SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2168videocassettes, audiocassettes, and satellite dishes were outlawed in order to enforcethe prohibition. However, subsequent reports indicate that many persons in urbanareas around the country own such electronic devices despite the ban (see Section1.f. and 2.a.).In November 1998, Taliban officials accepted responsibility for the defacing of oneof two historic statues of Buddha near Bamiyan during their takeover of that cityearlier in the year. The Taliban claimed that the vandalism was the result of anunauthorized act by one of their soldiers and that the statutes were being protectedby the Taliban from further harm. While some Taliban leaders have claimed toleranceof religious minorities, there reportedly have been restrictions imposed uponShi’a Muslims in Taliban-controlled territory, although not necessarily on a uniformbasis. However, the Taliban allegedly has ordered Shi’a to confine their Ashura commemorationsduring the month of Muharram to their mosques and to avoid the publicprocessions that are an integral part of Ashura in other countries with Shi’a populations.d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation.—Althoughin principle citizens have the right to travel freely both insideand outside the country, their ability to travel within the country was hampered bywarfare, brigandage, landmines, a road network in a state of disrepair, and limiteddomestic air service, complicated by factional threats to air traffic. Some Afghansreported difficulty in receiving necessary permits to leave the country for tourismor business purposes, while others reported no such difficulty. The Taliban’s restrictionson women further curtail freedom of movement (see Sections 2.c. and 5). Despitethese obstacles, many persons continued to travel relatively freely, with busesplying routes in most parts of the country. However, due to intermittent fightingin various areas, international aid agencies often found that their ability to travel,work, and distribute assistance was hampered severely. International travel continuedto be difficult as both the Taliban and Masood threatened to shoot down anyplanes that flew without their permission over areas of the country that they controlled.Commercial trade was impeded in certain non-Taliban areas, as local commandersand criminals continued to demonstrate their control over the roads by demandingroad tolls and sometimes closing roads. There were reports in 1998 that someTaliban commanders, who previously gained popularity by sweeping away thecheckpoints that local warlords used to shake down travelers, were setting up checkpointsthemselves and demanding tolls for passage, but there were no such reportsduring the year.There also have been instances in the past of the forcible expulsion of individualson ethnic grounds, but there were no known instances of this during the year.Afghans continued to form one of the world’s largest refugee populations. Accordingto the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, approximately 2.8 million Afghansremain outside the country as registered refugees: 1.4 million in Iran, 1.4 millionin Pakistan, and some in Russia, India, and the central Asian republics. Women andchildren constitute 75 percent of the refugee population. In addition there are500,000 to 750,000 Afghans who are internally displaced following years of fighting.A total of 4,069,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated since 1988, with over1.5 million returning to the country in the peak year of 1992. During the year,133,600 refugees were voluntarily repatriated from Iran under an UNHCR-Iran program,and another 50,00 are estimated to have returned outside the program. Refugeesin Pakistan are known to cross the border back and forth routinely.There was no available information on policies regarding refugees, asylum, provisionof first asylum, or the forced return of refugees.On June 21, Pakistan deported Professor Mohammad Rahim Elham, a prominentAfghan scholar, back to Afghanistan. Professor Rahim had called for a stop to Pakistaniinterference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. There is concern that hemay face detention, torture, or extrajudicial execution in Afghanistan. According toan AI report, Professor Rahim was granted asylum in another country late in theyear.Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their GovernmentThere was no functioning central government in the country. The continuingstruggle for political power among the major armed groups prevented citizens fromchanging their government or choosing their leaders peacefully. Most politicalchanges came about through shifting military fortunes. No faction held elections orrespected citizens’ right to change their government peacefully.The Taliban movement’s authority emanates from its leader, Mullah Omar, whocarries the title Commander of the Faithful, and from the Taliban’s military occupa-VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.034 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1