Rich and Powerful in Afghanistan
Every society, no matter how backward and penurious, has its wealthy, powerful elite. Perhaps more so that they are backward and poverty-stricken. Whatever wealth there is within the country is clasped close to the bosom of those whose corrupt legacy enables them to siphon it away from the potential of waste; that is, to be used for the betterment of the entire society, in advancing social services, civil infrastructure, education, medical services.In repressive societies accustomed to living under tyrannical rule, any wealth there is becomes the property of the entitled. The elite heads, for example, of the military, of governing councils, of those involved in humanitarian aid, able to take possession of funding before it gets too far down the pipeline of distribution. In Afghanistan it is also the families of powerful military commanders, as well as the families of tribal chiefs who have power and prestige.
There is an investigation that has been launched by Sher Mohammad Karimi's office. He is the army chief of staff of the country. He has taken this investigation very seriously indeed. It is one where an army officer horribly abused an ordinary police constable. There has never been any love lost between the country's national police force and its military. On this occasion there was an unfortunate encounter between a military officer and a police officer.
The police officer took his job seriously enough to stop an ordinary-appearing vehicle. Police Officer Mohammad Kabir later gave an interview to Tolo News. He described his humiliating abuse at the hands of the military officer whom he had stopped, who ordered his men to beat the police officer for his unacceptable hubris in believing that he, an ordinary police officer, had the authority to stop a senior member of the country's military force.
As a result, the Interior Ministry whose purview it is to oversee the police forces, called for charges to be laid against a major in the Afghan army. Three delegations of army officials have undertaken visits to the police checkpoint to ascertain directly what had occurred, and to attempt to smooth over relations. "I feel very depressed and disappointed", a colleague of Mohammad Kabir said. He had witnessed the beating, and because he feared reprisal spoke under the condition of anonymity.
"Yes, I am an ordinary policeman, but that doesn't mean that any rich or powerful person has the right to beat me when he wants", he said. But of course, he is wrong. The rich and the powerful are given the right under backward societies to do as they will. They always have, and they always will. He described the encounter at a security checkpoint, near the Defence Ministry. Mr. Kabir, the policeman who had been beaten had been expressly instructed to search every car that passed.
He happened to call out to a white Toyota Corolla to pull over and open its trunk. Whereupon an argument took place, with the passenger, whose name was Ahmad Zia Karimi, and who is a major in the Afghan army. "Who are you to try to stop me? The whole city knows who I am", shouted Maj. Karimi to Police officer Kabir, furiously. He presented his Defence Ministry badge.
A complicating issue was that the two did not share a common tongue. Maj. Karimi spoke Pashto, and Mr. Kabir was speaking Dari. Maj. Karimi was eventually prevailed upon to pull the car over. And that's when he phoned his men to present themselves at the checkpoint. And soon afterward two truckfuls of conscripts arrived. "About 17 to 18 men, all armed, started beating me", said Police Officer Kabir.
As he was being beaten, his colleagues were themselves humiliated by being warned to remain out of the affair. Once the beating had concluded, they called their superiors, and drove their injured colleague to the hospital. Maj. Karimi has yet to be charged. But his father, the army chief of staff, is still conducting the investigation.
Labels: Afghanistan, Corruption, Crime, Human Relations, Justice
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, June 02, 2013
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