Three
minutes silence for the dead
in Afghanistan and three other
peacemaking suggestions
By
Jan
Oberg
TFF
director
March 5, 2002
Danish Daily Ekstrabladets "Frontalt" feature,
February 14, 2002
Translated from Danish by Theresa Marlan
An open letter to the Danish and other Nordic
governments
Remember the innocent dead in
Afghanistan too
As did other European Union countries, Denmark
observed three minutes of silence for the innocent
victims killed in the terrorist attack upon the World
Trade Centre and the Pentagon on the 11th of September
last year. A memorial service was also held in Copenhagen
with representatives from the government, the Royal
family and from The United States.
Out of a similar humanitarian consideration, it is my
opinion that Denmark and like minded countries should
show the innocent victims killed in Afghanistan the same
honour. On the grounds of principle and because there is
an obvious connection between the two events.
All religions maintain that each human life is sacred.
Humanism is built, amongst other things, upon the premise
that each and every human life is just as valuable as any
other, no matter what the nationality, race, skin colour,
gender, etc. There is therefore no doubt that the
innocent human lives lost in Afghanistan are of exactly
the same value as each of the almost 3000 innocent lives
that were taken on the 11th of September.
Careful calculations have estimated that 3500
civilians have lost their lives as a result of the USA
bombing campaign since the 7th October (Prof. Marc
Herold, University of New Hampshire, USA). On top of this
can be added the killing of half military groups and
those the USA call illegitimate combatants, which are
also not considered to be soldiers. As just one example
from the months of bombing, the American Green Berets
'Tiger 03' team together with the bombers, killed 1300
supposed Taliban and Al-Quida men in one day, the 29th
December (Ben Fenton, Telegraph, 8th January 2002). Since
then, there have been many further reports of innocent
deaths.
In addition to all this is all that we are as yet
unaware of because, for differing reasons, it is kept
secret. There are the people that have starved to death,
or the children and the old that have been overcome
fleeing from the bombs and by the acts of war. Then, over
and above this is the well known phenomenon that a
portion of the survivors will take their own lives after
the worst of their experiences are over. And these also
are a result of the continued effects of war.
An international war crimes
tribunal for Afghanistan
Therefore, one cannot exclude the possibility that up
to 5,000, maybe even 10,000 innocent civilians could have
been killed by now. To achieve clarity over these and
many other related questions, the Danish, along with
other governments, should firstly suggest the creation of
a Hague-like tribunal for Afghanistan. This could
function until the planned permanent International War
Crimes Court has been established. It would allow for
both the Afghani and the international sides of the
conflict and their actions within the conflict to be
explained in depth.
As is already known, the United States does not
support the coming International Criminal Court because
it will not accept that American citizens could be judged
by anyone other than American authorities. The
consideration paid to the letter and spirit of
international justice, as well as to a sense of justice,
should indisputably weigh heavier than considerations
paid to the sensitivity of the United States since it is
fighting a war against a country that has not attacked
it.
And a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission for Afghanistan
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, TRCs, slowly win
through, but they do not justify or promote themselves to
the same degree as courts and tribunals do - the division
into the good guys who can take on the role of judge, and
the bad guys who shall receive punishment. They are not
swayed by feelings of revenge. For exactly this reason,
TRCs can play a vital role, possibly even more so than a
court, in the long-term work of healing and normalising
the life of communities after war.
It should therefore be completely natural that the
Danish government, either alone or together with others,
should suggest the creation of (and take the lead in the
financing of) an international TRC which will bring forth
the truth about the past 25 years of conflict and war
actions in Afghanistan.
It would include the activities of non-Afghani parties
related to the conflict in and against Afghanistan, and
cover a period from well before the Soviet Union's
invasion to the events of today. As in the Balkans, the
population has fought internally against each other, but
they have also been a pawn in a much larger game in
relation to both the 'old' Cold War conflict formations
and in the global restructuring and power struggle since
1989.
Such a commission would be able to lay open which
roles foreign intelligence services have played, the
roles of weapons dealers, the financing of the Taliban,
the importance of the oil business, as well as how
Afghanistan has come to play a central role in the
world-wide drugs problem.
Focus on the deeply human
dimension when rebuilding Afghanistan
The rebuilding of Afghanistan will take decades. The
International community's contributions after war are
often limited to humanitarian assistance, loans and
credit, and help rebuilding roads, power installations
and telephone systems. At best, they attempt to support
the civilian communities by establishing courts of
justice, educating police and with other similar schemes.
These contributions are necessary, but never sufficient
in a country that is suffering the aftermath of war.
The purely human dimensions are seldom addressed: how
should we help people through the sorrow, the anger, the
trauma and the hatred? How should we help them to respect
each other and to live together once again in tolerance?
How do we reduce their fear of revenge from 'the other
side' that could threaten their new future? How to help
the children and the young who are always particularly
vulnerable? How to create better school text books than
those that merely bring forth the winner's vision and
therefore saddle generations of children and young with
guilt for what has happened in the past?
All of this is not just about money. It's about people
being educated to support others psychologically and
socially, people with both empathy - the ability to
identify, to sympathise - and love. It could be doctors,
nurses, social workers, psychologists, priests, youth
leaders, educationalists, child psychiatrists, etc. If we
can send soldiers, then we should also be able to send
these kinds of people.
In the Nordic countries we still find a tradition of
fundamental humanism thanks to such things as the folk
high schools, the free schools, the grass roots, gender
equality and the welfare state model. These countries
have traditionally ranked high in terms of giving foreign
aid and being hospitable to refugees and others in need.
The Nordic countries are not considered imperialists by
others in the world. These are assets of tremendous value
and should be put to good use in times of crisis. We
should consequently render an exceptional humanitarian,
peace building contribution, which is directed
specifically to the people of Afghanistan and rebuilds
souls, not just buildings.
It will also make us greater
humanists
Some would maybe believe that holding three minutes
silence for the dead in Afghanistan, diminishes the
meaning of the catastrophe in the USA. This point of view
does not hold. We should remember that quantitatively the
United States has approximately 12 times as many
inhabitants as Afghanistan does. In purely quantitative
terms, therefore, 3000 dead is 12 times the catastrophe
for Afghanistan than it is for the U.S. Three minutes
silence and a remembrance service for those that have
died in Afghanistan would remove any doubt that we
differentiate between human lives. It would make us
greater humanitarians.
I take for granted that a sovereign state such as
Denmark can exercise a certain independence in foreign
policies. I, therefore, call upon the government, alone
or together with like minded states such as those of the
Nordic Countries, to take the initiative to make the
following suggestions into practical policies:
1) demonstrate respect visibly for all innocent dead,
including those of Afghanistan;
2) propose a war tribunal for Afghanistan, to be
transferred at a later date to the coming International
Criminal Court;
3) propose an International Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, and
4) render a new type of contribution to peace and
reconciliation that is directed towards the individual
inhabitants of Afghanistan.
©
TFF & the author 2002
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