan Government remains problematic, but total 
development assistance is increasing dramatically thanks to a large 
increase in Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds. 
Provincial governance in Bamyan has witnessed slow and steady 
improvement, but remains dependent on a small handful of capable 
people.  End Summary. 
 
Growing Security Incidents 
and Iranian Influence 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The number of violent incidents in Bamyan continue to grow, 
albeit from a very low base.  While the majority of incidents, 
including IED attacks of an increasingly sophisticated nature, 
continue to take place in the northeast (Tajik-dominated) corner of 
the province where the violence is linked to coal-smuggling and 
anti-government sympathizers, violence is also seeping into other 
parts of the province.  For example, a bicycle-borne-IED was 
detonated in the Bamyan town bazaar in October 2008.  Reports of 
highway robbery, generally involving men dressed in Afghan National 
Army (ANA) or Afghan National Police (ANP) uniforms, continue to 
increase throughout the province.   The local law enforcement 
authorities have been unsuccessful in arresting and convicting 
anyone involved in these incidents. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Iranian influence in the province is more apparent, 
particularly in the south and west of the province.  Iranian 
development assistance is funding winter humanitarian assistance and 
the construction of small pharmacies and shops in remote areas, as 
well as the construction of a technical school not far from the PRT 
and provincial government offices.  More sinister are increasing 
reports of Iranian "agents," including ethnic Hazaran mullahs 
returning from religious training in Iran, appearing in villages to 
encourage resistance to the government and coalition forces.  To 
date, no acts of violence have been linked to these agents. 
 
Afghan National Police Needs 
More Training and More Time 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The ANP force in Bamyan remains weak, underfunded, 
undermanned, undertrained, and of limited effectiveness.  While 
Chief of Police General Ewaz enjoys a reputation as a skilled and 
effective manager, the force appears to be many years away from 
being capable of providing adequate security to the province.  There 
are no ANA forces in the province.  In 2008, Bamyan's Regional 
Training Center (RTC) trained 665 police officers from 15 provinces, 
of which 328 were from Bamyan province, including 15 women.  This 
year the RTC initiated the country's only criminal investigation 
course.   The RTC compound is in quite poor condition and is too 
small to meet the annual demand for training.  The provincial 
government has identified a site for construction of a new RTC, but 
a sponsor for construction has not been identified. 
 
More Development, But Still Not Enough 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Development spending in Bamyan is increasing dramatically, 
thanks primarily to the rapid expansion of CERP spending 
(approximately USD 9 million was spent in 2008 and a projected 25 
million will be allocated in 2009) focused on infrastructure 
projects: principally roads, but also on schools and water/flood 
control projects.   In addition to NGO funding, USAID, New Zealand 
Aid, and the Singapore Armed Forces also contribute to projects 
emanating from the PRT, which is led by New Zealand.  The largest 
projects in the works are the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded 
Bamyan-to-Yakawlang road and a CERP-funded project to widen and pave 
the road leading from the border with Parwan province to Bamyan 
center.  Also, Bamyan's "new town," located directly south of the 
PRT, witnessed the completion or near-completion of several new 
government compounds.  Despite the rapid increase in development 
activity, most Bamyan residents remain convinced that the province 
is underserved when compared to more unstable and insecure parts of 
the country. 
 
Governance Reliant on a Capable Few 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Bamyan Province is led by Afghanistan's only female 
governor, who maintains an active and high profile in the province 
and continues to enjoy significant support among the population. 
Governor Sarobi, with assistance from the PRT and the UNAMA Central 
Highlands office, instituted this year quarterly "development 
 
KABUL 00000613  002 OF 002 
 
 
working group" conferences, which serve as action-forcing events, 
pressing line ministries to make decisions and commit to fulfilling 
their responsibilities.  She also maintains authority over the line 
ministries through an annual Provincial Accountability and 
Transparency Conference at which each ministry must publicly 
disclose and discuss its annual budget and plans for the upcoming 
year in a public forum.  These governance improvements do not 
translate to Bamyan's district administrators, whose performance is 
more mixed.  A few, notably the district administrator of Sayghan, 
are quite capable, but the performance of others ranges from 
obviously corrupt to simply incompetent. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The judicial sector remains weak, with woefully inadequate 
facilities, underpaid judges, limited training, and no case 
management system.  While a new Ministry of Justice building opened 
in Bamyan Center, district judges are in makeshift offices that 
serve as office space, living space and court room, all in one.  The 
single prison in the province is a rented house modified to hold 
prisoners, with no separation for female or juvenile prisoners. 
District judges must rely on people in the community for everything 
from transportation to accommodation and food, creating, if nothing 
else, the perception of conflicts of interest.  Bamyan province's 
judiciary participated in some form of training this past summer: 
all judges and some provincial prosecutors attended a session on the 
implementation of law, and additional legal training was provided by 
international NGOs. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Provincial Council (PC) continues to struggle to find 
its role and may be suffering from a general sense of fatigue, 
resulting from the lack of a clear mandate and the upcoming end of 
its tenure with the upcoming elections.  PC attendance at sectoral 
working group meetings is sporadic and it is possible that PC 
members are feeling increasingly isolated from the provincial 
government, as most government entities move into new accommodations 
in Bamyan's new town, while the PC continues to meet in an extremely 
dilapidated building on what is becoming "the area formerly known as 
Government hill." 
 
WOOD