Amnesty International called on Permanent representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council to support a strong resolution on the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Citing that 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 rights body said that despite such crimes, there is no independent and impartial national human rights monitoring body in place in the country
Amnesty urged for a need for investigations into violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Afghanistan and establishment of an independent accountability mechanism with a mandate to comprehensively investigate and document crimes under international law and serious human rights violations and abuses committed in Afghanistan. It also requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to enhance its monitoring of the human rights situation in Afghanistan and report on a regular basis.
“The Taliban have been grossly and systematically violating women`s rights since their takeover on 15 August 2021. 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. Now, women facing different forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence and increased instances of early and forced marriages are left without avenues to seek shelter and redress,” the letter stated.
Amnesty International also said that the Taliban takeover has led to increasing attacks and marginalisation of minority groups in particular Shia/Hazara, Hindu and Sikh, and ethnic groups who have little or no presence in their de facto structure according to various reports. It cited at least 11 attacks against the Shia/Hazaras after the Taliban takeover by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (IS-KP).
The report also touched upon the forced eviction of ethnic Hazaras/Shia and Tajiks; disappearances, detentions and killings of former security personnel and government officials; arbitrary arrests of critical voices, such as journalists, human rights defenders, women activists and protestors.
Amnesty International added that 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, which has been exacerbated by the increasing drought and flash floods due to climate change.
Apart from this, Amnesty also sought support for 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 and asked them to develop a set of benchmarks or indicators on immediate measures that should be adopted by all actors (including the Taliban, UN member states, regional and international organisation, as well as international financial institutions) towards addressing human rights concerns.
