good luck dying

I grew up at a time when most people had to confine themselves to closed spaces or there was serious risk of getting shot. This give people a good chance to make an income from by doing labour extensive handcrafts. People would spend ten hours a day working on a piece of embroidery or weaving carpet. The amount of money they were making was closer to nothing. Most women would severely lose eye sight in their mid thirties and the job general deteriorate worker health condition. this is the story of my uncle http://sanjar.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-am-terrorist.html. I had turned out to be against handcraft labour as a mean of income.

I was particularly pissed off by the international community and all other fancy people who would stand around and say how pretty certain carpet or embroidery was. If you google for Afghan handcraft, carpet, embroidery or etc you will see millions of dollars had been spent to revive or build such a niche where vulnerable people such as children and women labour so some fancy guy could show off. I always thought the way out is not through creating menial labour extensive camps but economic prosperity. My argument had a logic that is common sense - unless sweatshop workers are literally slaves, they are presumably working long hours in horrible conditions for low pay only because the alternative ways of making a living are worse or none existent.

When you take away iconic handcraft labour from a woman or child the obvious risk is that they lose whatever financial power they have, they will be out on the street begging or resorting to worst activities often with criminal inclination. This is surely not the aim. The only alternative is economic growth: while it may be frustratingly slow, it finishes off Afghan handcraft by producing far more attractive jobs. There is also a psychological element to the persistence of “afghan handcraft”. Many labours, traders and international buyers and sponsors see this work as the only way some afghan can make a living. In the head of the labourer it has resonated that he or she is not good for anything else but this repetitive task. This kills imagination and a will to life. The traders and international sponsors reinforces the belief by supporting the interprise.

While the economic logic is straightforward enough, it is not watertight. But I am starting to believe that economic development is not alleviating this particular problem. Economic growth itself can increase the demand for child labour as well as reducing the supply. While luxury customers are willing to pay a dime more for well established carpet brand, increasing the chances of handcraft labouror income. So I was intrigued to discover two new pieces of research addressing these questions. One is an article in March’s American Economic Review, written by Ann Harrison of the University of California, Berkeley, and Jason Scorse of the Monterey Institute. Harrison and Scorse study data from Indonesia. Harrison and Scorse look at the footwear, textile and clothing sectors with brand names for handmade products. After US boycott of such products profits did fall, and so does investment. Some small plants closed. But few, if any, jobs seem to have been lost. The minimum wage in Indonesia more than doubled between 1989 and 1996, after inflation, and this did depress employment. But there seemed to be no additional effect in the districts with lots of high street handcraft suppliers, despite the fact that wages in those regions outpaced wage increases elsewhere by almost a third.

The second paper was presented in draft form at the Royal Economic Society meeting in Guildford in 2010. This research, by Nigar Hashimzade and Uma Kambhampati of the University of Reading, shows that economic growth – at least in the short-term – is not enough to reduce child labour. Complementary policies to strengthen schools and the incentive to attend them seem to be necessary.

Neither piece of research is the last word, and neither discounts the long-term effectiveness of economic growth in improving working conditions. But I am thinking about women and children who work 15 hours to waving carpet and inhale the dust from the wool. There is no quick solution for them and it seems like they have to keep doing it for another few decades.

Stop Human Rights Violators from becoming President

Hereby, we a number of victims of Daikundi province would like to draw your attention to the background and atrocities of a number of provincial council candidates in the province. The nomination of the people, who have committed and continue to commit heinous violations of human rights, to run for the provincial council elections is a matter of serious concern for the people of Daikundi, especially the victims of their crimes and atrocities.
Nomination of infamous and known human rights abusers, such as Arif Hussain Dawari and Anwar Moballigh is indeed a mockery of elections and democracy. This is equivalent to rewarding of criminals for their crimes. Just as examples, we would like to draw the attention of your respected Commission to the following:
1. Rape and forced marriage: Dawari has committed numerous rapes. The victims of his rape are known in every village. Some of them were killed or forced to leave the area. Victims have registered complaints with various authorities. Some of his rape cases have been documented by human rights organizations . He has forcibly married many wives, including Wolesi Jirga Member Sherin Moheseni who was wife of some body else.
2. Murder: Dawari has committed horrendous and brutal murders and assassinations. Currently there are around 30 murder cases against him filed with judicial and human rights agencies both in Daikundi province and in Kabul. The respectable IECC can request a copy of the cases from the department, should it deem necessary.
3. Drug business: Arif Dawari is the main person behind cultivation and trafficking of narcotics in Daikundi province. From 2001 to 2004 alone, he extorted three to four thousands ser (approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Kgs) of opium taxation from the people of Sharistan and Meramore. He used to force people to cultivate poppy and then levied tax more than the volume of their product.
4. Private jail: Scores of innocent people and his political rivals were kept and inhumanely tortured in Dawari’s private jails. Many died as a result of his cruel torture techniques. He is still running a private jail in a remote area between Sharistan and Gezan district.
5. Illegal armed group: Dawari does not only possess the largest arms depots in Daikundi but also runs the most organized and frightful illegal armed group . A number of his sub-commanders who are currently involved in intimidation of people are Gul Muhammad Azizi, Sayed Nazir, Reza Hekmatyar (Dawari’s nephew and a provincial council candidate), Ghulam Ali Mojahid, Habib Ghaf, Ahmadi (known as Ahmadi kar), Padshah Ghochan and Hussaini (known as balaaye kotut).
6. Kidnapping and torture: tens of people have so far been kidnapped and brutally tortured by Dawari and his men. Several cases and complaints have been filed and registered with relevant authorities since 2002.
7. Relationship with Taliban: before the collapse of Taliban, Dawari was a commander and agent of the group in the area. He continued to maintain his links with the group after their fall. Their interactions have included narco-traficking and transiting and arms smuggling. Dawari has personally met with Taliban commanders several times in 2007 and 2008. He also had met two famous and senior Taliban commanders, namely Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Fayzullah in November 2006. The meeting was facilitated and arranged by a person named Sayed Sufi Gardezi. Dawari has also repeatedly met Taliban commander Mullah Salaam over the last two years.
8. Money Laundering: the fortune that he has made through illegal means have largely been transferred through hawala system and invested in the U.A.E and Iran.
Anwar Muballigh is also implicated in the same crimes and violations and continues to do so. He has committed a number of horrific crimes such as murders, illegal taxation on lands, illegal taxation per head, kidnappings, forced recruitment of soldiers, running of illegal armed group, extortion and intimidation of people through his armed men, robbery, forced marriage and illegal detentions.
We are confident that United Nations, including Human Rights Unit of UNAMA, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and other human rights organizations have enough data and information regarding violations committed by Dawari and Muballigh. Their participation in the political process will further disappoint people. It will give similar criminals and abusers further courage and assurance of impunity.
Arif Dawari and Anwar Muballigh are ringleaders of two human rights violator’s gangs in Daikundi. They want to misuse civil institutions and public offices as a safe ground for their criminal activities. Disqualifying these two criminals and their gang members are the minimum demand of their victims for the interest of peace and justice.
Dawari has also nominated his sister (Rashida Shahidi) and his nephew (Reza Hekmatyar) who has also served as one of his sub-commanders. Dawari intends to use them and their post as a shield for expansion and furtherance of his illegal activities. Reza Hekmatyar is an accomplice in all Dawari’s crimes. Rashida Shahidi is intended to be put in the provincial council position to serve as a cover for his inhumane and criminal actions, as he has skillfully done with his wife Sherin Mohseni as a member of Wolesi Jirga.
Regrettably, UNAMA allowed Dawari in the last Parliamentary Elections to get his wife (whom Dawari had forcefully married) to the Parliament through intimidation and vote-buying. The woman was later widely misused by Dawari as a political cover for his criminal and inhumane activities. Using his wife, Dawari even managed to secure himself an official government position as head of National Security Directorate in Sharistan district in January 2009. However, he was removed from the position in less than one month due to the objection and protest of people. Using his wife, he has however continued to interfere in the affair of the province and is even flying on MoD helicopters to and from Daikundi! By this action, he is further intimidating his victims by demonstrating the government as a protector of his criminal activities.
We demand the disqualification of Dawari, Muballigh, Reza Hekmatyar and Rashida Shahidi and removal of their names from the list of provincial council candidates. Re-empowerment of these criminal gangs will dash all hopes of victims for peace and democracy. We have lost many beloved ones and we have experienced various atrocities. We do not want to dwell on the bitter past; rather we look for the future. Re-empowerment of these individual will destroy our future also and will turn it into a sad and dark destiny. Our past has been destroyed, please do not let them destroy our future too. Please listen to our voice! We all cry: