UN-backed television series focuses on rights of Afghans

14 Apr 2015

UN-backed television series focuses on rights of Afghans

KUNDUZ - Helping to bridge the gap between Afghanistan’s legal institutions and people seeking recourse to justice, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) launched a television series this month in the northeast of the country.

‘In the Light of the Law’ is a 10-part series that kicked off earlier this month, aimed at around 300,000 Afghans in Kunduz and some parts of Takhar and Baghlan provinces.

In the first live broadcast, the Deputy Chief of the Kunduz Appeals Court, Abdul Malik Rajabzada, the head of the Kunduz Independent Bar Association, Mohammad Arif Mubashir, and public prosecutor Habib-u-Rahman Arzbeegi discussed a variety of legal issues and the ways in which ordinary Afghans can engage most effectively with justice institutions.

Among other issues, Mr. Rajabzada detailed the rights of detainees and pointed out that having a defence lawyer is a right, and also is “an obligation on the part of judiciary officials to inform detainees about this right.”

The programmes will run live on Khawar TV on Mondays, with re-broadcasts on Thursdays over the next several months. They will also run on Khawar Radio every Tuesday and Thursday.

Episodes of ‘In the Light of the Law’ will cover topics such as legal services, defence counselling, the Afghan Constitution and the roles and responsibilities of legal institutions. In addition, the programmes will cover the Kunduz Appeals Court’s public trails proceedings, and will offer debates and quiz-show contests for law students at Kunduz University.