The United Nations Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights situation in Afghanistan in “Afghanistan Review – 46th Session of Universal Periodic Review” on Monday.
During the session, Afghanistan’s representative to the Human Rights Council presented a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, calling any engagement with the Islamic Emirate conditional based on adherence to human rights.
Representatives from over 70 countries attended the session, which addressed issues such as education, human rights, security, and the establishment of an inclusive government.
Nasir Ahmad Andisha, the acting Representative of Afghanistan to the Human Rights Council, stated: “It must be ensured that any dialogue and engagement with the Taliban is contingent and centered around respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Afghanistan. Engagement should be seen as a means to the restoration of the political settlement.”
Nasir Ahmad Faiq, chargé d’affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN, said: “In the absence of a constitution and a codified judicial system, especially for women, the Taliban have resumed practices of public executions and physical punishments. These acts are carried out without fair trials or legal representation.”
In the session, representatives from the US, UK, France, Japan, Turkey, and several other countries expressed concerns about what they perceive as restrictions on education and employment for women, detentions, torture of civil activists, security threats, and the absence of an inclusive government in Afghanistan under Islamic Emirate rule.
Michèle Taylor, the Permanent Representative of the USA in Geneva, said: “We remain deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan. We recommend that all relevant political actors and stakeholders in Afghanistan, including the Taliban: 1. Immediately reverse all discriminatory edicts, particularly those that prohibit women and girls’ access to education and employment and ban their presence in public spaces.”
The representative from Turkey stated, “Turkey recommends Afghanistan fully respect fundamental rights, and particularly to lift the restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment, and to allow their participation in public and political affairs.”
The representative from Russia, while expressing concern for the situation of women in Afghanistan, also blamed the West for the current situation.
The Russian representative said: “The current government is in a dire situation and lacks the necessary resources for its functioning, and it should be understood that the current situation in Afghanistan is the result of selfish actions by Western countries.”
The representative from Japan added, ‘Although Japan acknowledges some improvements in the economic and security fields in Afghanistan, there has been very little progress in the area of human rights, especially for women and girls.”
However, some officials of the Islamic Emirate in a meeting in Kabul regarding women’s rights claim that, including women, the rights of all are secured in the country, and America and other countries should not interfere.
“45 countries were here; what rights did they give to our sisters? They know nothing but unveiling. They raise these issues to create negative propaganda,” said Khaled Hanafi, acting Minister of Vice and Virtue. This is the fourth review of the human rights situation in Afghanistan, with the first assessment in 2009, the second in 2014, and the third in 2019.—Tolonews
