Afghanistan

ILF-Afghanistan is a country-wide public defender organization that provides free criminal defense services to Afghanistan’s poor. It was the first and, to date, remains the only nongovernmental organization in Afghanistan providing systematic representation to all indigent Afghans accused of crimes, without regard to ethnicity, gender, age or political affiliation. In 2003, the ILF opened Afghanistan’s first independent public defender office in Kabul with two Afghan lawyers. Through 2012, ILF-Afghanistan grew to 13 offices and 73 lawyers around the country, becoming the nation’s primary provider of indigent defense services. Since its founding, ILF-Afghanistan has represented 24,000 indigent clients.

Shabir Ahmad Kamawal

Country Director

Shabir Ahmad Kamawal, the country director of ILF-Afghanistan, oversees the operations of ILF-Afghanistan’s 13 offices countrywide. Kamawal joined ILF-Afghanistan in early 2006, defending clients in Kabul. His skill and talent as a criminal defense lawyer, as well as his leadership ability, quickly led to his promotion as head of the ILF-Afghanistan Jalalabad Office and then to acting country director of ILF-Afghanistan. Prior to becoming a criminal defense lawyer, Kamawal taught Islamic theology, culture, and jurisprudence at the teacher’s institute of Nengarhar and Meya Omar High School, both in Jalalabad. He was born in Kama, Nengarhar, Afghanistan and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Sharia and Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law from Kabul University.

Noorulhuda Gulzada

Finance Manager

Noorulhuda Gulzada, the finance manager for ILF-Afghanistan, has been responsible for the day-to-day financial operation of the ILF-Afghanistan’s Kabul office since April 2006. In this capacity, he oversees all financial transactions out of Kabul, supervises all provincial finance officers for the organization’s 13 regional outposts and prepares monthly business reports for the ILF headquarters in New York. Prior to joining the ILF, Gulzada worked as the controller for the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, a finance assistant for the GTZ, a German development agency, in Peshawar, Pakistan and as an administrative assistant for Swiss Aid. Gulzuda holds a degree in business and administration from COMTEC College in Peshawar, Pakistan, and speaks fluent Pashto, Dari, Farsi, Urdu and English.

Parviz Ahmad Ghafarzai

Administrative and Human Resources Manager

Parviz Ahmad Ghafarzai, the administrative manager for ILF-Afghanistan, joined the organization in 2010 after serving several years as an auditor with the Afghanistan Ministry of Education and the Kabul Directorate of Education. A native of Jalalabad, Ghafarzai began his career as a financial assistant for several regional companies, including the National Bank of Pakistan and the Kochee Marble Factory in Peshawar. Ghafarzai holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Preston University in Kohat, Pakistan and is scheduled to complete his MBA with a specialization in human resource management from Preston University in spring 2011. He speaks Urdu, Dari, Hindi and English.

Naqibullah Sediqi

Training Director

Abdul Qayum Ahmadzai

Data and Development Manager

Abdul Qayum Ahmadzai, the data and development manager for ILF-Afghanistan, ensures accurate representation of defendants and tracks their progress through the courts. Ahmadzai compiles weekly client reports from provincial offices and prepares them for dissemination to the ILF-New York officers and board members for review. Ahmadzai also works as a key translator for the ILF, ensuring the correct interpretation of Pashto and Dari by English-speaking attorneys. Prior to joining ILF-Afghanistan, Ahmadzai worked as an interpreter and translator for the British Embassy in Kabul, a secretary for the Afghan Embassy in Bonn, Germany and a media assistant to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Peshawar, Pakistan. He is a graduate of Itehad Islami Afghanistani high school in Peshawar and received journalism and English training from the International Rescue Committee’s Pakistan office.