Pre-Election Intimidation Reported

It was 10 at night when a group of 30 men - some brandishing automatic weapons - came out of nowhere. They wore turbans or scarves and traditional clothes.

"Stop - don't say anything!" they shouted to a 40-year-old farmer standing at the door of his house.

"I was scared," he told IWPR later. "Some of them were holding guns… they had Kalashnikovs and PKs [machine-guns]."

The armed men wanted to know the farmer’s name and what his village was called, and then said, “We have come to tell you not to take part in the election.

"If anybody takes part, he will have only himself to blame if he suffers any harm to his house and property, or if he is injured or killed. Tell your neighbours and everyone else not to become Americans. You should make a list of the people who take part [in the poll].”

Then they ordered him indoors, "Go into the house and don't say anything to anybody about us until morning. If you inform someone before morning, you may end up dead."

The farmer said he didn't recognise any of the night-time visitors. After they left, he destroyed his voting registration card.

He told almost no one in his village of Gederkhail about what had happened, and never reported it to the authorities in Sayed Abad district. He was too afraid.

This is not the only example of intimidation that IWPR has uncovered in the central province of Wardak in the run-up to next month’s presidential election.

When IWPR spoke to the local civil and police authorities about security before and during the poll, officials spoke confidently of their ability to deal with any threats – and denied that any problems existed at all.

It was only after a reporter detailed several cases of intimidation that some of these officials agreed to investigate them further.

Security will be crucial for a free and fair election across Afghanistan. John McComber of the Joint Election Management Body Security Manager in Kabul said the national police and army, the National Security Directorate, International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, and the United States-led Coalition are all working closely together to make the poll violence-free.

But IWPR's reporting in Wardak suggests that they will have a difficult task to ensure that every citizen can freely vote for the candidate of the choice.

The findings of IWPR are reinforced by a recent report from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Committee and the United Nations, which found that conditions for a free and fair vote have not yet been met.

If you were to stick a pin in the centre of the map of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, then you would find Wardak. It comprises seven districts, five of them predominantly Pashtun and the other two mainly Hazara.

It sits strategically alongside Kabul province to the east and the former Taleban strongholds of Ghazni and Logar further south. There are still remnants of the Taleban in Wardak, according to local residents, who admit some people still support the Islamic militia.

Security has been deteriorating in Wardak over the last year and aid organisations are increasingly wary of going there.

On September 1, security forces found a large cache of weapons and ammunition in the provincial capital, Maidan Shahr, according to an official with the interior ministry.

“These weapons include heavy and light weapons, landmines, missiles and other weaponry. They have been moved to Kabul,” said interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Marshal. "The operation was launched by the department for counter-terrorism. Security forces in Wardak and the International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] were not involved in this operation.

It is unclear whether the arsenal was in transit or destined for use within the province.

In addition to the farmer who received an unwelcome night-time visit, IWPR uncovered another case of voter intimidation in Sayed Abad district.

Nematullah, 27, a tailor who did not want to say what village he came from, said he woke up one morning in early August to find a threatening poster on his shop.

He said the letter warned against anyone taking part in the upcoming election, “All dear Muslim brothers are informed that they should avoid taking part in the forthcoming elections. If anyone does, it will affect their [life in the] next world, they will sustain damage, and they will be putting their lives at risk."

Nematullah said, "I burned both this ‘night letter’ and my registration card together."

But he also reported that local authorities had engaged in strong-arm tactics, warning residents they would suffer if they did not register to vote.

"Officials of the district came three days after the start of the registration process and called together some people from nearby villages and told them, ‘You all should register and select your president yourselves…. If you don't take these [registration] cards, your problems will not be solved by the district administration any more.’”

This is not the first time that reports of threats and intimidation have surfaced in Wardak. In May, IWPR reported a grenade attack on a female voter-registration worker in Sayed Abad. The 30-year-old woman escaped injury but the blast killed one of her cows.

The attack followed a series of “night letters” that were posted in Sayed Abad’s neighbouring district of Chak. The handwritten posters threatened UN and government workers involved in the election process and specifically targeted women.

Asked about the current security situation, Bulbul Shah, the police chief for Sayed Abad district, said, "Nothing happened during registration and security was stable, so I have no concerns about voting."

When specific cases were raised with Shah, he admitted there had been some incidents but dismissed them, "Perhaps in some areas people burned their cards or were threatened - but in such a vast district we can consider them [these incidents] negligible.”

Chak district's regional superintendent for UNAMA, Shaheen Assadi, admitted there had been incidents. "One night, some letters were posted in the centre of Langar and in the villages where female registration workers live.”

Assadi cited letters that had a different text than the ones IWPR previously discovered. They said, "Don't help Jews. If you do, you yourself will be responsible for what happens.”

He said that the voter registration workers were frightened by the “night letters”, but local elders reassured them and they continued working. He said women had shown how safe they felt by registering in almost equal numbers to men.

At the UNAMA office in Chak, a woman in a burqa said of security, "All the local commanders have helped us."

Others confirmed the support of local commanders. Engineer Mohammed Aman, 40, said, “the local commanders helped the election commission in providing a secure environment for them [UN election staff] to work here”.

Homa, 33, from Ghalay village said, "I received a card and I will give my vote to the person who will help us – Karzai. The region is secure; everyone including the commanders are supporting the election process.”

But if commanders are involved in ensuring security during the election it may be a double-edged sword. It could ensure a more stable environment, but it may also make people afraid to vote freely.

"The only thing that is clear is that local commanders work for their factional parties," said Zahoor Afghan, chief editor of the Irada newspaper.

The role of the commanders is covered in the report by the UN and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

It cites a series of incidents involving commanders and voter registration, concluding, "While in most cases there is no evidence of overt intimidation or use of force, the reputation of the commanders involved in the collection of registration cards, and their involvement in past crimes and violations, has led to fears of reprisals and acquiescence by the population”.

In contrast to Sayed Abad and Chak, IWPR found no evidence of intimidation in the districts of Behsud-1 and -2. Although they are in Wardak, registration here has been handled from Bamian, the neighbouring, mainly Hazara, province.

In Behsud, people said they had no security worries, and most said they would vote for Haji Mohammed Mohaqeq, a Hazara candidate for president.

Restaurant owner Sayed Nasir, 25, of Jaw Qul village, said, “Security is being maintained… we are not threatened by anyone."

In the provincial capital, Wardak governor Raz Mohammad Dalili explained some of the security measures that have been put in place, including local security councils for each district that include the traditional tribal council or shura, plus some additional appointees.

These in turn send two or three people each to attend a provincial-level council that meets in Maidan Shahr every Sunday, “If any problem exists in any part of the province, the problems are raised [here] so that they can be tackled," he said.

Lieutenant General Abdul Basir Salangi, chief of Wardak's police, said confidently, "We have enough soldiers and officers to ensure the security of the province."

But when asked how many, he replied, "The number is secret."

Salangi refused to acknowledge any form of intimidation, "If someone has burnt his card, or if he has been threatened by anyone, he is lying."

Only after IWPR insisted on detailing the cases in Sayed Abad would Salangi finally concede that, "If we get reports of anyone [who has been threatened], we will investigate according to the documents and evidence [that come to light], and then we will take action."

Ahmad Jan is a freelance reporter in Wardak; Abdul Baseer, Amanullah Narsat, and Souhaila Muhseni are IWPR staff reporters.