Human rights at risk in Afghanistan

By: Mirwais jalalzai

Afghanistan’s human rights situation remains poor, with deterioration in some areas, and growing concerns for the future, especially about rights of women and girls, human rights activists said.

Reports say, the Afghan government continued to allow warlords involved in human rights abuse and corrupt officials to operate with impunity. The rights of women and girls, which improved significantly after 2001, suffered rollbacks in 2014 due to security deterioration in several parts of the country, reports said.

Taliban and other insurgent forces continued to commit unlawful attacks targeting civilians and failing to discriminate between civilians and combatants.

“The future of human rights protection in Afghanistan is in grave doubt,” said Brad Adams human rights watch activist in the Asia. “Corruption, little rule of law, poor governance, and abusive policies and practices deprive the country’s most vulnerable citizens of their rights.”

By the end of this year, US-led foreign military forces will withdraw a huge number of their combat force from the country. Growing international fatigue with Afghanistan has reduced political pressure on the government to protect and promote rights, he said. Despite pledges of goodwill and support, international commitments to defending basic rights in Afghanistan have shrunk and are backed by less political pressure.

Cuts in international aid were already leading to closure of schools and health clinics.

Afghanistan’s justice system remained a potent threat to the rights of Afghanistan’s women.

As of spring 2014, dozens of women and girls were in prison and juvenile detention for the “moral crimes” of running away from home or sex outside marriage.

Large areas of Afghanistan still rely on traditional justice mechanisms that can subject women to gross brutality.

Although women have attained some leadership roles in the Afghan government and civil society since 2001, including as judges and members of parliament, Afghan women and girls continued to face everyday abuses. Many have been specifically targeted by the Taliban and other insurgent forces in provinces. “Afghanistan needs donors who will support women’s rights as a long-term priority,” Adams said. The Taliban and other insurgent forces continue to commit human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war. Warlordism and its attendant rights abuses remained one of the country’s most serious problems. The government has failed to prosecute high-level officials for corruption, criminal offenses and other abuses, while the 2005 Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice remains unimplemented.

The Afghan government should adopt strong measures to protect women’s rights in advance of the deadline at the end of 2014 for withdrawal of international combat forces.