The upper house of Afghanistan’s parliament on Tuesday approved a controversial bill that would rule out legal proceedings for war crimes committed during the country’s years of brutal conflict. The lower house of parliament approved the bill about a month ago, prompting an outcry from rights groups and opposing parliamentarians, who said it was unconstitutional. The document would still need to be approved by President Hamid Karzai to become law. A presidential spokesman has said previously Karzai was unlikely to accept it.In a session of the warlord-dominated upper house, 41 legislators voted for the document and 16 against, an AFP reporter said. A translation of the articles approved by the lower house reads that “all political parties and belligerent groups who fought each other during the past two-and-a-half decades ... will not be pursued legally or judicially.” They should be “included in the national reconciliation process, to make peace between different segments of the society, ensuring peace and stability, to commence and consolidate a new life in the modern political history of Afghanistan ...”
Commanders and fighters of the jihad, against the 1980s Soviet occupation have been accused of war crimes and abuses including murder and torture during the 1992-1996 civil war that followed the Red Army’s defeat. The draft law says those who fought in the jihad must be respected and honoured and “shall be immune to all kinds of animosity”. The United Nations and Afghanistan’s top rights body have said only the victims of abuse could forgive the perpetrators.