Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Electoral Complaints Commission resulted in the disqualification of 1.3 million
fraudulent ballots.
We continued to support the democratic process in Afghanistan and worked with the
international community to support the Independent Election Commission and the
Electoral Complaints Commission for the 2010 parliamentary elections. We have
contributed $28.5 million to the UN Development Programme’s “Enhancing Legal
and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow” project between 2009 and 2011, which
provides technical support for Afghan electoral institutions. We supported the
deployment of election observer missions from the EU and the OSCE. Staff from our
Embassy in Kabul also participated in election observation alongside other missions.
Credible and inclusive elections are central to the process of building a secure and
democratic Afghanistan. The UK is committed to supporting Afghan democratic
institutions and processes, including the newly elected parliament. We also stand
ready to assist the Afghan government advance the electoral reform agenda in line
with the commitments it made at the Kabul Conference, and respond to the lessons
learned from both the 2010 and 2009 elections.
Access to justice
Access to justice is key to creating stability and protecting human rights. At the July
Kabul Conference the Afghan government recognised the importance of state
provision of justice, and committed to a programme of reform to strengthen justice
institutions. The international community has committed to support this programme.
There is, however, much to be done. We work closely with the Afghan government
and the international community in supporting this work.
In 2010, we supported national judicial reform through building the capacity of the
Criminal Justice Task Force, a multi-departmental Afghan detention, investigation,
prosecution and judicial team, to target the narcotics trade. Between March 2009
and March 2010 the Primary Court of the Criminal Justice Task Force convicted 440
people, including several leading figures of Afghanistan’s largest drug trafficking
rings. We also provided specialist mentor support to the Afghan Attorney-General’s
Office to improve the ability of the Afghan system to prosecute, and where
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