“Afghanistan was among the original 48 nations to vote for the [Universal] Declaration [of Human Rights] on 10 December 1948 at the UN General Assembly meeting in Paris” and Afghanistan is a state party to seven core international human rights documents. Afghanistan has also ratified the Option Protocol of the Convention against Torture and both Optional Protocols for the Convention of Child Rights. “Afghanistan deposited its instrument of accession to the Rome Statute on 10 February 2003” which authorizes the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the international crimes committed in Afghanistan territory. With the brief information provided, it can be claimed that the Taliban’s extreme interpretation is not the commonly accepted way of life in Afghanistan. Several decades of conflict have made Afghanistan a country with ups and downs blurring its relationship with the international community. The Taliban takeover on August 15th 2021 is an extreme example of the situation. The de-facto authorities are not only categorically opposing all universal human rights values but also violating the fundamental rights of Afghanistan citizens. The current dire human rights situation is not easy to explain.
The human rights situation remains grave and complex. The human rights defenders are imprisoned and even their actions are compared to the armed activities, dozens of women protesters are imprisoned. A shocking report from Kabul Now shows that women in Taliban prisons are tortured, ill-treated and sexually assaulted. Women’s fundamental rights such as education, work, and free movements remain unclear. The minorities and all groups other than the Taliban remain marginalized and prosecuted in cases. The former military personnel who fought against terrorism with the international community shoulder by shoulder have remained with no support and are facing threats, imprisonment, extra-judicial killing, torture and enforced disappearances. The poverty has increased in millions and the ordinary life of people have been disrupted.
In the vacuum of national human rights institutions such as the human rights commission, special courts, civil society, and free media the perspective of justice or accountability remains a challenge nationally and internationally. Currently, existing mechanisms on Afghanistan are:
Special Rapporteur (SR):
Through a Human Rights Council resolution 48/1 the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan was adopted. In April 2022 Mr. Richard Bennett was appointed as the Special Rapporteur of the mandate. His mandate authorizes him to:
- “report on the developing situation of human rights, and to make recommendations to improve it;
- assist in fulfilling the human rights obligations arising from international treaties that Afghanistan has ratified;
- offer support and advice to civil society; to seek, receive, examine and act on information from all relevant stakeholders pertaining to the situation of human rights in Afghanistan;
- document and preserve information relating to human rights violations and abuses;
- Integrate a gender perspective, a child’s right perspective and a survive a survivor-centered approach throughout the work of the mandate;
- Report to the Human Rights Council and to the General Assembly”.
SR mandate comes with broad authority and has produced thoughtful reports on Afghanistan human rights situation. From the interviews with Afghan HRDs it is concluded that the mandate has limited resources and the situation on the ground is grave. Thus, the SR mandate can be strengthened with another independent mechanism to work in coordination and complement the gap and follow-up on the violations through international mechanisms.
International Criminal Court (ICC):
is a permanent court to investigate international crimes, namely for genocide, war crimes, crime against humanity and crime of aggression. ICC is complementary to national courts not replacing them and would act when the state institutions are not willing or not able to investigate international crimes. The ICC may resume an investigation into Afghanistan, which is a hope for breaking the vicious cycle of violence. ICC investigation will cover the international crimes committed since May 2003 by all parties (International forces, Afghan Republicans, Taliban and ISKP).
Since ICC has no executive force such as police it will mainly rely on its state members which in Afghanistan’s case the Taliban would not cooperate. Another concern would be the amount of resources allocated and the broad scope of the investigation mainly in the case of Afghanistan, a complex conflict.
UNAMA: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is a political mission established by the UN Security Council to support the Afghan government and promote human rights and the rule of law in the country. UNAMA has the mandate to work closely with Afghan government institutions, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to monitor and report on human rights violations, provide technical assistance on human rights issues, and advocate for accountability and justice.
Since August 2021, UNAMA has been facing numerous challenges to implement its mandate though it still remains the only window of engagement with the international community. On April 4th 2023, the Taliban barred UN female employees from going to the office. UNAMA asked all its employees not to come to the offices and only report from home. UNAMA also warned that they cannot carry out their life-saving activities without their women colleagues. At the moment UNAMA and the de facto authorities are at the breaking point where the international community assistance would become a deadlock.
Within the UN system including human rights council there are couple of other mechanisms which Afghanistan can benefit as a member state. I as a human rights defender with more than a decade of experience for promoting and protecting human rights values wants to express that there are no public confidence on de facto authorities. Since the crisis in Afghanistan is so deep, it requires a proper attention from the international community mainly from the institutions that has taken the responsibility and have defined their global human rights mandates.
In order to break the vicious circle of violence the Human Rights Council should consider a mechanism which has the capacity and resources to monitor, document, preserve and follow-up on human rights violations. In the meanwhile in the mechanism that will be created the component of supporting women groups and protecting women from prosecution, and building the capacity of Afghan women are most important matters.
UN Security Council among others is responsible “to maintain international peace and security”. At the moment in Afghanistan majority of the population mainly women and girls and minority groups are under threat and their fundamental rights are violated broadly. In the meanwhile, there are several reports confirming other terrorist groups are reinforcing and preparing for bigger attacks in the region and broader. This authorizes the UN Security Council to consider the case as a security issue.
Finally a joint international task force on Afghanistan that would coordinate the efforts on Afghanistan would be very helpful. The main criteria for engagement with the de facto authorities are accepting human rights values.
Afghanistan’s neighboring countries and the Islamic world have a historical mission about the people of Afghanistan. They can join hands from respecting basic rights of Afghan refugees in their countries to contributing towards a future that everyone’s safety is guaranteed and are able enjoy their fundamental rights.
