Crimes of War Project/Killid Group Project on Journalism Training in Afghanistan

The Crimes of War Project and the Afghan-based Killid Group have been collaborating on journalism training workshops since 2006. The partnership aims to raise awareness of international human rights and humanitarian laws among those who report on conflict in Afghanistan, officials involved in policymaking at central and local levels, and the Afghan NGO community. Past and ongoing trainings have been generously supported by the British Embassy in Kabul, Oxfam Novib, the Open Society Institute (OSI), and Canada’sInternational Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Training Program

The Crimes of War Journalism Training Program in Afghanistan addresses both the unique needs of the local media and introduces a discourse on issues such as: the rules of engagement in counter-terrorist/counter-insurgent conflict; the interaction of human rights and IHL; the rules governing detention; and issues of accountability among different armed forces. All Crimes of War Project training workshops are based around a specially developed training module and are conducted according to the principle underlying all our work: to introduce the main points of the laws of armed conflict through specific incidents or situations that individuals working in conflict zones are likely to encounter.

In October 2006 the Crimes of War Project in partnership with The Killid Group implemented a 3-day training that was focused on improving the understanding of human rights and international humanitarian law among journalists and editors, highlighting the challenges of reporting from conflict areas, spotting and reporting violations and accountability for rights violations and the role of media. A second nation-wide journalism workshop in Kabul was conducted in November 2007 while an in the field training in Kandahar was held in April 2008. The Crimes of War Project is now collaborating with the Killid Group on a further program of investigative reporting on conflict and war crimes related issues.

The Book: Dari and Pashto

The Crimes of War Project and the Killid Group translated and published the flagship book “Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know” in Afghanistan into the two main Afghan languages, Dari and Pashto. The publication will make 2500 Dari and 2500 Pashto copies of the revised and updated edition of Crimes of War available for use by Afghan journalists, human rights practitioners, government officials and the general public. The book is an “A-Z guide to the laws governing armed conflict and their application in practice.  The chapters include discussions of the crimes prohibited by international humanitarian law, key terms relating to modern warfare, analysis of legal categories, and case studies showing the place of war crimes in recent conflicts.”  The revised edition, published in English in November 2007, includes new articles on Afghanistan, Guantanamo, terrorism, detention and interrogation, private military firms, and many other subjects.

The translation and printing of the book in Afghanistan was made possible by generous grants from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Open Society Institute (OSI).

Additional Information:

For more information on the trainings offered by the Crimes of War Project, please contact Marika Theros at [email protected] or call the US office at 202-638-0230. 

Related Links

Open Society Institute

International Development Research Centre

ICRC

Afghanistan Justice Project

UNAMA

Internews

International Crisis Group

Open Media Fund for Afghanistan

Oxfam Novib