No Time to Lose - Oxfam

these initiatives signify an important commitment to (and an appreciation
of the strategic importance of) minimising civilian harm. None
of these directives, guidelines or mechanisms apply to the ANSF.
Recommendations
As stated above, enhancing the accountability of the ANSF is both a
political imperative and a legal obligation. All states have an obligation
under international law to ensure respect for international humanitarian
law, and some states have additional obligations flowing
from domestic and/or regional law and policy regarding security
forces they fund, train, equip, or operate alongside. All states also
have a moral obligation and strategic imperative to acknowledge and
dignify civilian harm incurred during the course of lawful operations.
119 In fulfilling these obligations, and above all to ensure the protection
of Afghan civilians, we recommend the following:
To the Afghan Government and the International Community:
1. Develop a procedure by which individuals put forward for inclusion
in the ANSF are credibly and consistently vetted for
gross violations of human rights. The procedure should be
transparent, and Afghan civil society groups should be consulted
regarding the histories and reputations of individual units. In the
case of the ALP, the process of nomination by the shura is appropriate,
however there must be appropriate inquiry into the composition
of the shura (including consideration of ethnicity and
gender), and the calibre of nominations should be cross-checked
with a range of sources such as community elders and religious
leaders. US policies in particular should stipulate, publicly, that
where members or units of the security forces put forward for inclusion
in military training programs have been credibly accused
of gross violations of human rights abuses but not investigated or
prosecuted, those individuals or units will be disqualified from inclusion
in such training.
2. Improve the quality of training for the ANSF. The 2010 National
Police Strategy contains a commitment to training the police on
‘human rights, the legal rights of citizens and how to behave in an
ethical manner’, and the MoI must be supported to make good on
this commitment. Training for the ANP must include sufficient
emphasis on community-based policing, good governance, the
rule of law, the accountability of police to civilians and the differing
security needs of women and men; and training for the Afghan
Uniform Civilian Police must not be allowed to suffer as a
result of a disproportionate focus on the counter-insurgency focused
Afghan National Civil Order Police and Afghan Border Police.
In the case of the ANA, a directive issued by the Ministry of
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