Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in - United States ...

5.3: RULE OF LAW
The United States and coalition partners conduct a broad range of programs that promote the rule
of law (RoL) in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense (DoD) rule of law efforts include:
field support to civilian rule of law teams; training judges, prosecutors, and corrections officials;
providing necessary infrastructure for courts and prisons; and training MoI police forces in many
aspects of law enforcement, from investigations to community policing. The U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) provides broader governance and economic development
support, and the Department of State (DoS) provides funding for modernizing court
administration and developing transparency in the prosecutorial process. Other agencies like
Justice, Treasury and Commerce provide subject matter experts to advise and train key members
of Afghanistan’s rule of law effort.
Overall, progress in rule of law continues to be mixed. The main challenges include a lack of
access to the formal justice system, poor enforcement of the human rights protections guaranteed
by the Afghan constitution, pervasive corruption, insufficient transparency, and unsatisfactory
protection of justice facilities and personnel. The shortage of human capital and lack of political
will on the part of the Afghan Government to continue to sustain programs and facilities which
have been put in place to maintain security and stability as coalition forces draw down is also a
key challenge going forward.
RoL breakdowns may be both a cause and consequence of conflict among Afghans. Taliban
justice systems often fill – however brutally – community needs for swift adjudication to
maintain order. In doing so, it establishes a shadow authority that not only challenges the
legitimacy of the Afghan central government, but invites warlord and criminal competition for
power and engenders further instability. However, because of the continued weakness of the
Afghan Government, Taliban justice remains a marketable commodity, as segments of the
Afghan populace view Taliban systems as better than no resolution at all. To fulfill the
requirements of security and sustainability, security transition must include RoL, and transition
from military to civilian support must end with the full ownership of all aspects of the justice
sector—police, courts, and prisons—by local, provincial, and national Afghan stakeholders.
The rule of law mission is shared among several military and civilian rule of law actors – U.S.
military (specifically the Rule of Law Field Force – Afghanistan (ROLFF-A) and the Regional
Commands), NTM-A, IJC, Regional Commanders, the U.S. Government, coalition civilians
working in the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), UNAMA, a variety of NGOs, Afghan
officials from relevant ministries, and other justice officials. While NATO policy authorizes
UNAMA to take the lead on all civilian governance and rule of law issues, their capacity is
extremely limited, even in those regional commands led by coalition partners, such as RC-W
(Italy) and RC-N (Germany). In RCs under the control of the U.S. military, limited coordination
with UNAMA occurs, and the lead on rule of law activities is jointly shared between the U.S.
Government civilian agencies and the military actors referenced above.
In an attempt to provide greater unity of effort across all communities, NATO Defense Ministers
endorsed the establishment of the NATO Rule of Law Field Support Mission – Afghanistan
(NROLFSM-A) at the June 2011 Defense Ministerial. NROLFSM-A was intended first to
complement and eventually to assume responsibility for much of the liaison and coordination
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