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Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), renamed the Republic of Afghanistan in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. It relied heavily on assistance from the Soviet Union for most of its existence, especially during the Soviet–Afghan War.

The PDPA came to power through the Saur Revolution, which ousted the regime of the unelected autocrat Mohammed Daoud Khan; he was succeeded by Nur Muhammad Taraki as the head of state and government on 30 April 1978. Taraki and Hafizullah Amin, the organizer of the Saur Revolution, introduced several contentious reforms during their rule, such as land and marriage reforms and an enforced policy of de-Islamization alongside the promotion of socialism. Amin also added on the reforms introduced by Khan, such as universal education and equal rights for women. Soon after taking power, a power struggle began between the hardline Khalq faction led by Taraki and Amin, and the moderate Parcham faction led by Babrak Karmal. The Khalqists emerged victorious and the bulk of the Parchamites were subsequently purged from the PDPA, while the most prominent Parcham leaders were exiled to the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union.

After the Khalq–Parcham struggle, another power struggle arose between Taraki and Amin within the Khalq faction, in which Amin gained the upper hand and later had Taraki killed on his orders. Due to earlier reforms, Amin's rule proved unpopular within both Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. A Soviet intervention supported by the Afghan government had begun in December 1979, and on 27 December, Amin was assassinated by Soviet military forces; Karmal became the leader of Afghanistan in his place. The Karmal era, which lasted from 1979 to 1986, was marked by the height of the Soviet–Afghan War, in which Soviet and Afghan government forces fought against the Afghan mujahideen in order to consolidate control over Afghanistan. The war resulted in a large number of civilian casualties as well as the creation of millions of refugees who fled into Pakistan and Iran. The Fundamental Principles, a constitution, was introduced by the government in April 1980, and several non-PDPA members were allowed into government as part of its policy of broadening its support base. However, Karmal's policies failed to bring peace to the war-ravaged country, and in 1986, he was succeeded as PDPA General Secretary by Mohammad Najibullah.

Najibullah pursued a policy of National Reconciliation with the opposition: a new Afghan constitution was introduced in 1987 and democratic elections were held in 1988 (which were boycotted by the mujahideen). After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988–1989, the government faced increasing resistance. 1990 proved to be a year of change in Afghan politics as another constitution was introduced that stated Afghanistan's nature as an Islamic republic, and the PDPA was transformed into the Watan Party, which continues to exist. On the military front, the government proved capable of defeating the armed opposition in open battle, as demonstrated in the Battle of Jalalabad. However, with an aggressive armed opposition and internal difficulties such as a failed coup attempt by the Khalq faction in 1990 coupled with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Najibullah government collapsed in April 1992. The collapse of Najibullah's government triggered another civil war that led to the rise of the Taliban and their eventual takeover of most of Afghanistan by 1996.

Geographically, it was bordered by the Soviet Union (Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek SSRs) to the north, China (Xinjiang) to the east, Pakistan to the south and Iran to the west.

Saur Revolution and Taraki: 1978–1979
Mohammad Daoud Khan, the President of the Republic of Afghanistan from 1973 to 1978, was ousted during the Saur Revolution (April Revolution) following the death of Mir Akbar Khyber, a Parchamite politician from the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), who died under mysterious circumstances. Hafizullah Amin, a Khalqist, was the coup's chief architect. Nur Muhammad Taraki, the leader of the Khalqists, was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council, Chairman of the Council of Ministers and retained his post as General Secretary of the PDPA Central Committee. Under him was Babrak Karmal, the leader of the Parcham faction, as Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Amin as Council of Ministers deputy chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar as Council of Ministers deputy chairman. The appointment of Karmal, Amin and Watanjar as Council of Ministers deputy chairmen proved unstable, and it led to three different governments being established within the government; the Khalq faction was answerable to Amin, the Parchamites were answerable to Karmal and the military officers (who were Parchamites) were answerable to Watanjar.

The first conflict between the Khalqists and Parchamites arose when the Khalqists wanted to give PDPA Central Committee membership to military officers who participated in the Saur Revolution. Amin, who previously opposed the appointment of military officers to the PDPA leadership, altered his position; he now supported their elevation. The PDPA Politburo voted in favour of giving membership to the military officers; the victors (the Khalqists) portrayed the Parchamites as opportunists (they implied that the Parchamites had ridden the revolutionary wave, but not actually participated in the revolution). To make matters worse for the Parchamites, the term Parcham was, according to Taraki, a word synonymous with factionalism. On 27 June, three months after the revolution, Amin managed to outmaneuver the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting. The meeting decided that the Khalqists had the exclusive right to formulate and decide policy, which left the Parchamites impotent. Karmal was exiled. Later, a coup planned by the Parchamites and led by Karmal was discovered by the Khalqist leadership, prompting a swift reaction; a purge of Parchamites began. Parchamite ambassadors were recalled, but few returned; for instance, Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah stayed in their respective countries.

During Taraki's rule, an unpopular land reform was introduced, leading to the requisitioning of land by the government without compensation; it disrupted lines of credit and led to some crop buyers boycotting beneficiaries of the reform, causing agricultural harvests to plummet and rising discontent amongst Afghans. When Taraki realized the degree of popular dissatisfaction with the reform he began to curtail the policy. Afghanistan's long history of resistance to any type of strong centralized governmental control further undermined his authority. Consequently, much of the land reform did not get implemented nationwide. In the months following the coup, Taraki and other party leaders initiated other policies that challenged both traditional Afghan values and well-established traditional power structures in rural areas. Taraki introduced women to political life and legislated an end to forced marriage. The strength of the anti-reform backlash would ultimately lead to the Afghan Civil War.

Amin and the Soviet intervention: 1979
While Amin and Taraki had a very close relationship at the beginning, the relationship soon deteriorated. Amin, who had helped to create a personality cult centered on Taraki, soon became disgusted with the shape it took and with Taraki, who had begun to believe in his own brilliance. Taraki began dismissing Amin's suggestions, fostering in Amin a deep sense of resentment. As their relationship turned increasingly sour, a power struggle developed between them for control of the Afghan Army. Following the 1979 Herat uprising, the Revolutionary Council and the PDPA Politburo established the Homeland Higher Defence Council. Taraki was elected its chairman, while Amin became its deputy. Amin's appointment, and the acquisition of the premiership (as Chairman of the Council of Ministers), was not a step further up the ladder as one might assume; due to constitutional reforms, Amin's new offices were more or less powerless. There was a failed assassination attempt led by the Gang of Four, which consisted of Watanjar, Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy, Sherjan Mazdoryar and Assadullah Sarwari. This assassination attempt prompted Amin to conspire against Taraki, and when Taraki returned from a trip to Havana, he was ousted, and later suffocated on Amin's orders.

During his 104 days in power, Amin became committed to establishing a collective leadership. When Taraki was ousted, Amin promised "from now on there will be no one-man government...". Prior to the Soviet intervention, the PDPA executed between 1,000 and 27,000 people, mostly at Pul-e-Charkhi prison. Between 17,000 and 25,000 people were arrested during Taraki's and Amin's rules combined. Amin was not liked by the Afghan people. During his rule, opposition to the communist regime increased, and the government lost control of the countryside. The state of the Afghan Armed Forces deteriorated under Amin; due to desertions the number of military personnel in the Afghan Army decreased from 100,000, in the immediate aftermath of the Saur Revolution, to somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000. Another problem was that the KGB had penetrated the PDPA, the military and the government bureaucracy. While his position in Afghanistan was becoming more perilous by the day, his enemies who were exiled in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc were agitating for his removal. Babrak Karmal, the Parchamite leader, met several leading Eastern Bloc figures during this period, and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy and Assadullah Sarwari wanted to exact revenge on Amin.

Meantime in the Soviet Union, the Special Commission of the Politburo on Afghanistan, which consisted of Yuri Andropov, Andrei Gromyko, Dmitriy Ustinov and Boris Ponomarev, wanted to end the impression that the Soviet government supported Amin's leadership and policies. Andropov fought hard for Soviet intervention, telling Leonid Brezhnev that Amin's policies had destroyed the military and the government's capability to handle the crisis by use of mass repression. The plan, according to Andropov, was to assemble a small force to intervene and remove Amin from power and replace him with Karmal. The Soviet Union declared its plan to intervene in Afghanistan on 12 December 1979, and the Soviet leadership initiated Operation Storm-333 (the first phase of the intervention) on 27 December 1979.

Amin remained trustful of the Soviet Union until the very end, despite the deterioration of official relations with the Soviet Union. When the Afghan intelligence service handed Amin a report that the Soviet Union would invade the country and topple him, Amin claimed the report was a product of imperialism. His view can be explained by the fact that the Soviet Union, after several months, decided to send troops into Afghanistan. Contrary to normal Western beliefs, Amin was informed of the Soviet decision to send troops into Afghanistan. Amin was killed by Soviet forces on 27 December 1979.

Karmal era: 1979–1986
Karmal ascended to power following Amin's assassination. On 27 December Radio Kabul broadcast Karmal's pre-recorded speech, which stated "Today the torture machine of Amin has been smashed, his accomplices – the primitive executioners, usurpers and murderers of tens of thousand of our fellow countrymen – fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, children and old people...". On 1 January Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and Alexei Kosygin, the Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers, congratulated Karmal on his "election" as leader, before any Afghan state or party organ had elected him to anything.

When he came to power, Karmal promised an end to executions, the establishment of democratic institutions and free elections, the creation of a constitution, the legalisation of parties other than the PDPA, and respect for individual and personal property. Prisoners incarcerated under the two previous governments would be freed in a general amnesty. He even promised that a coalition government was going to be established that was not going to espouse socialism. At the same time, he told the Afghan people that he had negotiated with the Soviet Union to give economic, military and political assistance. Even if Karmal indeed wanted all this, it would be impossible to put it into practice in the presence of the Soviet Union. Most Afghans mistrusted the government at this time. Many still remembered that Karmal had said he would protect private capital in 1978, a promise later proven to be a lie. When a political solution failed, the Afghan government and the Soviet military decided to solve the conflict militarily. The change from a political to a military solution came gradually. It began in January 1981: Karmal doubled wages for military personnel, issued several promotions, and one general and thirteen colonels were decorated. The draft age was lowered, the obligatory length of military duty was extended, and the age for reservists was increased to thirty-five years of age. In June, Assadullah Sarwari lost his seat in the PDPA Politburo, and in his place were appointed Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, a former tank commander and the then Minister of Communications, Major General Mohammad Rafi, the Minister of Defence and KHAD Chairman Mohammad Najibullah. These measures were introduced due to the collapse of the army; before the invasion the army could field 100,000 troops, after the invasion only 25,000. Desertion was pandemic, and the recruitment campaigns for young people often led them to flee to the opposition. To better organise the military, seven military zones were established, each with its own Defence Council. The Defence Council was established at the national, provincial and district level to devolve powers to the local PDPA. It is estimated that the Afghan government spent as much as 40 percent of government revenue on defence.

Karmal was forced to resign from his post as PDPA General Secretary in May 1986, due to increasing pressure from the Soviet leadership, and was succeeded by Najibullah, the former Minister of State Security. He continued to have influence in the upper echelons of the party and state until he was forced to resign from his post of Revolutionary Council Chairman in November 1986, being succeeded by Haji Mohammad Chamkani, who was not a PDPA member.

Najibullah and Soviet withdrawal: 1986–1989
In September 1986 the National Compromise Commission (NCC) was established on the orders of Najibullah. The NCC's goal was to contact counter-revolutionaries "in order to complete the Saur Revolution in its new phase." An estimated 40,000 rebels were contacted by the government. At the end of 1986, Najibullah called for a six-month ceasefire and talks between the various opposition forces, as part of his policy of National Reconciliation. The discussions, if fruitful, would have led to the establishment of a coalition government and be the end of the PDPA's monopoly on power. The programme failed, but the government was able to recruit disillusioned mujahideen fighters as government militias. The National Reconciliation did lead an increasing number of urban dwellers to support his rule, and to the stabilisation of the Afghan defence forces.

While Najibullah may have been the de jure leader of Afghanistan, Soviet advisers still did most of the work after Najibullah took power. As Gorbachev remarked "We're still doing everything ourselves... That's all our people know how to do. They've tied Najibullah hand and foot." Fikryat Tabeev, the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan, was accused of acting like a Governor General by Gorbachev, and he was recalled from Afghanistan in July 1986. But while Gorbachev called for the end of Soviet management of Afghanistan, he could not resist doing some managing himself. At a Soviet Politburo meeting, Gorbachev said, "It's difficult to build a new building out of old material... I hope to God that we haven't made a mistake with Najibullah." As time would prove, Najibullah's aims were the opposite of the Soviet Union's; Najibullah was opposed to a Soviet withdrawal, the Soviet Union wanted a withdrawal. This was understandable, since it was thought that the Afghan military was on the brink of dissolution. Najibullah thought his only means of survival was to retain the Soviet presence. In July 1986 six Soviet regiments, up to 15,000 troops, were withdrawn from Afghanistan. The aim of this early withdrawal was, according to Gorbachev, to show the world that the Soviet leadership was serious about leaving Afghanistan. The Soviets told the United States Government that they were planning to withdraw, but the United States Government didn't believe it. When Gorbachev met with Ronald Reagan during his visit the United States, Reagan called, bizarrely, for the dissolution of the Afghan Military.

On 14 April the Afghan and Pakistani governments signed the 1988 Geneva Accords, and the Soviet Union and the United States signed as guarantors; the treaty specifically stated that the Soviet military had to withdraw from Afghanistan by 15 February 1989. During a Politburo meeting Eduard Shevardnadze said "We will leave the country in a deplorable situation", and talked further about economic collapse, and the need to keep at least 10,000 to 15,000 troops in Afghanistan. Vladimir Kryuchkov, the KGB Chairman, supported this position. This stance, if implemented, would be a betrayal of the Geneva Accords just signed. Najibullah was against any type of Soviet withdrawal. A few Soviet troops remained after the Soviet withdrawal; for instance, parachutists who protected the Soviet embassy staff, military advisors and special forces and reconnaissance troops still operated in the "outlying provinces", especially along the Afghan–Soviet border.

Fall: 1989–1992
Pakistan, under Zia ul-Haq, continued to support the Afghan mujahideen even though it was a contravention of the Geneva Accords. At the beginning most observers expected the Najibullah government to collapse immediately, and to be replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist government. Following the Soviet withdrawal the morale of the Afghan Military was said to have actually increased. The Central Intelligence Agency stated in a report, that the new government would be ambivalent, or even worse hostile, towards the United States. Almost immediately after the Soviet withdrawal, the Battle of Jalalabad was fought between Afghan government forces and the mujahideen; the government forces, to the surprise of many, repulsed the attack and won the battle. This trend would not continue, and by the summer of 1990, the Afghan government forces were on the defensive again. By the beginning of 1991, the government controlled only 10 percent of Afghanistan, the eleven-year Siege of Khost had ended in a mujahideen victory and the morale of the Afghan military slumped. In 1991 a coup led by members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to remove Gorbachev failed resulting in the removal of many Soviet politicians and military officers that favored continuing aid to the Homeland Party government in Kabul. The last Soviet aid came in October, with all Russian aid being cut by the new President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin in January 1992. Correctly fearing that a Mujahedeen victory could lead to the new government backing Islamists against the former Soviet Central Asian republics, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan provided food aid to the Najibullah government. The end of weapon exports however led to a inability to equip the estimated 170 thousand strong militias Najibullah set up through his reconciliation policies.

In March 1992, Najibullah offered his government's immediate resignation, and following an agreement with the United Nations (UN), his government was replaced by an interim government. In mid-April Najibullah accepted a UN plan to hand power to a seven-man council. A few days later, on 14 April, Najibullah was forced to resign by 4 of his generals, because of the loss of Bagram airbase and the town of Charikar. Abdul Rahim Hatef became acting head of state following Najibullah's resignation. Najibullah, not long before Kabul's fall, appealed to the UN for amnesty, which he was granted. But Najibullah was hindered by Abdul Rashid Dostum from escaping; instead, Najibullah sought haven in the local UN headquarters in Kabul. The war in Afghanistan did not end with Najibullah's ouster, and continued until the final fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Kabul would suffer destruction following Najibullah's resignation as many factions fought for control.

Political system
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan described the Saur Revolution as a democratic revolution signifying "a victory of the honourable working people of Afghanistan" and the "manifestation of the real will and interests of workers, peasants and toilers." While the idea of moving Afghanistan toward socialism was proclaimed, completing the task was seen as an arduous road. Thus, Afghanistan's foreign minister commented that Afghanistan was a democratic but not yet socialist republic, while a member of the Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan predicted that "Afghanistan will not see socialism in my lifetime" in an interview with a British journalist in 1981.

Afghanistan was considered by the Soviet Union as a state with a socialist orientation. The Soviets, in mid-1979, initially proclaimed Afghanistan as not merely a progressive ally, but a fully fledged member of the socialist community of nations. In contrast, later Soviet rhetoric invariably referred to the Saur Revolution as a democratic turn, but stopped short of recognizing a socialist society.

Under Hafizullah Amin, a commission working on a new constitution was established. There were 65 members of this commission, and they came from all walks of life. Due to his death, his constitution was never finished. In April 1980, under Babrak Karmal, the Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan were made law. The constitution was devoid of any references to socialism or communism, and instead laid emphasis on independence, Islam and liberal democracy. Religion was to be respected, the exception being when religion threatened the security of society. The Fundamental Principles were, in many ways, similar to Mohammad Daoud Khan's 1977 constitution. While official ideology was de-emphasized, the PDPA did not lose its monopoly on power, and the Revolutionary Council continued to be ruled through its Presidium, the majority of Presidium members were from the PDPA Politburo. The Karmal government was "a new evolutionary phase of the great Saur Revolution." The Fundamental Principles was not implemented in practice, and it was replaced by the 1987 constitution in a loya jirga under Muhammad Najibullah but did not have support of opposition parties. Islamic principles were embedded in the 1987 constitution. For instance, Article 2 of the constitution stated that Islam was the state religion, and Article 73 stated that the head of state had to be born into a Muslim Afghan family. In 1990, the 1987 constitution was amended to state that Afghanistan was an Islamic republic, and the last references to communism were removed. Article 1 of the amended constitution said that Afghanistan was an "independent, unitary and Islamic state."

The 1987 constitution liberalized the political landscape in areas under government control. Political parties could be established as long as they opposed colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism, Zionism, racial discrimination, apartheid and fascism. The Revolutionary Council was abolished, and replaced by the National Assembly of Afghanistan, a democratically elected parliament. The government announced its willingness to share power, and form a coalition government. The new parliament was bicameral, and consisted of a Senate (Sena) and a House of Representatives (Wolesi Jirga). The president was to be indirectly elected to a 7-year term. A parliamentary election was held in 1988. The PDPA won 46 seats in the House of Representatives and controlled the government with support from the National Front, which won 45 seats, and from various newly recognized left-wing parties, which had won a total of 24 seats. Although the election was boycotted by the Mujahideen, the government left 50 of the 234 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a small number of seats in the Senate, vacant in the hope that the guerillas would end their armed struggle and participate in the government. The only armed opposition party to make peace with the government was Hizbollah, a small Shi'a party not to be confused with the bigger party in Iran.

The Council of Ministers was the Afghan cabinet, and its chairman was the head of government. It was the most important government body in PDPA Afghanistan, and it ran the governmental ministries. The Council of Ministers was responsible to the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council, and after the adoption of the 1987 constitution, to the President and House of Representatives. There seems to have been a deliberate power-sharing between the two bodies; few Presidium members were ministers. It was the PDPA (perhaps with the involvement of the Soviets) which appointed and decided the membership of the Council of Ministers. An Afghan dissident who had previously worked in the office of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers reported that all topics up for discussion in the Council of Ministers had to be approved by the Soviets. Under Karmal, the Khalqist's were purged and replaced by the Parcham majority in the Council of Ministers. Of the 24 members of the Council of Ministers under Karmal's chairmanship, only four were Khalqists.

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The PDPA constitution was written during the party's First Congress in 1965. The constitution regulated all party activities and modelled itself after the Leninist party model; the party was based on the principles of democratic centralism and Marxism–Leninism was the party's official ideology. In theory, the Central Committee of the PDPA ruled Afghanistan by electing the members to the Revolutionary Council, Secretariat, and the Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, the key decision-making bodies of state and party. After the Soviet intervention, the powers of the PDPA decreased because of the government's increased unpopularity amongst the masses. Soviet advisers took over nearly all aspects of Afghan administration; according to critics, the Afghans became the advisors and the Soviet became the advised. The Soviet intervention had forced Karmal upon the party and state. While trying to portray the new government as a Khalq–Parcham coalition, most members (the majority of whom were Khalqists), saw through the lies. At the time of the Parchamite takeover of the state and party, an estimated 80 percent of military officers were Khalqists.

In the party's history, only two congresses were held; the founding congress in 1965 and the Second Congress in June 1990, which transformed the PDPA into the Watan Party, which has survived to this today in the shape of the Democratic Watan Party. The Second Congress renamed the party and tried to revitalise it by admitting to past mistakes and evolving ideologically. The policy of national reconciliation was given a major ideologically role, since the party now looked for a peaceful solution to the conflict; class struggle was still emphasised. The party also decided to support and further develop the market economy in Afghanistan.

Factions

 * The Khalq faction was the more militant of the two. It was more revolutionary and believed in a purer form of Marxism–Leninism than did the Parcham. Following the Soviet intervention, the Khalqi leadership of Taraki and Amin had been all but driven out. Several low and middle level functionaries were still present in the PDPA, and they still formed a majority within the armed forces; the Khalq faction still managed to create a sense of cohesion. While still believing in Marxism–Leninism, many of them were infuriated at the Soviet intervention, and the Soviets' pro-Parchamite policies. Taraki, in a speech, said "We will defend our non-aligned policy and independence with all valour. We will not give even an inch of soil to anyone and we will not be dictated in our foreign policy [nor] will we accept anybody's orders in this regard." While it was not clear, who Taraki was pointing at, the Soviet Union was the only country which Afghanistan neighbored which had the strength to occupy the country.

 * The Parcham faction was the more moderate of the two and was steadfastly pro-Soviet. This position would hurt its popularity when it came to power following the Soviet intervention. Before the Saur Revolution, the Parcham faction had been the Soviets' favored faction. Following the Parchamites' seizure of power with Soviet assistance, party discipline was breaking down because of the Khalq–Parcham feud. After the PDPA government had ordered the replacement of seven Khalqist officers with Parchamites, the seven officers sent the intended replacements back. While the Parchamite government gave up trying to take over the armed forces, it did announce the execution of 13 officials who had worked for Amin. These executions led to three failed Khalqist coups in June, July and October 1980. The Western press, during the anti-Parchamite purge of 1979, referred to the Parcham faction as "moderate socialist intellectuals".

Throughout PDPA history there were also other factions, such as the Kar faction led by Dastagir Panjsheri, who later became a Khalqist, and Settam-e-Melli formed and led by Tahir Badakhshi. The Settam-e-Melli was a part of the insurgency against the PDPA government. In 1979, a Settam-e-Melli group killed Adolph Dubs, the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan. Ideologically Settam-e-Melli was very close to the Khalqist faction, but Settam-e-Melli opposed what they saw as the Khalq faction's "Pashtun chauvinism." Settam-e-Melli followed the ideology of Maoism. When Karmal ascended to power, the Settamites relationship with the government improved, mostly due to Karmal's former good relationship with Badakhshi, who was killed by government forces in 1979. In 1983, Bashir Baghlani, a Settam-e-Melli member, was appointed Minister of Justice.

National Front
Karmal had first mentioned the possibility of establishing a "broad national front" in March 1980, but given the situation the country was in, the campaign for the establishment of such an organisation began only in January 1981. A "spontaneous" demonstration in support of establishing such an organisation was held that month. The first pre-front institution to be established was a tribal jirga in May 1981 by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. This jirga later became a member of the front. The National Fatherland Front (NFF) held its founding congress in June 1981, after being postponed on several occasions. The founding congress, which was planned to last four days, lasted only one. Within one month of its founding, 27 senior members had been assassinated by the mujahideen. Due to this, the organisation took time to establish itself; its first Provincial Committee was established in November, and its first jirga in December. It was not until 1983 that the NFF became an active, and important organisation. The aim of the NFF was to establish a pro-PDPA organisation for those who did not support the PDPA ideologically.

Its first leader was Salah Mohammad Zeary, a prominent politician within the PDPA. Zeary's selection had wider implications: the PDPA dominated all NFF activities. Officially, the NFF had amassed 700,000 members after its founding, which later increased to one million. The majority of its members were already members of affiliated organisations, such as the Women's Council, the Democratic Youth Organisation and the trade unions, all of which were controlled by the PDPA. The membership numbers were in any case inflated. In 1984 the NFF had 67,000 members, and in 1986 its membership peaked at 112,209. In 1985 Zeary stepped down as NFF leader, and was succeeded by Abdul Rahim Hatef, who was not a member of the PDPA. The ascension of Hatef proved more successful, and in 1985–86 the NFF succeeded in recruiting several "good Muslims". The NFF was renamed the National Front in 1987.

Symbols: flag and emblem
On 19 October 1978 the PDPA government introduced a new flag, a red flag with a yellow seal, and it was similar to the flags of the Soviet Central Asian republics. The new flag stirred popular resentment, as many Afghans saw it as proof of the PDPA government's attempt to introduce state atheism. It was shown to the public for the first time in an official rally in Kabul. The red flag introduced under Taraki was replaced in 1980, shortly after the Soviet intervention, to the more traditional colours black, red and green. The PDPA flag, which was red with a yellow seal, was retained to emphasise the difference between the party and state to the Afghan people. The red star, the book and communist symbols in general, were removed from the flag in 1987 under Najibullah.

The new emblem, which replaced Daoud's eagle emblem, was introduced together with the flag in 1978. When Karmal introduced a new emblem in 1980, he said "it is from the pulpit that thousands of the faithful are led to the right path." The book depicted in the emblem (and the flag) was generally considered to be Das Kapital, a work by Karl Marx, and not the Quran, the central Islamic text. The last emblem was introduced in 1987 by the Najibullah government. This emblem was, in contrast to the previous ones, influenced by Islam. The Red Star and Das Kapital were removed from the emblem (and the flag). The emblem depicted the mihrab, the minbar and the shahada, an Islamic creed.

Economy
Taraki's Government initiated a land reform on 1 January 1979, which attempted to limit the amount of land a family could own. Those whose landholdings exceeded the limit saw their property requisitioned by the government without compensation. The Afghan leadership believed the reform would meet with popular approval among the rural population while weakening the power of the bourgeoisie. The reform was declared complete in mid-1979 and the government proclaimed that 665,000 hectares (approximately 1,632,500 acres) had been redistributed. The government also declared that only 40,000 families, or 4 percent of the population, had been negatively affected by the land reform.

Contrary to government expectations the reform was neither popular nor productive. Agricultural harvests plummeted and the reform itself led to rising discontent amongst Afghans. When Taraki realized the degree of popular dissatisfaction with the reform he quickly abandoned the policy. However, the land reform was gradually implemented under the later Karmal administration, although the proportion of land area affected by the reform is unclear.

During the civil war, and the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War, most of the country's infrastructure was destroyed, and normal patterns of economic activity were disrupted. The gross national product (GNP) fell substantially during Karmal's rule because of the conflict; trade and transport were disrupted along with the loss of labor and capital. In 1981 the Afghan GDP stood at 154.3 billion Afghan afghanis, a drop from 159,7 billion in 1978. GNP per capita decreased from 7,370 in 1978 to 6,852 in 1981. The most dominant form of economic activity was the agricultural sector. Agriculture accounted for 63 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1981; 56 percent of the labour force worked in agriculture in 1982. Industry accounted for 21 percent of GDP in 1982, and employed 10 percent of the labour force. All industrial enterprises were government-owned. The service sector, the smallest of the three, accounted for 10 percent of GDP in 1981, and employed an estimated one-third of the labour force. The balance of payments, which had improved in the pre-communist administration of Mohammed Daoud Khan; the surplus decreased and became a deficit by 1982, which reached minus $US70.3 million. The only economic activity that grew substantially during Karmal's rule was export and import.

Najibullah continued Karmal's economic policies. The augmenting of links with the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union continued, as did bilateral trade. He also encouraged the development of the private sector in industry. The Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan, which was introduced in January 1986, continued until March 1991, one year before the government's fall. According to the plan, the economy, which had grown less than 2 percent annually until 1985, would grow 25 percent under the plan. Industry would grow 28 percent, agriculture 14–16 percent, domestic trade by 150 percent and foreign trade by 15 percent. None of these predictions were successful, and economic growth continued at 2%. The 1990 constitution gave attention to the private sector. Article 20 covered the establishment of private firms, and Article 25 encouraged foreign investment in the private sector.

Command and officer corps
The military's chain of command began with the Supreme Commander, who also held the posts of PDPA General Secretary and head of state. The order of precedence continued with the Minister of National Defense, the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Chief of General Staff, Chief of Army Operations, Air and Air Defence Commander and ended with the Chief of Intelligence.

Of the 8,000 strong officer corps in 1978, between 600 and 800 were communists. An estimated 40 to 45 percent of these officers were educated in the Soviet Union, and of them, between 5 and 10 percent were members of the PDPA or communists. By the time of the Soviet intervention, the officer corps had decreased to 1,100 members. This decrease can be explained by the number of purges centered on the armed forces. The purge of the military began immediately after the PDPA took power. According to Mohammad Ayub Osmani, an officer who defected to the enemy, of the 282 Afghan officers who attended the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in Moscow, an estimated 126 were executed by the authorities. Most of the officer corps, during the Soviet war and the ensuing civil war, were new recruits. The majority of officers were Khalqists, but after the Parchamites' ascension to power, Khalqists held no position of significance. The Parchamites, who were the minority, held the positions of power. Of the 1,100 large officer corps, only an estimated 200 were party members. According to Abdul Qadir, one-fifth of military personnel were party members, which meant that, if the military stood at 47,000, 9,000 were members of the PDPA. This number was, according to J. Bruce Amtstutz, an exaggeration.

Army

The strength of the Afghan Army was greatly weakened during the early stages of PDPA rule. One of the main reasons for the small size was that the Soviet military were afraid the Afghan army would defect en masse to the enemy if total personnel increased. There were several sympathisers of the mujahideen within the Afghan Armed Forces. Even so, there were several elite units under the command of the Afghan army, such as the 37th, 38th, 444th, 466th, 666th, 84th, 85th Commando Brigades. Additionally, there could have also been a possible 344th Commando Brigade in 1980.

The 26th Airborne Battalion was created from the 242nd and 455th Commando Battalions after the Saur Revolution. They were deemed politically unreliable, and on 5 August 1979, they (along with soldiers from the 444th Commando Brigade) initiated a rebellion against the PDPA government, the Bala Hissar uprising. As a result of the rebellion, the 26th Airborne Battalion was transformed into the 37th Commando Brigade. The Commando Brigades were, in contrast, considered reliable and were used as mobile strike forces until they sustained excessive casualties. After sustaining these casualties, the Commando Brigades were turned into battalions. The airborne capabilities of the Afghan commando brigades would cease in 1988, during the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the 666th Commando Brigade would be entirely decimated during the Battle of Khost in 1991.

In 1980, the DRA also introduced three special forces battalions, one for each of the army corps. The 203rd Special Purpose Battalion was tied to the 1st Central Army Corps in Kabul, the 213th Special Purpose Battalion was tied to the 2nd Army Corps in Kandahar and the 230th Special Purpose Battalion was tied to the 3rd Army Corps in Gardez.

Most soldiers were recruited for a three-year term, later extended to four-year terms in 1984. Each year, the Afghan army lost an estimated 15,000 soldiers, 10,000 from desertion and 5,000 from casualties sustained in battle. Everyone between 19 and 39 was eligible for conscription, the only exceptions were certain party members, or party members in certain tasks, Afghans who studied abroad, mostly in the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union, and one-child families or low earners. Unfortunately for the government, most people tried to evade conscription. So the government was forced to send army or police gangs to recruit civilians to service. Even so, some people carried fake papers so they could evade conscription. A side effect of the lack of recruits was that veterans were forced into longer service, or re-recruited. Of the 60 people who graduated from Kabul University in 1982, (few male Afghans attended Kabul University between 1980 and 1983), 15 of them fled to Pakistan or began working for the mujahideen. The army's approach to conscription was carrot-and-stick. This policy was partially successful, and each year the government managed to induce 10,000 to 18,000 into the army. A general amnesty was announced in 1980 to army draft deserters from previous administrations. In 1982, students who served in the military, and graduated 10th grade in high school, would pass 11th and 12th grade and be given a scholarship. People who were conscripted after the 12th grade, could, after military service, attend whichever higher education facility they wanted. To stop army desertions, soldiers were quickly promoted to higher ranks.

The army consisted of 14 divisions, of these 11 were infantry and another three were armored, which were part of three military corps. While an infantry division was supposed to be composed of 4,000 to 8,000 men, between 1980 and 1983 a division normally mustered between 2,000 and 2,500. The strength of armored divisions in contrast were maintained, and stood at 4,000. During the Soviet war, the Afghan army used light weapons, and used neglected equipment. During the counter-insurgency, heavy equipment, tanks and artillery were most of the time, but not always, used and fired by Soviet soldiers. A problem faced the Afghan government, and the Soviet military—the degeneration of training for new military recruits; new recruits were being rushed into service, because the Afghan government and the Soviet military feared a total collapse of the government. Western analysts expected the Afghan Army to lose the Battle of Jalalabad, but contrary to their expectations, managed to repel the Mujahideen and Pakistani forces (who had the intention of establishing an interim government in Nangarhar Province ) and maintain control of the city. On April 1990, the DRA Armed Forces further proved their ability to fight without direct Soviet assistance when they successfully assaulted a fortified complex in Paghman. The Afghan Army, spearheaded by Junbish-i-Mili, the militia led by Abdul Rashid Dostum, were able to clear mujahideen entrenchments with constant assaults and heavy bombardment from the Afghan Air Force and heavy artillery regiments that lasted until June.

Air Force
As with the army, the majority of officers in the Afghan Air Force were Khalqists, but Parchamites held all the senior positions. Many in the Air Force were given education and training in the Soviet Union. The Air Force had throughout its history always been smaller than the Army. The Afghan Air Force was considered the most loyal element of the Communist regime. Following the Soviet intervention, the Soviets grounded the Air Force. Afghans were not allowed in security zones at Afghan airports by the Soviets. Afghans were generally not allowed to fly the airplanes of the Afghan Air Force, but the Soviets could. Afghan helicopters were assigned to tasks considered non-sensitive by the Soviets, and the majority of Air Force personnel were not told about missions beforehand, because the Soviets were afraid that they would contact the enemy. In Afghan helicopter flights a Soviet adviser was always present, and commanded the Afghan pilot who flew the helicopter.

Among the fixed-wing aircraft in use were MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters, Su-7, Su-17, and Su-22 fighter-bombers, IL-28 bombers and An-2, An-24 and An-26 transport aircraft. MI-2, MI-4, MI-8, MI-24 and MI-35 helicopters were used by the Air Force. Other Soviet equipment and weapons were used by the government. The Czech L-39 jet trainers were the only non-Soviet equipment. The IL-28 bombers remained in very limited service, with their roles mostly being replaced by the Su-17 and Su-22 MiG-17s remained grounded by the end of the 1980s with the more modern MiG-21s taking on the mantle.

Paramilitary and Militia forces
The Ministry of Interior Affairs, a Khalqist stronghold, controlled the Sarandoy, or officially, the "Defenders of the Revolution", which was a militarized Gendarmerie force. The Ministry of Tribes and Frontiers controlled, until 1983 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence, the frontier troops and the tribal militia. According to the Afghan government, the Sarandoy mustered an estimated 115,000 males at its peak. Those who worked in the Sarandoy were paid 162 dollars a month, a wage which was higher than that of Deputy Minister of National Defence before the Saur Revolution. However, the militia was less disciplined than the regular Afghan Army and were sometimes described as ruthless thugs. KhAD also had their own paramilitary forces and elite units. KhAD ran a program of creating tribal militias. Notable militias include that of General Abdul Jabar Qahraman's Helmand and Paktia militia, General Ismatullah Muslim Achakzai Kandahar Militia and General Abdul Rashid Dostum's Junbish Militia.

Education
During communist rule, the PDPA government reformed the education system; education was stressed for both sexes, and widespread literacy programmes were set up. By 1988, women made up 40 percent of the doctors and 60 percent of the teachers at Kabul University; 440,000 female students were enrolled in different educational institutions and 80,000 more in literacy programs. In addition to introducing mass literacy campaigns for women and men, the PDPA agenda included: massive land reform program; the abolition of bride price; and raising the marriage age to 16 for girls and to 18 for boys.

However, the mullahs and tribal chiefs in the interiors viewed compulsory education, especially for women, as going against the grain of tradition, as anti-religious, and as a challenge to male authority. This resulted in an increase in shootings of women in Western clothes, killing of PDPA reformers in rural areas, and general harassment of women social workers. Despite improvements, large percentage of the population remained illiterate. Beginning with the Soviet intervention in 1979, successive wars virtually destroyed the nation's education system. Most teachers fled during the wars to neighboring countries.

Refugees
Afghan refugees are Afghan nationals who have fled their country as a result of the ongoing Afghan conflict. An estimated 6 million people have fled the country, most to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, making it the largest producer of refugees in the world. Many of these refugees would later be the basis for the Taliban movement.

title: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan


text:
Hybris (computer worm)

Hybris (also known as Snow White, Vecna.22528, and Full Moon) is a computer worm believed to have been written by Brazilian virus writer Vecna, member of the computer virus writing group 29A. It first appeared in September 2000 and became more common in January 2001.

Hybris typically comes from an email that appears to be from hahaha@sexyfun.net. Malicious "plug-ins" enhanced Hybris's functionality to include various other e-mail types. Other plugin functionalities include a spinning "wheel of hypnosis."

The name Hybris originates from the text within the virus: "HYBRIS" "(c) Vecna".

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hybris (computer worm)


text:
Edict of Nantes

The Edict of Nantes (édit de Nantes) was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantly Catholic.

While upholding Catholicism as the established religion, and requiring the re-establishment of Catholic worship in places it had lapsed, it granted religious toleration to the Protestant Huguenots, who had been waging a long and bloody struggle for their rights in France. The main contents were:
 * Freedom of conscience and the right to practice their religion (Protestantism) in certain specified towns and cities throughout France.
 * The right to hold public office, including the right to serve as judges and administrators, without having to renounce their religion.
 * The right to maintain their own schools and universities, and to receive government funding for them.
 * The right to fortify their towns and cities for their own protection.
 * The right to maintain their own military forces (known as the "Huguenot militia"), which were to be paid for by the French government.
 * The right to engage in certain specified trades and professions, including the manufacture and sale of textiles and arms.
 * The right to travel freely throughout France, without being subject to searches or seizures of their property.
 * The right to bury their dead in their own cemeteries.

The Edict of Nantes helped to end the Wars of Religion in France, which had been raging for decades. It also ensured that the Protestant minority in France would have a measure of religious and political freedom, and helped to establish France as a more tolerant and pluralistic society. However, the Edict was eventually revoked by King Louis XIV in 1685, leading to a mass exodus of Huguenots from France and a loss of talent and resources for the country.

In this edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. The edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. In offering a general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field, even for the state, and to bring grievances directly to the king. It successfully marked the end of the French Wars of Religion, which had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century.

The Edict of St. Germain, promulgated 36 years earlier by Catherine de Médici, had granted limited tolerance to Huguenots but was overtaken by events, as it was not formally registered until after the Massacre of Vassy on 1 March 1562, which triggered the first of the French Wars of Religion.

The Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, was promulgated by Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV. This act drove an exodus of Protestants and increased the hostility of Protestant nations bordering France.

Background
The edict aimed primarily to end the longrunning French Wars of Religion.

King Henry IV also had personal reasons for supporting the edict. Prior to assuming the throne in 1589, he had espoused Protestantism, and he remained sympathetic to the Protestant cause. It was widely believed that he converted to Catholicism in 1593 only to secure his position as king. The edict succeeded in restoring peace and internal unity to France but pleased neither party. Catholics rejected the apparent recognition of Protestantism as a permanent element in French society and still hoped to enforce religious uniformity. Protestants aspired to full parity with Catholics, which the edict did not provide. George A. Rothrock wrote : "Toleration in France was a royal notion, and the religious settlement was dependent upon the continued support of the crown".

Re-establishing royal authority in France required internal peace, which was based on limited toleration enforced by the crown. Since royal troops could not be everywhere, Huguenots needed to be granted strictly-limited possibilities of self-defense.

Terms
The Edict of Nantes that Henry IV signed had four basic texts, including a main text made up of 92 articles that was largely based on unsuccessful peace treaties signed during the recent wars. The edict also included 56 "particular" (secret) articles dealing with Protestant rights and obligations. For example, the French state guaranteed protection of French Protestants travelling abroad from the Inquisition. "This crucifies me", protested Pope Clement VIII upon hearing of the edict. The last two parts consisted of brevets (letters patent), which contained the military clauses and pastoral clauses. Both brevets were withdrawn in 1629 by Louis XIII after a final religious civil war.

The two letters patent supplementing the edict granted the Protestants safe havens (places de sûreté), which were military strongholds such as La Rochelle, in support of which the king paid 180,000 écus a year, along with a further 150 emergency forts (places de refuge), to be maintained at the Huguenots' own expense. Such an act of toleration was unusual in Western Europe, where standard practice forced subjects to follow the religion of their ruler under the application of the principle of cuius regio, eius religio.

While it granted certain privileges to Huguenots, the edict upheld Catholicism's position as the established religion of France. Protestants gained no exemption from paying the tithe and had to respect Catholic holidays and restrictions regarding marriage. The authorities limited Protestant freedom of worship to specified geographic areas. The edict dealt only with Protestant and Catholic coexistence and made no mention of Jews or Muslims, who were offered temporary asylum in France when the Marranos and Moriscos were expelled from Spain.

The original act that promulgated the edict has disappeared. The Archives Nationales in Paris preserves only the text of a shorter document modified by concessions extracted from the King by the clergy and the Parlement of Paris, which delayed ten months before finally signing and setting seals to the document in 1599. A copy of the first edict, sent for safekeeping to the Protestant Geneva, survives. The provincial parlements resisted the edict. The most recalcitrant of them was the Parlement of Rouen, which unreservedly registered the edict only in 1609.

The location of the signing is uncertain. The edict itself stated merely that it was "given at Nantes, in the month of April, in the year of Our Lord one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight". By the late 19th century the Catholic tradition cited the signing in the Maison des Tourelles, the home of the prosperous Spanish trader André Ruiz, which was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.

Revocation
The Edict remained unaltered in effect, registered by the parlements as "fundamental and irrevocable law", with the exception of the brevets, which had been granted for a period of eight years, and were renewed by Henry in 1606 and in 1611 by Marie de Médecis, who confirmed the Edict within a week of the assassination of Henry, stilling Protestant fears of another St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The subsidies had been reduced by degrees, as Henry gained more control of the nation. By the Peace of Montpellier in 1622, concluding a Huguenot revolt in Languedoc, the fortified Protestant towns were reduced to two, La Rochelle and Montauban. The brevets were entirely withdrawn in 1629, by Louis XIII, following the Siege of La Rochelle, in which Cardinal Richelieu blockaded the city for fourteen months.

During the remainder of Louis XIII's reign, and especially during the minority of Louis XIV, the implementation of the Edict varied year by year, voiced in declarations and orders, and in case decisions in the Council, fluctuating according to the tides of domestic politics and the relations of France with powers abroad.

In October 1685, Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV, renounced the Edict and declared Protestantism illegal with the Edict of Fontainebleau. This act, commonly called the 'revocation of the Edict of Nantes,' had very damaging results for France. While the wars of religion did not re-ignite, intense persecution of Protestants took place. All Protestant ministers were given two weeks to leave the country unless they converted to Catholicism and all other Protestants were prohibited from leaving the country. In spite of the prohibition, the renewed persecution – including many examples of torture – caused as many as 400,000 to flee France at risk of their lives. Most moved to Great Britain, Prussia, the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, South Africa and the new French colonies and the Thirteen Colonies in North America. Some even moved to Denmark, where the city of Fredericia, laid waste after the Swedish conquest in 1656, needed new settlers and a specific clause in the city ordinance allowed other than Lutheran-Protestants to live in the city. This exodus deprived France of many of its most skilled and industrious individuals, some of whom thenceforward aided France's rivals in the Netherlands and in England. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes also further damaged the perception of Louis XIV abroad, making the Protestant nations bordering France even more hostile to his regime. Upon the revocation of the edict, Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg issued the Edict of Potsdam, which encouraged Protestants to come to Brandenburg-Prussia.

Freedom to worship and civil rights for non-Catholics in France were not restored until the signing of the Edict of Versailles, also known as the Edict of Tolerance, by Louis XVI 102 years later, on 7 November 1787. This edict was enacted by parlement two months later, less than two years before the end of the Ancien Régime and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 would fully eliminate religious discrimination in France.

Translation of selected passages
These are the principal and most salient provisions of the edict as promulgated in Nantes, Brittany, probably on 30 April 1598:

Henri, by the grace of God king of France and of Navarre, to all to whom these presents come, greeting:

Among the infinite benefits which it has pleased God to heap upon us, the most signal and precious is his granting us the strength and ability to withstand the fearful disorders and troubles which prevailed on our advent in this kingdom. The realm was so torn by innumerable factions and sects that the most legitimate of all the parties was fewest in numbers. God has given us strength to stand out against this storm; we have finally surmounted the waves and made our port of safety,—peace for our state. For which his be the glory all in all, and ours a free recognition of his grace in making use of our instrumentality in the good work.... We implore and await from the Divine Goodness the same protection and favor which he has ever granted to this kingdom from the beginning....

We have, by this perpetual and irrevocable edict, established and proclaimed and do establish and proclaim:

I. First, that the recollection of everything done by one party or the other between March, 1585, and our accession to the crown, and during all the preceding period of troubles, remain obliterated and forgotten, as if no such things had ever happened....

III. We ordain that the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion shall be restored and reëstablished in all places and localities of this our kingdom and countries subject to our sway, where the exercise of the same has been interrupted, in order that it may be peaceably and freely exercised, without any trouble or hindrance; forbidding very expressly all persons, of whatsoever estate, quality, or condition, from troubling, molesting, or disturbing ecclesiastics in the celebration of divine service, in the enjoyment or collection of tithes, fruits, or revenues of their benefices, and all other rights and dues belonging to them; and that all those who during the troubles have taken possession of churches, houses, goods or revenues, belonging to the said ecclesiastics, shall surrender to them entire possession and peaceable enjoyment of such rights, liberties, and sureties as they had before they were deprived of them....

VI. And in order to leave no occasion for troubles or differences between our subjects, we have permitted, and herewith permit, those of the said religion called Reformed to live and abide in all the cities and places of this our kingdom and countries of our sway, without being annoyed, molested, or compelled to do anything in the matter of religion contrary to their consciences, ... upon condition that they comport themselves in other respects according to that which is contained in this our present edict.

VII. It is permitted to all lords, gentlemen, and other persons making profession of the said religion called Reformed, holding the right of high justice [or a certain feudal tenure], to exercise the said religion in their houses....

IX. We also permit those of the said religion to make and continue the exercise of the same in all villages and places of our dominion where it was established by them and publicly enjoyed several and divers times in the year 1597, up to the end of the month of August, notwithstanding all decrees and judgments to the contrary....

XIII. We very expressly forbid to all those of the said religion its exercise, either in respect to ministry, regulation, discipline, or the public instruction of children, or otherwise, in this our kingdom and lands of our dominion, otherwise than in the places permitted and granted by the present edict.

XIV. It is forbidden as well to perform any function of the said religion in our court or retinue, or in our lands and territories beyond the mountains, or in our city of Paris, or within five leagues of the said city....

XVIII. We also forbid all our subjects, of whatever quality and condition, from carrying off by force or persuasion, against the will of their parents, the children of the said religion, in order to cause them to be baptized or confirmed in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church; and the same is forbidden to those of the said religion called Reformed, upon penalty of being punished with especial severity....

XXI. Books concerning the said religion called Reformed may not be printed and publicly sold, except in cities and places where the public exercise of the said religion is permitted.

XXII. We ordain that there shall be no difference or distinction made in respect to the said religion, in receiving pupils to be instructed in universities, colleges, and schools; nor in receiving the sick and poor into hospitals, retreats, and public charities.

title: Edict of Nantes


text:
Leishmania

Leishmania is a parasitic protozoan, a single-celled organism of the genus Leishmania that is responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. They are spread by sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus in the Old World, and of the genus Lutzomyia in the New World. At least 93 sandfly species are proven or probable vectors worldwide. Their primary hosts are vertebrates; Leishmania commonly infects hyraxes, canids, rodents, and humans.

History
Members of an ancient genus of Leishmania-like parasites, Paleoleishmania, have been detected in fossilized sand flies dating back to the early Cretaceous period. The first written reference to the conspicuous symptoms of cutaneous leishmaniasis surfaced in the Paleotropics within oriental texts dating back to the 7th century BC (allegedly transcribed from sources several hundred years older, between 1500 and 2000 BC ). Due to its broad and persistent prevalence throughout antiquity as a mysterious disease of diverse symptomatic outcomes, leishmaniasis has been dubbed with various names ranging from "white leprosy" to "black fever". Some of these names suggest links to negative cultural beliefs or mythology, which still feed into the social stigmatization of leishmaniasis today.

In India, both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis are caused by Leishmania donovani. The first records of cutaneous leishmaniasis in India were from British medical officers in the early 19th century. The disease was by then known as "oriental sore" or "Delhi boil"; while the visceral form was variously called "Burdwan [after the city Burdwan] fever", "kala azar" (black fever), or "Dumdum [ a city in West Bengal] fever".

The causative parasite for the disease was identified in 1901 as a concurrent finding by William Boog Leishman and Charles Donovan. They independently visualised microscopic single-celled parasites (later called Leishman-Donovan bodies) living within the cells of infected human organs. The parasitic genus would later be classed as trypanosomatid protozoans under the phylogenetic designation, Leishmania donovani. Several species have since been classified and grouped under two major subgenera i.e. Leishmania Viannia (generally located in the Neotropics) or Leishmania Leishmania (generally located in the Paleotropics, with the major exception of the L. mexicana subgroup).

Epidemiology
Leishmania currently affects 6 million people in 98 countries. About 0.9–1.6 million new cases occur each year, and 21 species are known to cause disease in humans: it is considered a zoonosis.

Structure
Leishmania species are unicellular eukaryotes having a well-defined nucleus and other cell organelles including kinetoplasts and flagella. Depending on the stage of their life cycle, they exist in two structural variants, as:
 * 1) The amastigote form is found in the mononuclear phagocytes and circulatory systems of humans. It is an intracellular and nonmotile form, being devoid of external flagella. The short flagellum is embedded at the anterior end without projecting out. It is oval in shape, and measures 3–6 μm in length and 1–3 μm in breadth. The kinetoplast and basal body lie towards the anterior end.
 * 2) The promastigote form is found in the alimentary tract of sandflies. It is an extracellular and motile form. It is considerably larger and highly elongated, measuring 15-30 μm in length and 5 μm in width. It is spindle-shaped, tapering at both ends. A long flagellum (about the body length) is projected externally at the anterior end. The nucleus lies at the centre, and in front of it are the kinetoplast and the basal body.

Evolution
The details of the evolution of this genus are debated, but Leishmania apparently evolved from an ancestral trypanosome lineage. The oldest lineage is that of the Bodonidae, followed by Trypanosoma brucei, the latter being confined to the African continent. Trypanosoma cruzi groups with trypanosomes from bats, South American mammals, and kangaroos suggest an origin in the Southern Hemisphere. These clades are only distantly related.

The remaining clades in this tree are Blastocrithidia, Herpetomonas, and Phytomonas. The four genera Leptomonas, Crithidia, Leishmania, and Endotrypanum form the terminal branches, suggesting a relatively recent origin. Several of these genera may be polyphyletic and may need further division.

The origins of genus Leishmania itself are unclear. One theory proposes an African origin, with migration to the Americas. Another proposes migration from the Americas to the Old World via the Bering Strait land bridge around 15 million years ago. A third theory proposes a Palearctic origin. Such migrations would entail subsequent migration of vector and reservoir or successive adaptations along the way. A more recent migration is that of L. infantum from Mediterranean countries to Latin America (known as L. chagasi), since European colonization of the New World, where the parasites picked up their current New World vectors in their respective ecosystems. This is the cause of the epidemics now evident. One recent New World epidemic concerns foxhounds in the USA.

Although it was suggested that Leishmania might have evolved in the Neotropics, this is probably true for species belonging to the subgenera Viannia and Endotrypanum. However, there is evidence that the primary evolution of the subgenera Leishmania and Sauroleishmania is the Old World. While the Mundinia species appear to be more universal in their evolution. One theory is that different lineages became isolated geographically during different periods and it is this that gave rise to this evolutionary mosaicism. But there is no doubt that the Leishmaniinae are a monophyletic group.

A large data set analysis suggests that Leishmania evolved 90 to 100 million years ago in Gondwana. The reptile infecting species originated in mammalian clades.

Sauroleishmania species were originally defined on the basis that they infected reptiles (lizards) rather than mammals. Based on molecular evidences, they have been moved to subgenus status within Leishmania. This subgenus probably evolved from a group that originally infected mammals.

Taxonomy
53 species are recognised in this genus. The status of several of these is disputed, so the final number may differ. At least 20 species infect humans. To make things more complex, hybrids might be involved, as it has been reported in Brazil with a hybrid between Leishmania (V.) guyanensis and Leishmania (V.) shawi shawi.

The genus is presently divided into 4 subgenera: Leishmania, Sauroleishmania, Mundinia and Viannia. The division into the two subgenera (Leishmania and Viannia) was made by Lainson and Shaw in 1987 on the basis of their location within the insect gut. The species in the Viannia subgenus develop in the hind gut: L. (V.) braziliensis has been proposed as the type species for this subgenus. This division has been confirmed by all subsequent studies. Shaw, Camargo and Teixeira created the subgenus Mundinia while revising Leishmaniinae in 2016.

Endotrypanum is closely related to Leishmania. Some Endotypanum species are unique in that they infect the erythrocytes of their hosts (sloths). All species are confined to Central and South America. E. colombiensis infections have been found in man.

Sauroleishmania was originally described by Ranquein 1973 as a separate genus, but molecular studies suggest this is actually a subgenus rather than a separate genus.

The proposed division of the Leishmania into Euleishmania and Paraleishmania groups in 2000 emphasized the deep phylogenic distance between parasites, some of which had been named as Leishmania species. The Euleishmania included species currently placed in the subgenera Leishmania, Sauroleishmania, Mundinia and Viannia. The proposed Paraleishmania included species of Endotypanum, Leishmamnia-L. colomubensis, L. herreri, L. hertigiand L. deanei and L. equatorensis. In a recent revision these species were given different generic status. Four subgenera of Leishmania are now recognised - Leishmania, Sauroleishmania, Viannia and Mundinia (the L. enriettii complex). The genus Endotrypanum and Porcisia belong to the Paraleishmania.

There are four Mundinia species - L. (Mundinia) enriettii, L. (Mundinia) martiniquensis, L. (Mundinia) macropodum, and L. (Mundinia) orientalis, which is found in Thailand.

L. archibaldi's specific status is unsettled but it is closely related to L. donovani. L. herreri belongs to the genus Endotypanum rather than to Leishmania.

L. donovani and L. infantum are closely related.

Classification
Subgenus Leishmania Ross, 1903 sensu Saf'janova, 1982
 * Leishmania aethiopica Bray, Ashford & Bray, 1973
 * Leishmania amazonensis Lainson & Shaw, 1972 (includes garnhami Scorza et al., 1979)
 * Leishmania arabica Peters, Elbihari & Evans, 1986
 * Leishmania aristidesi Lainson & Shaw, 1979
 * Leishmania donovani(Laveran & Mesnil, 1903)
 * Leishmania forattiniiYoshida, Cuba, Pacheco, Cupolillo, Tavares, Machado, Homen & Grimaldi, 1993
 * Leishmania gerbilliWang, Qu & Guan, 1964
 * Leishmania infantum Nicolle, 1908 (subspecies chagasi Cunha & Chagas, 1937)
 * Leishmania killicki Rioux, Lamotte & Pratlong, 1986
 * Leishmania major Yakimoff & Schokhor, 1914
 * Leishmania mexicana Biagi, 1953
 * Leishmania pifanoi Medina & Romero, 1959
 * Leishmania tropica (Wright, 1903)
 * Leishmania turanica Strelkova, Shurkhal, Kellina, Eliseev, Evans, Peters, Chapman, Le Blancq & van Eys, 1990
 * Leishmania venezeulensis Bonfante-Garrido, 1980
 * Leishmania waltoni Shaw, Pratlong & Dedet 2015

Subgenus Mundinia Shaw,Camargo and Teixeira 2016
 * Leishmania enriettii Muniz & Medina, 1948
 * Leishmania macropodum Barratt, Kaufer, Peters, Craig, Lawrence, Roberts, Lee, McAuliffe, Stark, Ellis, 2017
 * Leishmania martiniquensis Desbois, Pratlong, Quist and Dedet,2014
 * Leishmania orientalisJariyapan, Daroontum, Jaiwong, Chanmol,.Intakhan, Sor-Suwan, Siriyasatien, Somboon, Bates, Bates, 2018

Subgenus Sauroleishmania Ranque, 1973 sensu Saf'janova, 1982 ↑ Species described as Sauroleishmania. Their development is not like other members of the subgenus and so their taxonomic position is doubtful.
 * Leishmania adleri Heisch, 1958
 * Leishmania agamae David, 1929
 * Leishmania ceramodactyli Adler & Theodor, 1929
 * Leishmania gulikae Ovezmukhammedov & Saf'janova, 1987
 * Leishmania gymnodactyli † Khodukin & Sofiev, 1940
 * Leishmania helioscopi † Chodukin & Sofiev, 1940
 * Leishmania hemidactyli Mackie, Gupta & Swaminath, 1923
 * Leishmania hoogstraali McMillan, 1965
 * Leishmania nicollei Chodukin & Sofieff, 1940
 * Leishmania platycephala Telford, 2009
 * Leishmania phrynocephali Chodukin & Sofieff, 1940
 * Leishmania senegalensis Ranque, 1973
 * Leishmania sofieffi ↑ Markov, Lukina & Markova, 1964
 * Leishmania tarentolae Wenyon, 1921
 * Leishmania zmeevi ↑ Andruchko & Markov 1955
 * Leishmania zuckermani Paperna, Boulard, Hering-Hagenbeck & Landau, 2001

Subgenus Viannia Lainson & Shaw 1987
 * Leishmania braziliensis Vianna, 1911
 * Leishmania guyanensis Floch, 1954
 * Leishmania lainsoni Silveira, Shaw, Braga & Ishikawa, 1987
 * Leishmania lindenbergi Silveira, Ishikawa, De Souza & Lainson, 2002
 * Leishmania naiffi Lainson & Shaw, 1989
 * Leishmania panamensis Lainson & Shaw, 1972
 * Leishmania peruviana Velez, 1913
 * Leishmania shawi Lainson, Braga & de Souza, 1989
 * Leishmania utingensis Braga, Lainson, Ishikawa & Shaw 2003

Related genera
The relationships between Leishmania and other genera such as Endotrypanum, Novymonas, Porcisia, and Zelonia is presently unclear as they are closely related. Endotrypanum colombiensis, ofter known as Leishmania colombiensis, has been associated with both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Venezuela.

Genus Endotrypanum
 * Endotrypanum colombiensis Kreutzer, Corredor, Grimaldi, Grogl, Rowton, Young, Morales, McMahon-Pratt, Guzman & Tesh, 1991
 * Endotrypanum equatorensis Grimaldi, Kreutzer, Hashiguchi, Gomet, Mimory & Tesh, 1992
 * Endotrypanum herreri Zeledon, Ponce & Murillo, 1979
 * Endotrypanum monterogeii Shaw, 1969
 * Endotrypanum schaudinni Mesnil and Brimont, 1908

Genus Novymonas Kostygov and Yurchenko 2016
 * Novymonas esmeraldas Votýpka, Kostygov, Maslov and Lukeš, 2016

Genus Porcisia Shaw, Camargo and Teixeira, 2016
 * Porcisia deanei Lainson & Shaw, 1977
 * Porcisia hertigi Herrer, 1971

Genus Zelonia Shaw, Camargo and Teixeira, 2016
 * Zelonia australiensis Barratt, Kaufer, Peters, Craig, Lawrence, Roberts, Lee, McAuliffe, Stark, Ellis, 2017
 * Zelonia costaricensis Yurchenko, Lukes, Jirku, Zeledon, Maslov, 2006

Biochemistry and cell biology
The biochemistry and cell biology of Leishmania is similar to that of other kinetoplastids. They share the same main morphological features: a single flagellum which has an invagination - the flagellar pocket - at its base; a kinetoplast, which is found in the single mitochondrion; and a subpelicular array of microtubules, which make up the main part of the cytoskeleton.

Lipophosphoglycan coat
Leishmania possesses a lipophosphoglycan coat over the outside of the cell. Lipophosphoglycan is a trigger for toll-like receptor 2, a signalling receptor involved in triggering an innate immune response in mammals.

The precise structure of lipophosphoglycan varies depending on the species and lifecycle stage of the parasite. The glycan component is particularly variable and different lipophosphoglycan variants can be used as a molecular marker for different lifecycle stages. Lectins, a group of proteins which bind different glycans, are often used to detect these lipophosphoglycan variants. For example, peanut agglutinin binds a particular lipophosphoglycan found on the surface of the infective form of L. major.

Lipophosphoglycan is used by the parasite to promote its survival in the host and the mechanisms by which the parasite does this center around modulating the immune response of the host. This is vital, as the Leishmania parasites live within macrophages and need to prevent the macrophages from killing them. Lipophosphoglycan has a role in resisting the complement system, inhibiting the oxidative burst response, inducing an inflammation response and preventing natural killer T cells recognising that the macrophage is infected with the Leishmania parasite.

Intracellular mechanism of infection
In order to avoid destruction by the immune system and thrive, the Leishmania 'hides' inside its host's cells. This location enables it to avoid the action of the humoral immune response (because the pathogen is safely inside a cell and outside the open bloodstream), and furthermore it may prevent the immune system from destroying its host through nondanger surface signals which discourage apoptosis. The primary cell types Leishmania infiltrates are phagocytotic cells such as neutrophils and macrophages.

Usually, a phagocytotic immune cell like a macrophage will ingest a pathogen within an enclosed endosome and then fill this endosome with enzymes which digest the pathogen. However, in the case of Leishmania, these enzymes have no effect, allowing the parasite to multiply rapidly. This uninhibited growth of parasites eventually overwhelms the host macrophage or other immune cell, causing it to die.

Transmitted by the sandfly, the protozoan parasites of L. major may switch the strategy of the first immune defense from eating/inflammation/killing to eating/no inflammation/no killing of their host phagocyte and corrupt it for their own benefit. They use the willingly phagocytosing polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocytes (PMNs) rigorously as a tricky hideout, where they proliferate unrecognized from the immune system and enter the long-lived macrophages to establish a "hidden" infection.

Uptake and survival

Upon microbial infection, PMNs move out from the bloodstream through the vessels' endothelial layer, to the site of the infected tissue (dermal tissue after fly bite). They immediately initiate the first immune response and phagocytize the invader by recognition of foreign and activating surfaces on the parasite. Activated PMN secrete chemokines, IL-8 particularly, to attract further granulocytes and stimulate phagocytosis. Further, L. major increases the secretion of IL-8 by PMNs. This mechanism is observed during infection with other obligate intracellular parasites, as well. For microbes like these, multiple intracellular survival mechanisms exist. Surprisingly, the coinjection of apoptotic and viable pathogens causes by far a more fulminate course of disease than injection of only viable parasites. When the anti-inflammatory signal phosphatidylserine usually found on apoptotic cells, is exposed on the surface of dead parasites, L. major switches off the oxidative burst, thereby preventing killing and degradation of the viable pathogen.

In the case of Leishmania, progeny are not generated in PMNs, but in this way they can survive and persist untangled in the primary site of infection. The promastigote forms also release Leishmania chemotactic factor (LCF) to actively recruit neutrophils, but not other leukocytes, for instance monocytes or NK cells. In addition to that, the production of interferon gamma (IFNγ)-inducible protein 10 (IP10) by PMNs is blocked in attendance of Leishmania, what involves the shut down of inflammatory and protective immune response by NK and Th1 cell recruitment. The pathogens stay viable during phagocytosis since their primary hosts, the PMNs, expose apoptotic cell-associated molecular pattern (ACAMP) signaling "no pathogen".

Persistency and attraction
The lifespan of neutrophil granulocytes is quite short. They circulate in bloodstream for about 6 to 10 hours after leaving bone marrow, whereupon they undergo spontaneous apoptosis. Microbial pathogens have been reported to influence cellular apoptosis by different strategies. Obviously because of the inhibition of caspase3-activation, L. major can induce the delay of neutrophils apoptosis and extend their lifespan for at least 2–3 days. The fact of extended lifespan is very beneficial for the development of infection because the final host cells for these parasites are macrophages, which normally migrate to the sites of infection within two or three days. The pathogens are not dronish; instead they take over the command at the primary site of infection. They induce the production by PMNs of the chemokines MIP-1α and MIP-1β (macrophage inflammatory protein) to recruit macrophages.

An important factor in prolonging infection is the inhibition of the adaptive immune system. This occurs especially during the intercellular phases, when amastigotes search for new macrophages to infect and are more susceptible to immune responses. Nearly all types of phagocytes are targeted. For example, mincle has been shown to be targeted by L. major. Interaction between mincle and a protein released by the parasite results in a weakened immune response in dendritic cells.

Silent phagocytosis theory
To save the integrity of the surrounding tissue from the toxic cell components and proteolytic enzymes contained in neutrophils, the apoptotic PMNs are silently cleared by macrophages. Dying PMNs expose the "eat me"-signal phosphatidylserine which is transferred to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane during apoptosis. By reason of delayed apoptosis, the parasites that persist in PMNs are taken up into macrophages, employing an absolutely physiological and nonphlogistic process. The strategy of this "silent phagocytosis" has the following advantages for the parasite:

 * Taking up apoptotic cells silences macrophage killing activity leading to a survival of the pathogens.
 * Pathogens inside of PMNs have no direct contact to the macrophage surface receptors, because they can not see the parasite inside the apoptotic cell. So, the activation of the phagocyte for immune activation does not occur.

However, studies have shown this is unlikely, as the pathogens are seen to leave apoptopic cells and no evidence is known of macrophage uptake by this method.

Molecular biology
An important aspect of the Leishmania protozoan is its glycoconjugate layer of lipophosphoglycan (LPG). This is held together with a phosphoinositide membrane anchor, and has a tripartite structure consisting of a lipid domain, a neutral hexasaccharide, and a phosphorylated galactose-mannose, with a termination in a neutral cap. Not only do these parasites develop postphlebotomus digestion, but it is also thought to be essential to oxidative bursts, thus allowing passage for infection. Characteristics of intracellular digestion include an endosome fusing with a lysosome, releasing acid hydrolases which degrade DNA, RNA, proteins and carbohydrates.

Genomics

The genomes of four Leishmania species (L. major, L. infantum, L. donovani and L. braziliensis) have been sequenced, revealing more than 8300 protein-coding and 900 RNA genes. Almost 40% of protein-coding genes fall into 662 families containing between two and 500 members. Most of the smaller gene families are tandem arrays of one to three genes, while the larger gene families are often dispersed in tandem arrays at different loci throughout the genome. Each of the 35 or 36 chromosomes is organized into a small number of gene clusters of tens-to-hundreds of genes on the same DNA strand. These clusters can be organized in head-to-head (divergent) or tail-to-tail (convergent) fashion, with the latter often separated by tRNA, rRNA and/or snRNA genes. Transcription of protein-coding genes initiates bidirectionally in the divergent strand-switch regions between gene clusters and extends polycistronically through each gene cluster before terminating in the strand-switch region separating convergent clusters. Leishmania telomeres are usually relatively small, consisting of a few different types of repeat sequence. Evidence can be found for recombination between several different groups of telomeres. The L. major and L. infantum genomes contain only about 50 copies of inactive degenerated Ingi/L1Tc-related elements (DIREs), while L. braziliensis also contains several telomere-associated transposable elements and spliced leader-associated retroelements. The Leishmania genomes share a conserved core proteome of about 6200 genes with the related trypanosomatids Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi, but around 1000 Leishmania-specific genes are known, which are mostly randomly distributed throughout the genome. Relatively few (about 200) species-specific differences in gene content exist between the three sequenced Leishmania genomes, but about 8% of the genes appear to be evolving at different rates between the three species, indicative of different selective pressures that could be related to disease pathology. About 65% of protein-coding genes currently lack functional assignment.

Leishmania species produce several different heat shock proteins. These include Hsp83, a homolog of Hsp90. A regulatory element in the 3' UTR of Hsp83 controls translation of Hsp83 in a temperature-sensitive manner. This region forms a stable RNA structure which melts at higher temperatures.

Genomic instability
Leishmania lacks of promoter-dependent regulation, so its genomic regulation is at post-transcriptional level through copy number variations (CNV) of transcripts, a mechanism capable of controlling the abundance of these transcripts according to the situation in which the organism finds itself. These processes cause a great susceptibility to genomic instability in the parasite. This involves epistatic interactions between genes, which drive these changes in gene expression, leading to compensatory mechanisms in the Leishmania genome that result in the adaptive evolution of the parasite. During the research carried out by Giovanni Bussotti and collaborators at the Pasteur Institute, belonging to the University of Paris, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of Leishmania donovani identified CNVs in 14% of the coding regions and in 4% of the non-coding regions. In addition, an experimental evolution study (EE Approach) was performed on L. donovani amastigotes obtained from clinical cases of hamsters. By extracting these amastigotes from infected organisms and culturing them in vitro for 36 weeks (3800 generations), it was demonstrated how genomic instability in this parasite is capable of adapting to complicated situations, such as in vitro culture. An 11kb deletion was detected in the gene coding for Ld1S_360735700, a NIMA-related kinase with key functions in the correct progression of mitosis. With the advancement of in vitro culture generations the loss of the kinase becomes more notorious, decreasing growth rate of the parasite, but the genomic instability of Leishmania manages, through compensatory mechanisms, to attenuate this reduction in growth so that the in vitro culture is maintained. First, as an adaptation of the culture to the loss of this kinase, it was detected an increase in the expression of another orthologous kinase (Ld1S_360735800) whose coding region is adjacent to that of the lost kinase. Secondly, a reduction in the expression of 23 transcripts related to flagellar biogenesis was observed. So adaptation in Leishmania leads the parasite to eliminate flagellar movement from its needs, since it is not necessary in in vitro culture, preserving the energy invested in this movement to increase the growth rate and compensating the loss of the kinase. Finally, coamplification of ribosomal protein clusters, ribosomal RNA (rRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA) and nucleolar small RNA (snoRNA) was observed. Increased expression of these clusters leads to increased ribosomal biogenesis and protein biosynthesis. This is most evident in the case of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNA), for which amplification of a large cluster of 15 snoRNAs was observed on chromosome 33. The function of these nucleic acids is methylation and inclusion of pseuouridine in ribosomes. In this case, an increase in these modifications was observed in the large subunits of the ribosomes of individuals in culture, specifically in the PTC (peptidyl transferase center) and in the mRNA entry tunnel to the ribosome for protein synthesis. These changes lead to an increase in ribosomal biogenesis, resulting in increased protein synthesis and growth rate. In conclusion, the loss of the kinase is compensated by the genomic instability of Leishmania donovani by increasing the expression of another orthologous kinase, decreasing flagellar biogenesis and increasing ribosomal biogenesis. These compensations result in the growth rate of the culture being as less affected as possible by the initial loss of the kinase, and the parasite is perfectly adapted to the in vitro culture, which is not its natural habitat.

Sexual reproduction
A microbial pathogen's reproductive system is one of the basic biologic processes that condition the microorganism's ecology and disease spread. In 2009 Akopyants et al. demonstrated that L. major has a sexual cycle, including a meiotic process. Hybrid progeny are formed that have full genomic complements from both parents. Mating only occurs in the sand fly vector, and hybrids can be transmitted to the mammalian host by sand fly bite. In L. braziliensis matings in nature are predominantly between related individuals resulting in extreme inbreeding. The rate of outcrossing between different strains of Leishmania in the sand fly vector depends on the frequency of co-infection. Such outcrossing events appear to be rare in L. major and L. donovani.

L. infantum produces proteins BRCA1 and RAD51 that interact with each other to promote homologous recombinational repair. These proteins play a key role in meiosis. Thus, meiotic events provide the adaptive advantage of efficient recombinational repair of DNA damages even when they do not lead to outcrossing

title: Leishmania