(c) Monica Bernabe
Photojournalist Gervasio Sanchez has gone to commemorate the 11-S to Afghanistan, as it should be. There, I understand that journalists also accompanied byMonica Bernabe, has been dedicated to teaching some Afghans a photo of the Twin Towers exploding, to see what reactions were. Todxs know precisely the time had a direct impact in both Afghanistan and Iraq, it was used to launch a military offensive against the two countries.
A young man draws jail where he wants to see the murderer of his father. © Mònica Bernabé
Presidential elections of 20 August in Afghanistan will be remembered for this photograph: Hamid Karzai appears before the media, one day after it was proclaimed president for five years, accompanied by two of the most prominent warlords the country: Mohammad Qasim Fahim el tayiko (to the left of the President), accused of leading the military campaign swept Kabuli district of Afshar in February 1993, in which killed dozens of innocent civilians, and many others were subjected to forced labor and degrading treatment. Y el Jalil Karim hazara (on the right), that at the same time carried out arbitrary arrests of civilians on ethnic grounds.
In a country like Afghanistan where security is getting worse each time, and on the roads to one you can hijack, asaltar or, directly kill with an explosive device, flying has become fashionable for a few pockets- which can afford. So, we have moved from the Taliban era in which no one could go by plane to almost any part, -since the UN banned commercial flights to Afghanistan, as a sanction the fundamentalist regime that gave asylum to terrorist Osama bin Laden- to which currently has to four genuinely Afghan airlines: Safi Airways, Kam Air, Pamir Airways, y Ariana Afghan Airlines. All operate mainly in the countryside, but also made some international route.
The latest company to appear has been Safi Airways, Headquartered in Dubai, and with which foreigners always try to fly, it is the, long, looks more professional and safe. Kam Air has also gained a good clientele because, until the birth of Safi Airways, was the most reliable, although in the year 2005 one of its planes crashed a few kilometers from Kabul, the Afghan capital, during a heavy snowfall. Died 104 people.
Pamir Airways is presented in its website as the first private company in Afghanistan who was certified to fly the Afghan Ministry of Aviation, and one that has moved more pilgrims to Mecca. In practice, however, is characterized by the airline canceled more flights without informing its passengers, and their filthy-looking aircraft. In the latter I took-a ‘charter’ Acceptance of a patient Qala-e-Now, in the northwest- did not flush the toilet, and a plastic bottle and a half liters of water who presided over the sink to have the decency to use.
However, the company certainly takes the cake is Ariana Afghan Airlines, born in 1955 public as the first airline in Afghanistan. Although in recent years greatly improved-in 2004 I was on the ground in Kabul because of a ‘overbooking’ of forty-, remains part of the list of airlines banned by the European Commission. A servant's try to avoid whenever possible, but sometimes you have no choice but to fly with it. In his planes anything is possible.
Weeks ago passengers on a flight from Herat-Kabul Ariana Afghan Airlines shared the journey with a dying person, stretched on a stretcher on the floor, occupied part of the aisle of the plane, while another man practiced ventilation with a manual fan. The image was disturbing. The dying, with shrapnel wounds to the face, lay unconscious, with eyes closed.
However, what really upset the passage was not so much injured as landing. The plane lurched from side to side, up and down several times, fully tilted and flew for a while. “Please, a plastic bag!”, finally claimed a traveler at the impossibility of it anymore vomiting. Behind him, were added. Many, the stewards were handing out bags as they had distributed refreshments. The plane touched ground at last, but then the travelers also stomach was flat, and nerves, highly tense. The crew later attempts to placate and did not work.
When the speakers have said “Welcome to Kabul International Airport, keep your seat belt fastened”, half of the passengers and stood, with bags in hand, and preparations for going away. “Please, sit. We are not yet”, struggled to repeat the stewards, without anyone to comply,. Until the end, as expected, came to the hands. “We have said that they feel and you will sit! Hence no one leaves!”, mumbled a crew member, while struggling with a traveler for him to get back in the seat. Neither missed a slap.
In other flights I have seen with my own eyes, when the aircraft is already at low altitude, passengers phoning relatives to warn them that are coming, without worrying that mobile phones should be kept off. O que azafatos, when you enter the plane, force you to sit anywhere, ignoring the seat that you have assigned your boarding pass. Y after that causes arguments among travelers because the distribution of seats has become a real mess. An Afghan explained that one day I saw a fellow who was waiting at the Dubai airport to fly to Kabul, departure lounge half ran to find a trash can where to pull an empty water bottle. When he arrived in Kabul, the same fellow did not mind throwing down the wrapping of a package of cookies, despite having a bin next to. It results that Afghanistan remains a country without rule of law, where the rules seem to be to not comply. Most cops do not read or write, only 11,6% judges are law graduates -according to a UN-, and in any case they are both money can buy.
© Mònica Bernabé. All rights reserved.
Posted in World, the 2 April 2009.
