Statement on the suspension of Shkula Zadran
On Saturday March 20, Shkula Zadran, senior advocacy officer at the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) in Kabul, sent out the following tweet in Dari: “Alipour and his men should be killed immediately. They are terrorists, rebels and insurgents, who are funded by foreign intelligence.”
Click here for a Dari version:
https://dari.swedishcommittee.org/blog/bynyh-dr-mwrd-bh-tlyq-rftn-wzyfh-shkhl-zdrn
Click here for a Pashto version:
https://pashto.swedishcommittee.org/blog/d-skhl-hdrn-d-tlyq-lprh-bynyh?_ga=2.40285346.1078902882.1616651569-21956833.1616058392
This was in response to a government helicopter shot down in Behsud of Wardak Province on March 18. Nine members of the security forces were killed in the attack.
Since Shkula Zadran is an employee of SCA, we have received many questions about our position on the matter.
SCA wants to clarify the following:
The call for Alipour and his men to be killed does not represent SCA. Neither do we support the violent acts by Alipour and his forces.
Shkula Zadran tweeted in her personal capacity and does not represent SCA. She has the right to express her personal views and SCA holds the highest respect for freedom of expression. However, her call for Alipour and his men “to be killed immediately” contradicts our core value of impartiality and principles of human rights. For this reason, Shkula Zadran has been suspended from her duties awaiting the outcome of an internal investigation.
SCA never take sides in conflict. We do not support specific factions or parties representing various interests in society.
Anyone suspected of committing acts of violence has the right to a fair trial. Our employees should not precede rule of law. Extrajudicial killings can never be condoned. SCA has consistently called for war crimes to be investigated impartially and for those responsible to be held to account according to rule of law.
Impartiality is crucial for our ability to act in areas of conflict and provide education and healthcare to those most in need in rural parts of Afghanistan.
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan is a development organisation that has been working in Afghanistan for almost 40 years. We have more than 6,000 employees working in different parts of the country. Our vision is an Afghanistan free from poverty, violence and discrimination.