JALALABAD (SW):The U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mitchell Chitwood, the Director of NATO-led Resolute Support Essential Function has underlined the importance of human rights as a major but often overlooked key element to success in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan.
According to the NATO communiqué, Gen. Chitwood joined the Train, Advise; Assist Command-East shura at Forward Operating Base Fenty in Jalalabad and also met Brig. Gen. Mirza Noor, chief military prosecutor for the Ministry of the Interior, Lt. Col. Mohammad Muskin, an Afghan National Civil Order Police human rights officer and others.
“By training your soldiers and police to respect rule of law, you are training them to respect rights that are inherent to every single person,” said Chitwood to a group of Afghan National Defence and Security Forces human rights officers and activists from throughout Nangarhar province.
U.S. Army Capt. Michael Levin, Essential Function Three Police Advisory Team lead, organized the shura in Jalalabad.
“It is crucial that the police operating in Train, Advise, Assist Command-East understand the importance of adhering to the rule of law,” said Levin, a Scarsdale, New York native deployed out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. “The human rights officers from the various police pillars, along with the human rights activists who attended the shura, can share this important message with their people who operate on the front lines every day."
“If your police and soldiers are not disciplined and do not observe human rights, the international community will notice, and they will want to see what Afghanistan did to investigate these crimes,” said Chitwood. “They’ll ask what sort of training was held, and if people were held accountable.”
The shura was the first of its kind, and the participants expressed a commitment to continue improving human rights in not only the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, but throughout the entire country.
Lt. Col. Mohammad Muskin, an Afghan National Civil Order Police human rights officer, understands first-hand the implications of torture. He was subjected to it by the Taliban and has committed himself and those who serve under him to abide by the rule of law. He says it is the right thing to do.
“Human rights are important for all of us because we have to respect the dignity of every person in accordance to our religion of Islam,” said Muskin. “We should not discriminate according to someone’s race or religion. We should not pray for one person, but then not another,” stressed Muskin. “We should respect everyone’s rights according to our religion and to our law.”
ENDS
