Coinciding with December 10, International Human Rights Day, the UN announced that if Afghans, especially women and girls, continue to be denied their rights, it will demonstrate the Taliban's deliberate and blatant irresponsibility for the welfare of the Afghan people.
UNAMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, called on the Taliban in a statement on Tuesday, December 10, to accept their human rights commitments as a way to protect and promote the well-being of the Afghan people.
The organisation emphasised that human rights are a path to achieving solutions and play a preventive, protective and transformative role for the benefit of all.
“Unfortunately, we are witnessing the opposite trend in Afghanistan,” said UNAMA head Roza Otunbayeva.
Otunbayeva added that despite the improvement in the security situation and the reduction in armed violence in Afghanistan, measures to support and protect human rights are still being steadily and "dangerously" eroded.
She added that Afghan women and girls suffer the most from this area.
The UNAMA chief emphasised that the Taliban's human rights record highlights the regime's discrimination against women and girls.
"With power comes responsibility. The Taliban's claim to legitimately represent the Afghan people at the United Nations must be accompanied by genuine efforts to uphold and advance our shared values and norms," she said.
Meanwhile, Fiona Frazier, the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan, said that human rights documents were created as a tool to help communities around the world build a better future.
The UN official added that if Afghans, especially women and girls, continue to be denied their rights, it will be due to the Taliban's blatant and deliberate irresponsibility for the welfare of the Afghan people.
