An International Forum Co-Sponsored by The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and The George Washington University Law School

January 29, 2003

Crossfire

Copyright 2003 WPPI.com


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Introduction and Welcoming Remarks

Keynote and Featured Speakers

  • Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad , Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan, Special Presidential Envoy and Ambassador at Large for Free Iraqis, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Southwest Asia and Islamic Strategy Initiatives, National Security Council

  • Senator Chuck Hagel , (R-NE), Sponsor of the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act , Foreign Relations Committee

  • Hon. Andrew Natsios , Administrator, US Agency for International Development

Panel I: The Human Rights Challenge in Transitional Afghanistan

  • Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina , Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia; Advisory Board Member, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

  • Robert Templer , South Asia Program Director, International Crisis Group

  • Dr. Frank Vogel , Director of the Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School

  • Afternoon Speakers

Panel II: Implementing Human Rights Protections

  • Ian Martin, Vice President, International Center for Transitional Justice

  • Gay McDougall, Executive Director, International Human Rights Law Group

  • Neamat Nojumi, former USAID consultant in Kabul

  • Sima Wali, President, Refugee Women in Development

Panel III: The U.S. Role in Promoting Human Rights in Afghanistan

  • Hon. Lorne Craner , Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

  • Amb. Wendy Chamberlin , USAID Assistant Administrator for Asia and the Near East

  • Amb. Karl F. Inderfurth , Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, the Elliott School, George Washington University, and former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs (1997-2001)

  • Marin Strmecki , Vice President and Director of Programs, Smith Richardson Foundation

  • Amb. Peter Tomsen , Diplomatic Associate, Center for Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and former Special U.S. Envoy to the Afghan Resistance

Members of the Afghan delegation will join the various panels:

H.E. Abdul Rahim Karimi, Minister of Justice

H.E. Mahbuba Hoquqmal, Minister of State for Women's Affairs

Dr. Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, Director, Secretariat of the Judicial Reform Commission

Bahauddin Baha, Chairman, Judicial Reform Commission

Dr. Quadir Amiryar, Judicial Reform Commission

Hanagama Anwari, National Human Rights Commission

Mohammad Farid Hamidi, National Human Rights Commission

Dr. Musa M. Maroofi, Constitutional Drafting Committee

Prof. Abdul Aziz, Dean, Faculty of Sharia Law, Kabul University

Prof. Gul Rahman Qazi, Chairman, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Kabul University

Fatima Gailani, Advocate for women's rights and social development

U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Commissioners in Attendance:

Felice Gaer (Chair), Director, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Human Rights

Michael Young, (Vice-Chair), Dean, George Washington University Law School

Firuz Kazemzadeh, Professor Emeritus, Yale University

Richard Land, President, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention

Leila Nadya Sadat, Professor, Washington University School of Law

Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House

Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

John Hanford, Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State