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NewsPapers
- -02-26-06 Afghan Prison Worse Than Gitmo? (New York Times)
" 'Bagram was never meant to be a long-term facility, and now it's a long-term facility without the money or resources,' said one Defense Department official who has toured the detention center. Comparing the prison with Guantánamo, the official added, 'Anyone who has been to Bagram would tell you it's worse.' "
"After an Army investigation, the practices found to have caused those two deaths [of prisoners] — the chaining of detainees by the arms to the ceilings of their cells and the use of knee strikes to the legs of disobedient prisoners by guards — were halted by early 2003. Other abusive methods, like the use of barking attack dogs to frighten new prisoners and the handcuffing of detainees to cell doors to punish them for talking, were phased out more gradually, military officials and former detainees said." 02-06
- -03-30-06 Afghan Christian Saved by the Pope (TimesOnline.co.uk)
"The Afghan apostate threatened with execution finally found sanctuary yesterday when the Italian Government granted him fast-track asylum on the ground of 'religious persecution'." 03-06
- -04-09-06 Afghan Christian's Trial for Conversion (ABC News)
"Whether diplomats and politicians find a solution that will spare the life of Abdel Rahman, an Afghan man who could possibly face the death penalty for his Christian faith, the perception of Islam in the West may have already taken a hard hit."
"Conservative Muslims in Afghanistan see Rahman's conversion as an act of treason against Islam and its communal identity. For Americans and others in countries that have spent money and precious lives to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban, Rahman's trial is itself a betrayal not of religious values but of the values of human rights." 04-06
- -05-26-06 Human Rights Group: 34 Civilians Killed in U.S. Air Strike (CNN News)
"A human rights group said Friday that about 34 civilians were killed in a U.S. air attack Monday on the village of Azizi in southern Afghanistan, more than double the number previously cited by President Hamid Karzai." 05-06
- -07-20-06 U.S. Agrees to Pay Damages in Afghan Traffic Accident (USA Today)
"The U.S. military said Thursday it was paying $112,000 in compensation to victims of a traffic accident involving an American cargo truck that sparked the deadliest riot in Kabul in years."
"The Afghan parliament later [after the riot] passed a non-binding resolution calling for the U.S. troops involved in the crash to be prosecuted in Afghanistan, but U.S. officials say the United States and Afghanistan have an agreement that excludes U.S. soldiers from being prosecuted locally." 07-06
- -10-11-06 Afghanistan on Dangerous Backslide (U.S. News)
"But five years after U.S. troops swept away the Taliban and brought promises of a better life, Afghanistan's future is, at best, touch and go: Suicide bombers are striking in the capital, while once routed Taliban fighters have regrouped to take on NATO troops-mostly British and Canadian soldiers-in the Pashtun 'tribal belt' villages. Throughout the country, corruption is rampant, courts are nonexistent, and infrastructure remains abysmal in a nation where the average life expectancy is just 43 years." 10-06
- 11-14-06 Afghanistan's "Liberation" a Disaster (TimesOnline.co.uk)
"Five years after the Taliban were ousted from Kabul, the number of Afghan women setting fire to themselves because they cannot bear their lives has risen dramatically."
"More than half of all girls are married off before the age of 16, some as young as six. Many of these marriages are to settle debts or feuds between tribes. The women are regarded as commodities rather than wives and are often treated like slave workers by their new families."
"Those who try to escape often end up in prison like 13-year-old Shabano, jailed in Kandahar for running away from the 50-year-old man to whom her father had sold her."
"The only area in which the country could really be said to have made remarkable progress is in growing the poppy. Under British supervision, Afghanistan has become the world’s biggest opium producer. Last year it produced 6,100 tons — 92% of world supply." 11-06
- Afghanistan (CIA.gov)
Provides a history of the country, including history (Introduction), military, transportation, geography, people, economy, communications, transnational issues, and a map.
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