Nobody guarding Afghanistan's
guards By Aunohita Mojumdar
KABUL - The Afghan government and its
international partners are struggling to bolster
the country's security forces, fighting the twin
problems of boosting the numbers of the national
army and trying to disband illegal armed groups.
Yet, an unmonitored, unregulated and
unauthorized force is on the streets, not just
under the noses of authorities but also hired and
legitimized by those working on building the
security sector.
As many as 28,000 armed
personnel are hired by private security
companies (PSCs), which have
been operating as a lucrative business in
Afghanistan since the US-led invasion to oust the
Taliban in 2001, providing protection to
foreigners and elite Afghans, guarding
institutions, homes and individuals.
The
number of armed contractors is more than half the
Afghan National Army, which is estimated at
between 35,000 to 50,000, and could be larger if
the numbers of "irregular" forces are added to the
ranks of legal contractors.
As a report on
private security companies released recently by
Swiss Peace points out, part of the problem of
estimating the numbers of armed personnel of the
PSCs is that in the absence of regulations there
is little to distinguish between a professional
firm that is in the business of providing security
from a ragtag bunch of former militiamen who
should have been demobilized but who have merely
turned into hired guns.
Though at least
eight PSCs have been closed down in the past few
weeks, and the government is currently finalizing
a regulatory framework for PSCs, six years of
unfettered freedom to do as they please may make
it difficult to bring the PSCs under control, and
to implement the regulatory framework, especially
one as complex as the one being drafted.
As he travels to work every day, Ahmed
sees dozens of armed men. They hurry him on as he
passes high walls of reinforced cement bags, stop
him for questioning and block his entry not just
into offices and houses but also roads where they
have set up barricades - usually with a mixture of
arrogance and rude behavior.
Ahmed's fault
is that he is an ordinary Afghan, without arms,
money or a large motorcar, (usually a sports
utility vehicle), the three ingredients that
constitute the password separating those who are
protected from those who constitute the "threat".
Six years into nation-building, Afghans
are very much second-class citizens in their own
capital city, considered a potential threat unless
proven otherwise, as the international community
keeps its safe distance from the citizens of the
country it is rebuilding. This makes the PSCs
indispensable and has in part been responsible for
the fact that despite considerable money and
expense poured into the justice sector, they fall
into the blind spot, neither disarmed as illegal
armed groups, nor recognized as a licensed
business bound by strict guidelines on the hiring
of personnel, use of arms and a code of conduct.
Naeem, a resident of Kabul who works with
an international non-governmental agency, sees
little difference between the armed personnel of
security companies he encounters every day and the
fighters of earlier years. "They are the people
who fought for money earlier," he said. "Now with
their guns they enrolled in private companies to
make money. They still think they rule. They
cannot show their power towards foreigners so they
show it towards Afghans. Their attitude is: if you
are an Afghan we decide for you."
Brashness and an aggressive policing style
apart, the lack of regulation presents a very real
danger, and "contributes to a blurring among
international PSCs and international military
actors; international PSC staff and the
international civilian community; local PSCs and
illegal armed groups," said the Swiss Peace
report.
The report, the first of its kind,
which looks at both Angola and Afghanistan, argues
that the lack of a regulatory framework creates
distrust due to a lack of transparency, a sense of
insecurity due to a perceived heavily armed
presence of PSCs, distrust due to "bad" or
criminal behavior and human-rights abuses by PSC
staff, loss of trust in the state and its monopoly
of the use of force.
On the positive side,
its notes that the groups provide employment
opportunities, especially for former militia
fighters and demobilized soldiers.
Susanne
Schmeidl, who co-authored the report, said there
is no known account of the PSCs being used for
active combat duties in Afghanistan. However, she
pointed out that they are used for providing
security to military compounds which may involve
them in combat duties. Unauthorized though they
are, they are also used extensively for training
the army and police, poppy eradication and
interrogation.
Schmeidl said that during
her research she found a lot of "pushing of
responsibility". She feels the international
community has a responsibility since it is trying
to build a legal state. "On the one hand you are
trying to build a strong legal state and then you
refuse to comply when the state tries to exert its
power. On the one hand you are building it and on
the other hand you are undermining it," she said
describing the situation as "problematic".
Khaled, who works with a private business
which doesn't use security firms, feels the larger
than life presence of the private security
companies means "the government's power is shown
as being weak, making the ambit of the
government's security forces smaller". Though he
sees the private companies as a necessity, he
feels they should be brought under government
control. "Afghanistan is full of guns," he said,
"and to do business you need guns too."
Zabi, his colleague, feels the companies
provide employment for some but said there is
anecdotal evidence of their criminality.
Schmeidl said some of the behavior of the
use of private security resembles that of the
mafia. Locals she interviewed complained that some
contractors would go into an area, find the bad
man or the strongman and pay him. Humayun, a
student of Kabul University, feels they the PSCs
should be regulated, registered and with an
accounted numbers of arms and weapons, unlike now
when "they are doing whatever they want".
A big question that remains is who will
bell the cat. Current draft legislation suggests
for example that the Afghan Independent Human
Rights Commission (AIHRC) would have to certify
the clean criminal records of PSC Afghan staff. In
the absence of criminal records in the country and
the lack of capacity of the AIHRC that will prove
impossible. Introducing legislation that cannot be
implemented, as in Angola, the report points out,
would defeat its purpose.
Aunohita
Mojumdar is an Indian journalist who is
currently based in Kabul. She has reported on the
South Asian region for 16 years and has covered
the Kashmir conflict and post-conflict situation
in Punjab extensively.
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