Asmatullah Rohani (August 3, 1937 – September 24, 2017) was an Afghan judge, educator and activist for

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

, democracy, and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

Background

Rohani was born in Afghanistan, his father Hamdullah a judge in Northern Mazar-e Sharif province. Their family was part of the Yousufzia tribe in Eastern

Kunar Province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- Ha ...

. Rohani completed his primary education at Shiah Koat Ahdad primary school in Nangarhar province. In 1950, he was admitted to Madrassah Imam Abu Hanifa in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. Rohandi graduated in 1957, then got his BA in 1961 from faculty of Islamic law at

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...

. In 1972, Rohani went to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on a scholarship to study international law and later in 1976 he went to Japan for further studies.

Professional career

After completing his studies overseas, Rohani returned to Afghanistan and served as

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

( Pashto: ستره محكمه) judge at the Ministry of Justice in Kabul. Later he was appointed as the director of the Supreme Court (Pashto: ستره محكمه) judge to

Paktika province Paktika (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000, mostly ethnic Pashtuns. The town of Sharana ...

. He also taught part-time at the faculty of Islamic law in Kabul University. In 1980, Rohani joined the National Committee for Human Rights. He documented human rights abuses and atrocities committed by the

Nur Muhammad Taraki Nur Muhammad Taraki (; 14 July 1917 – 9 October 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secret ...

regime and

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

against the civilian population of Afghanistan. In 1987, Rohani was hospitalized in Kabul after a failed assassination attempt. Soon after the attack, Rohani and his wife fled the country, crossing a remote mountain by foot to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. They joined their children who were already living in Peshawar, Pakistan. Mr. Rohani joined the Writers of Union of Free Afghanistan and wrote a book about his experiences. In 1988, the U.S. Government invited Rohani to visit the United States. In Washington D.C., he met with several members of the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

to discuss the future of Afghanistan. Rohani was also invited to

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

for a special session on Afghanistan. After returning to Peshawar, Rohani was appointed as director of the free lawyers of association of Afghanistan. In May 1991, the

South Korean government The Government of South Korea is the union government of the South Korea, Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of sta ...

invited him to visit their country, where he participated in the Second Conference of the Presidents of Bar Association in Asia. He had several interviews with Korean television, where he discussed the need for helping the Afghan people after the Soviet troop withdrawal. In 1994, Rohani joined his children in Canada. He completed and published two more books in

Pashto language Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

called ''Rohani Palwashi'' and ''Rohani Salghai''.Ashian cultural, social & family magazine for Afghan community in North America volume. 2 number 25, pages 30–31, Ashian Graphics & Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada May 2005 Rohani died in Guelph, Ontario, on September 24, 2017.

Published books

* ''Rohani Selgie'' - (روحاني سلگی) * ''Rohani Palwashi'' - (روحانی پلوشې) * ''Rohani Rana aw Manawi Shkula'' - (روحانی رڼا او معنوی ښکلا) * ''Jihad Fi Sabilillah'' - (جہاد فی سبیل اللہ)

References

http://www.scprd.com/lekane/show.php?sid=779 https://web.archive.org/web/20110727204458/http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/cgi-bin/library?e=d-00000-00---off-0acku--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=acku&cl=CL3.68.25&d=HASH0118eefbba7632feff18a6e4

External links

Da Leekwalo Leekane , SCPRD.COM

قاضي عصمت الله روحاني
Da Leekwalo Leekane , SCPRD.COM

قاضي عصمت الله روحاني * http://www.pashtoonkhwa.com/?page=pashtoonkhwa&id=157
قاضي عصمت الله روحاني * http://wepakhtoons.blogspot.com/2010/07/poem-life-of-pakhtoons.html
قاضي عصمت الله روحاني {{DEFAULTSORT:Rohani, Asmatullah Afghan judges 1937 births 2017 deaths