Following the reactions to human rights violations in Afghanistan, Amnesty International requested in a letter to the Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council that a resolution be issued in support of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
“We are writing to call on you to support a strong resolution on the human rights situation in Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan is extremely worrying as the country faces an increasingly intertwined spate of crimes under international law, gross human rights violations and a deteriorating humanitarian crisis. The Taliban have been grossly and systematically violating women`s rights since their takeover on 15 August 2021,” the letter reads.
“In the meanwhile, we ask the UN Human Rights Council to establish an impartial, independent international mechanism to address the severe violations of human rights in Afghanistan. With the Taliban’s arrival, we can clearly see that internal monitoring systems have been destroyed,” said Amnesty International researcher Zaman Sultani.
According to the letter, violence against women has increased due to the closing of human rights support institutions.
“They have imposed a ban on girls beyond grade six from attending schools and dismantled institutions such as Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and other structures that were addressing women’s human rights,” the letter reads.
“We ask the international community, human rights organizations, and women’s rights advocates to pay attention to the women of Afghanistan; human rights organizations in Afghanistan should be active and put pressure on the current government,” said Laila Basim, a women’s rights defender.
Amnesty International added in the letter that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has been worsening due to cuts in international development assistance and the freezing of Afghan assets.
“The humanitarian situation has been worsening due to cuts in international development assistance, freezes of Afghanistan assets, challenges in transferring humanitarian aid and severance from international market because of sanctions. This situation is exacerbated by the increasing drought and flash floods due to climate change. The number of internally displaced people due to conflict and climate changes remained high and forced return of Afghan refugees from other countries in the region continued unabated,” the letter further stated.
Amnesty International asked the United Nations to support the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the cases of human rights violations in Afghanistan.
“Support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and enhance the Special Rapporteur’s capacity to ‘seek, receive, examine and act on’ human rights information as mandated by UN Human Rights Council resolution 48/1. To this end, adequate additional resources, should be provided to the Special Rapporteur,” the letter reads.
“Women in Afghanistan are facing numerous challenges, schools are closed, those women who were working are staying at home, and on top of all these problems, protest avenues are closed to all women; women are detained, are suppressed, and are imprisoned,” said Navida Khorasani, women’s rights activist.
However, the Islamic Emirate said that these claims regarding the human rights violations in Afghanistan are not true.
“This has a propaganda aspect, and since the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, the rights of citizens have been protected within the framework of Islamic principles, and the fact is that prior to the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, the rights of our sisters were violated,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.
Previously, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the 50th Session of the Human Rights Council, said the people of Afghanistan are experiencing some of the “darkest moments of a generation.”
“The people of Afghanistan are experiencing some of the darkest moments of a generation. In the wake of years of conflict, and since the takeover by the Taliban in August last year, the country has been plunged into a deep economic, social, humanitarian and human rights crisis,” she said.
