Afghan Corruption-Fighters Face Uphill Battle

With at least fifteen high level corruption investigations underway and a special corruption tribunal soon to be created, Afghanistan’s new anti-corruption push has begun. Predictably, it is pitting committed corruption-fighters against the culture of impunity. One case in particular highlights the challenges anti-corruption agents face.

The new interior ministry anti-corruption unit recently arrested a police chief linked to the notorious half brother of president Hamid Karzai on corruption charges. It was an unprecedented high profile arrest, and provoked strong responses, not all of them positive.

President Hamid Karzai was furious, and interior minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, who was reportedly not informed of the operation until it was over --woops!-- angrily demanded an explanation from his own anti-corruption agents. To the chagrin of the attorney general's office and international community, Atmar then canceled a press conference scheduled to announce the mission’s success.

Foreign backers of the new anti-corruption unit, the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption in Afghanistan, praised the agents for carrying out the kind of "textbook" mission Afghanistan desperately needs to stamp out high-level corruption. Despite confusion in the interior ministry and protests from the presidential palace, the arrested police chief, referred to only as Commander S, is being held in a secure Kabul jail built with international donor funds and is on trial.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's younger half brother and head of the Kandahar provincial council, was angered by Commander S's arrest, and made the following blunt statement to the press:

"I am powerful because I am the president's brother. This is a country ruled by kings. The king's brothers, cousins, sons are all powerful. This is Afghanistan. It will change, but it will not change overnight."

All of that is correct, but the younger Karzai, widely associated with corrupt business deals and drug trafficking, may yet see his day in court. The international community is making it increasingly clear to the Afghan president that his government's survival will depend largely on its willingness to tackle corruption. And, with international support, Afghanistan's new corruption-fighters appear to be embracing their mandate.

A flurry of indictments is expected in the coming weeks and months. Attorney general Mohammad Eshaq Aleko is preparing cases against at least three members of Karzai’s current cabinet and possibly as many as twelve former ministers. Additionally, at least twenty other ministerial officials are under investigation for embezzlement.

The attorney general's office won't name the ministers until they are publicly indicted, but the minister of mines and minister of religious affairs, both subjects of recent corruption scandals, are widely expected to be among those facing prosecution. "If the ministers insist and don't show up for the interrogation, we have other legal means with which to proceed," said Fazel Ahmad Faqiryar, the first deputy attorney general.

Under Afghan law, a special court must be convened to prosecute cabinet members, and the president must revoke ministerial immunity. Given the violent nature of Afghan politics, a secure facility to house the tribunal must also be found and the safety of court personnel guaranteed before trials can commence. Faqiryar said preparations for the establishment of the tribunal are moving ahead, and judges will be approved soon.

Meanwhile, lower-ranking and former officials can be prosecuted in other Afghan courts. According to Faqiryar, the attorney general’s office has asked the ministry for foreign affairs and Interpol to cooperate in arresting former ministers in exile and returning them to Afghanistan to stand trial.

Stay tuned.

[Photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kennymiller/ / CC BY-SA 2.0]