Conflict Assessment Afghanistan
Study published by the American Friends Service Committee (February 2009)
from: Corinna Vigier


At this point it is difficult to assess how the situation in Afghanistan and the region will develop in 2009 and beyond. It has been only a short time since the new US president Barak Obama has officially commenced his work. The presidential elections for Afghanistan are scheduled for August 2009, although the deteriorating security situation raises doubts as to whether elections can take place in all parts of the country. Given Russia’s offer to Afghanistan for cooperation on defense, the relationship between Pakistan and India, and Pakistan’s own challenges in dealing with Islamic extremists and insurgents in the North-West Frontier Provinces, there are many elements currently in motion.
The long list of conflicts, root causes and escalating factors in Afghanistan show the complexity of the situation. While considering negotiations with “the Taliban” may be a significant step toward reducing the current amount of violence, other conflict potentials need to be addressed in the process as well. There will not be “one solution” that will solve everything, everywhere. The very same approach can lead to rather good results in one area and to catastrophe in another. Fortunately, there are many different ways to improve the situation a little and avoid relying on any one approach which may not be applicable or “ripe” at the moment (i.e., because a certain conflicting party is not willing to negotiate at the current time). The challenge is, however, to coordinate these different possibilities, so that people working in different areas are aware of what is going on elsewhere and ideally what experiences others have had in similar situations.
As tempting as the thought may be, peace can never be “imported”. Afghan ownership of the process is crucial. Yet the challenge remains, that a number of influential Afghan and international actors have incentives to maintain the current conflict situation rather than to see its resolution. These actors, however, are neither the majority nor are they homogenous. Allies for peacebuilding and conflict transformation can be found at each level, in each area and in each group. It may take some looking, some capacity building, some coordination and some time to find them– but they are there.

The full conflict assessment you can download here: http://www.afsc.org/middleeast/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/81966

Seit Bestehen der Religiösen Gesellschaft der Freunde (Quäker) haben wir aufgrund unserer geistigen Wurzeln gewaltlose Mittel für die Behebung von Konflikten und das Erzielen des Friedens gewählt. Wir sehen in jeder Person ein Geschöpf Gottes, daher ist es uns unmöglich, zu töten oder das Töten von anderen zu unterstützen.

Wir glauben, dass jeder Konflikt gewaltlos behoben werden kann, wenn wir unsere kreative Energie und Kräfte zum Finden von friedlichen Lösungen einsetzen. Wir wissen aus der Erfahrung unserer Andachten, dass sogar schwierigste Aufgaben gelöst werden können, wenn wir auf die göttliche Anleitung hören. In der Stille öffnen sich uns neue Wege, die vorher vielleicht nicht erkennbar waren.

Wir haben keine Feinde. Wir glauben, dass jede Person das Potential hat, sich zu ändern. Friedfertiges Verhalten heißt, sich dem Risiko auszusetzen, heißt, unsere Furcht zu überwinden und Grenzen zu überschreiten. In der Ära eines verkündeten "Krieges gegen den Terror" und des sogenannten "Präventivkrieges", befinden wir uns dennoch nicht im Krieg.

Gewaltlosigkeit ist ein aktiver Prozess, der die Gestalt des Dialogs mit einem Gegner, Zivilwiderstand gegen eine ungerechte Autorität oder geduldige Arbeit an einem Gesetzessystem annehmen kann. Frühe Intervention ist erforderlich, damit gewaltlose Methoden am wirkungsvollsten sind. Vorurteile und Fanatismus, wirtschaftliche Ungerechtigkeit, Ressourcenkontrolle und anderes Unrecht müssen an ihren Wurzeln entfernt werden, bevor sie sich zu offener Feindseligkeit entwickeln. Nach einem Konflikt muss der Wiederherstellung guter Beziehungen und dem Wiederaufbau der Infrastruktur besondere Beachtung geschenkt werden, um zukünftige Konflikte zu verhindern.

Gewaltlosigkeit erzielt nicht immer kurzfristig Gerechtigkeit. Wie im Krieg, können unschuldige Leute leiden. Gewaltlose Methoden sind vielleicht sogar dann am erfolgreichsten, wenn sie unbemerkt geschehen, da der Konflikt abgewendet wird. Wir werden zum Beispiel vielleicht nie erfahren, ob die stille, hartnäckige Arbeit der afrikanischen Great Lakes Initiative -- die Überlebende und Täter des Genozids in dutzenden von Trauma- und Heil-Seminaren und Workshops zusammengebracht hat -- wirklich das Wiederaufleben der Gewalttätigkeiten in Ruanda und Burundi verhindert hat. Wir wissen aber, dass sie Individuen verwandelte.

Moderne Kriegsführung fügt unschuldigen Opfern Leiden zu, diese gelten dann als "Kollateralschaden"; sie verwüstet die Infrastruktur, von der die Zivilbevölkerung abhängt; sie vergiftet das Klima und hinterlässt Landminen, verbrauchtes Uran und andere Gefahren, die noch lange bleiben, nachdem das Schlachtfeld längst wieder zu einem landwirtschaftlichen Gebiet wurde. Außerdem bildet Krieg Menschen zu Mördern aus; er hinterlässt psychologische Narben auf der Seele derer, die das Leiden erfahren haben und bei denen, die es zugefügt haben. Er zerstört grundlegend das Vertrauen des Menschen in den Menschen und dadurch Beziehungen, die nie mehr wiederhergestellt werden können.

Das Befürworten der Abschaffung des Krieges kann unsinnig erscheinen, es kann aber auch visionär sein. Unsere Vorfahren, die sich dafür stark machten, die Sklaverei abzuschaffen, wurden für ihre Bemühungen verspottet. Dennoch hatten sie Erfolg, indem sie diese zuerst in unserer eigenen Gesellschaft abschafften, und dann, indem sie mit anderen daran arbeiteten, sie in der gesamten Nation und in der Welt abzuschaffen. Auf eben diese Weise verpflichten auch wir uns, Gewalttätigkeit in jeder Facette unseres Lebens zu vermeiden und zu verhindern: in unseren familiären Beziehungen, in der Reaktion unserer sozialen Gruppierungen auf Kriminalitaet, in unserer Verantwortung für die Umwelt und in unserer Außenpolitik. Unser Ziel ist es, das friedliche Königreich Gottes hier auf Erden zu schaffen.

St. Louis Monatsversammlung
Religiöse Gesellschaft der Freunde (Quäker)
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
12. Februar 2006

Diese Erklärung findet ihr in vielen Sprachen unter: http://iym.quaker.org/programs/prc/decofpeace.html

DECLARATION BY CENTRAL AFRICAN QUAKERS REGARDING THE CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE EAST OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
Bujumbura, Burundi 22 January 2009

We, members of Quaker Peace Network-Central Africa, gathered for a conference in Bujumbura, Burundi from January 19-23, 2009, are deeply concerned by the current situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After exchanging information with colleagues in the region, we were devastated by their accounts of the conditions currently facing the population of eastern DRC:
- The war continues to rage
- Massacres of innocent populations, especially women and children, are committed day by day
- Rapes of young girls, mothers, and old women are commonplace
- The population continues to pour into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and flee the country. Deaths pile up in the IDP camps (5-6 deaths a day in Bulengo)
- Hunger, malnutrition, and lack of shelter affect all
- Villages are burned in their entirety
- Kidnapping and forced enrollment of young, especially children. Torture, including castration, is inflicted on those who refuse to join armed groups

Considering that an agreement signed on January 16 between the Congolese and Rwandan governments to pursue the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Interahamwe (armed groups, some of whose members are accused of perpetrating the 1994 genocide in Rwanda) will surely exacerbate the situation and cause more deaths and displacement, there is a major risk of activating conflicts in the countries of the subregion.
Despite this terrifying and alarming situation, the Quakers of the region, especially those in the eastern province of North Kivu, have not ceased providing emotional and material assistance to the victims. An able team of Quakers are undertaking a series of initiatives in Goma, North Kivu:
- Establishing support groups for survivors of rape
- Distributing clothes, food, and soap
- Holding dialogues through Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) workshops

Yet despite the laudable intervention of Quakers in the region, the situation remains far from manageable. Deaths continue to pile up, numbers of displaced grow at an unbelievable rate, such that their needs become even more overwhelming.

Thus, we implore the Quakers of the world to join us without delay in providing immediate relief and:
- In making pleas to the highest possible places, including the United States government, European Union, and the UN, to put active diplomatic pressure on parties to the conflict to stop the despicable crimes and unspeakable violence in eastern DRC, and insist that the UN Mission in DRC, MONUC, takes a more neutral stance in its operations.
- In supporting the Quaker Values in Goma Fund by sending a contribution to the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI), using the instructions at the bottom of the page. This money will be used to help meet the needs of the displaced and others, including food, clothing, blankets, and tents to offer temporary shelter to displaced persons.
- In supporting our trauma healing and reconciliation efforts that contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Together, we can offer hope and belief in a better future to all the affected populations in the eastern DRC. We thank you in advance for your consideration of our declaration, and assure you of our highest consideration.

For questions regarding this declaration, please contact Adrien Niyongabo, Director, HROC Burundi (adniyo@hotmail.com). For questions regarding Quaker work in the DRC, please contact Pastor Levy Munyemana, Change Agent Peace Program Director in Goma (leviyfcgoma@yahoo.fr), or Anna Crumley-Effinger (anna.crumleyeffinger@gmail.com), who works on Quaker advocacy related to the DRC.

To contribute to the “Quaker Values in Goma” Fund online, please go to the African Great Lakes Initiative website (www.aglionline.org), and click on “Donate”; please put “Quaker Values in Goma” in the “Designate my donation” field.

To contribute by check in the United States, please make the check out to “Friends Peace Teams/AGLI”, write “Quaker Values in Goma” in the memo line, and mail to Friends Peace Teams, 1001 Park Ave, St. Louis, MO 63104. In the United Kingdom, please make the check out to “African Great Lakes Initiative” with “Quaker Values in Goma” in the memo line, and send to Laura Shipler Chico, 33 Caithness Rd, London, W140JA, England.


Participants of the conference of QPN-Central Africa January 2009

War Is Not The Way


In several parts of the world today, armed violence is producing a rising crescendo of misery, yet time and time again, experience has shown that it is patient negotiation, not the use of weapons of war, that brings peace and justice to any community. We are deeply saddened by our own unwilling complicity in an arms trade which intensifies warfare and the oppression of subject peoples on several continents.

We ask all people everywhere, and especially the members of our own government, to withdraw from trade in the weapons of war and to halt the supply of armaments to nations and factions presently engaged in violent conflicts. In all situations and among all parties, we urge that greater resources be directed to supporting the non-violent processes of conflict resolution.

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Please join us in signing this Statement, invite others to sign it, send it to your political representatives, and publicise it by whatever means are available to you,
so that the voices of restraint and good will may be clearly heard.
(initiated by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) of Skipton and Airton Meeting, Britain Yearly Meetings: The Ginnel, Newmarket Street, Skipton BD23 2JA; and Friends Meeting House, The Green, Airton BD23 4BA)