SAAJS – Social Association of Afghan Justice Seekers

Association made up of relatives of the victims of the massacres committed in Afghanistan during the civil war of 1992-1996. After the fall of Afghan President Najibullah in the first months of 1992, all the factions of the mujahideen who had fought against the Soviet occupation forces in the years of the invasion (1978-1987) and then against the pro-Soviet regime began a violent war for control of the capital and the provinces. Between 1992 and 1996 Kabul was the scene of bloody fighting, which caused the death of thousands of civilians and the destruction of much of the city.

Most of the commanders in chief during this factional war are responsible for crimes against humanity. Despite the numerous testimonies and clear evidence of this reality, many of the leaders of the armed factions have subsequently held political and institutional positions in the governments that have followed one another from the fall of the Taliban regime (2001) to the present day.

The SAAJS fights for criminals to be brought to justice and a memorial to be built in memory of the victims.

Goals

The main objectives of SAAJS are:

• • The establishment of an international tribunal for crimes perpetrated in the country
• • The removal of all criminals from their government positions
• • The search for all the “mass graves” not yet discovered and their culprits
• • The construction of a memorial in memory of all the victims.

How and when the organization was born

The organization was born in 2007 within civil society, following the discovery of mass graves. Its main purpose is to seek the truth about war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in recent years forty years.

The first SAAJS demonstration takes place in front of the UNAMA headquarters in Kabul to put pressure on the United Nations and other institutions: the creation of a court competent to judge those responsible for the massacres is requested.

SAAJS projects

Transitional justice project “truth and justice”: the project was activated in 2008 in collaboration with the ICS Association and CISDA and European funding. The second phase of the project was refinanced by a European tender. The SAAJS Association has become the leader and the continuation of the activities is carried out in complete autonomy.

The objective of the project is the collection of testimonies on the crimes against humanity that were perpetrated from 1992 to 1996 to bring to the attention of the international community a truth as frightening as it is constantly and deliberately ignored by Western governments: the political class currently at government in Afghanistan is directly involved in crimes against humanity for which no one is being held accountable.

CISDA and SAAJS

In 2008, Cisda partnered with the ICS Consortium of Alessandria in the project to support Saajs of transitional justice “Truth and Justice” financed by the European Union.
He is currently collaborating on the construction of the memorial in memory of all the victims.