Zen Under Fire by Marianne Elliott

Author:Marianne Elliott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2013-04-24T00:00:00+00:00

22

Flying to Ghor

May 2007: Herat and Ghor, Afghanistan

In the weeks leading up to my birthday, Kate and I have been finalizing the materials for the Ghor workshop. It was well received in Badghis, so there are no major changes, but we agree that we should make the material a little simpler. We also decide to change some of the case studies to reflect the types of cases I see most often in Ghor province.

Meanwhile I have been working with Asiyah on the logistics of the workshop in Ghor. Asiyah is going to take over the translation duties for this workshop and she is also doing a great job of making the preliminary arrangements. She and I have already flown up to Chaghcharan, the provincial center, to meet with the relevant officials and to find a venue.

We’ve had a very good response from the police in Ghor. I’ve worked with the provincial head of the Criminal Investigation Department before and he is quick to get on board with the workshop. He sets about arranging for the local police chiefs from each district to travel to the provincial center for the workshop. He also tells us that ten officers from his own department in the provincial center will attend.

I am impressed. These men have a lot of control over the day-to-day experience of human rights of people in their districts. In some remote districts, the police are the only government presence. They are, to the community, the face of the new “democratic” model of government and the new constitution. I am going to have them all together, for almost a week, just to talk about gender and criminal justice. I can hardly believe it, and I’m determined to make the most of this rare opportunity.

Along with the police, the chief prosecutor summons the senior prosecutor from each district and commits to sending a significant number of staff from his own office along to the training too. I realize that our workshop will likely delay criminal investigations and prosecutions in the province by a solid week. This makes it even more important to ensure the event is worthwhile.

Kate’s boss again agrees to provide her time to the project free of charge. In order to get Kate to Ghor, I fill out numerous forms explaining why her presence is essential to the workshop and, in turn, why the workshop is essential to fulfilling the UN human rights mandate in Ghor. Eventually we receive word that Kate’s passage on a UNAMA flight to meet me in Herat is approved. From here we will fly together to Ghor.

A local legal aid organization that I helped to get funding from the Icelandic government offers us their rooms to host the workshop. The Icelandic development adviser, Heida—who is based on the ISAF military base in Ghor—offers to provide a hot midday meal every day for all the participants. She will also print out copies of the materials and the completion certificates. Little by little I am able to pull in favors to make up for our lack of budget.

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