Afghan politician (born 1952)
Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal (born 1952) is an Afghan politician and the Head of Hezb-i Islami Afghanistan.[2] He was once allied with Islamist warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, but in 2008 he was elected chairman of a moderate breakaway faction of Hekmatyar's party.[3]
Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal earned a BA in economics, before working at the planning ministry in 1977 and then he went to USA. Back in Afghanistan, he fled from the civil war to Pakistan.[4]
He has served as Minister of Finance in 1996. Arghandiwaal has also served as advisor to President Hamid Karzai over tribal affairs. On January 16, 2010, he was appointed as Minister of Economy by gaining a vote of confidence from the Afghan Parliament.[5][6] He was again Minister of Finance from March 2020 to January 2021.[7][8]
In 2023, The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has nominated former Afghan Finance Minister Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Arghandiwal is accused of corruption and human rights abuses during his time in office.
Arghandiwal was appointed finance minister in 2019 by then-President Ashraf Ghani. He was responsible for overseeing the Afghan government's finances and implementing its economic policies. However, he was also accused of corruption and mismanagement.
In 2021, SIGAR released a report that found that Arghandiwal had used his position to enrich himself and his family. The report also found that he had used his position to benefit his political allies and to silence his critics.
In addition to corruption, Arghandiwal is also accused of human rights abuses. In 2020, SIGAR released a report that found that Arghandiwal's security forces had used excessive force against protesters and had detained and tortured civilians.
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act is a law that allows the U.S. government to impose sanctions on individuals who are accused of human rights abuses and corruption. If the U.S. government imposes sanctions on Arghandiwal, it would freeze his assets in the United States and prohibit him from traveling to the United States.
The nomination of Arghandiwal for sanctions is a significant development. It is the first time that SIGAR has nominated an Afghan official for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The nomination is a sign that SIGAR is serious about holding Afghan officials accountable for corruption and human rights abuses.[9]
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