Latif Pedram is a poet, an intellectual, an Islamic scholar, a secular Afghan politician, a supporter of women's rights and former candidate for president. For reasons unknown, Mr. Pedram is being held under de-facto house arrest in Afghanistan. The Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee finds this state of affairs disturbiing and unacceptable.

Some friends of Mr. Pedram have composed a letter of protest to be sent with a roster of signatures to the Government of Afghanistan, the European Union, the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan and Nato.

While the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee endorses no political party or politician in Afghanistan or Canada, we nonetheless urge all CASC members (and visitors to this site) to add your name to the letter, before June 12. This can be done by simply sending an email to defend.latifpedram@gmail.com, with your first and last name, and your position or affiliation (Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee is acceptable, for CASC members).

The letter reads as follows:

Paris, 2 June 2008

Excellencies,

We are writing to you to seek your urgent intervention concerning the situation of Mr. Latif Pedram, Secretary General of the National Congress of Afghanistan (Konegere-i Melli Afghanestan), a democratic opposition party registered under Afghan law. Mr. Pedram was a candidate in the first post-Taliban presidential elections in 2004.

Since February 2, 2008, Mr. Pedram has been under a de facto house arrest in Kabul, surrounded by police and security forces of the Ministry of Interior without any official reason. The Prosecutor General has forbidden him from leaving the Afghan territory for having allegedly "witnessed" an altercation between two Afghan political figures.

We believe that such accusations are fabricated and base-less. They are politically motivated in order to restrain his political activities and hamper his candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections next year. They are a serious infringement on the freedom of expression and movement for Latif Pedram as an intellectual and writer

The Afghan authorities have the obligation to ensure that Mr. Pedram is allowed to leave the house where he is under de facto house arrest, and to guarantee his rights to physical and psychological integrity as well as his freedom of movement and action.

UNAMA, the EU and NATO, in the framework of their respective mandates, should monitor the implementation of international human rights standards in the country and intervene in favor of the ex-candidate.

Latif Pedram is a prominent writer and intellectual. He was a refugee in France during the Taliban era, from 1998 to 2004. He was a fervent opponent of the Taliban policies, and he actively mobilized international public opinion in favor of democracy and human rights in his country. He returned to Afghanistan in 2004, after having co-founded the National Congress of Afghanistan party (NCA), a multi-ethnic democratic platform for democratic change in Afghanistan.

The National Congress of Afghanistan is the only opposition party with no ties to any armed group and has always pursued its activities in respect of the domestic legal framework. During the presidential elections in 2004 Latif Pedram was the only candidate to defend a program in favor of equal rights for women, social justice for all ethnic groups in Afghanistan, an end to the border conflict with Pakistan, demilitarization of Afghanistan in order to guarantee peace in Central Asia and finally a democratic construction of a federal state in Afghanistan.

"We believe that the life of Latif Pedram is in danger under the current circumstances. He is one of the few voices for democratic change and independence in Afghanistan," declared Ms. Souhayr Belhassen, President of The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). "The Afghan authorities as well as the international community must act now in order to put an end to these serious infringements of international human rights standards" concluded Ms. Belhassen.