Human rights in Afghanistan are in a state of collapse,UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk

“The shocking level of oppression of Afghan women and girls is immeasurably cruel. Afghanistan has set a devastating precedent as the only country in the world where women and girls are denied access to secondary and higher education. Restrictions are becoming increasingly severe, quelling women and girls’ fundamental freedoms, effectively confining them to the four walls of their homes to invisibility,” Türk said.

The country has also plunged into a grave humanitarian and economic crisis, with two thirds of the population now in need of assistance. The current drought also is severely affecting livelihoods and communities.

The report before the Council shows the stripping back of institutional protections of human rights at all levels in Afghanistan, the High Commissioner said, adding the Council is by now familiar with the long list of misogynistic restrictions and edicts.  An ongoing ban on secondary and higher education. A requirement to wear the hijab in public places, with punishments extending to male relatives if they do not comply.

“No parks, gyms, or public baths. No beauty salons. No travelling more than 78km without a mahram, or male chaperone. No working for domestic or international NGOs, and now, the United Nations. This last ban flies in the face of the UN Charter and its fundamental principle of equality, compromising both human rights and the humanitarian response. Women and girls deemed non-compliant with this litany of rules face arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment and even physical violence, as do their male relatives,” said the High Commissioner.

In recent weeks, the de facto authorities prevented a group of female students from travelling to Dubai for their studies because they were not all accompanied by mahrams.

“Any prospect of a stable, prosperous future for Afghanistan rests on the participation of half of the population. Denying women and girls’ rights to participate in daily and public life not only denies them their human rights, it denies Afghanistan the benefit of the contributions they have to offer,” he said.

The High Commissioner described that over the past two years, there has been a systematic erosion of the laws and institutions that once provided some protection for human rights.  The Constitution has been suspended, and laws are now made by edicts rather than through consultative processes.  Laws that once provided a framework for the protection of women from violence, or an enabling environment for media, have been suspended. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which once played a vital role, is no more.

Corporal punishments and public executions have resumed and there are ongoing reports of extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment and arbitrary arrests and detentions, he added.

Numerous media outlets have been forced to halt operations. Civil society faces similar constraints and as a result has been largely stifled. The de facto authorities have also employed arbitrary arrests and detentions and at times excessive force as a tool for silencing dissent and free speech.

“Today’s media environment is one where journalists are forbidden to publish content deemed contrary to their religious interpretation. Where women journalists must cover their faces while broadcasting. And where the screening of films or soap operas that feature women actors are banned, as are foreign films deemed contrary to Afghan or their interpretation of Islamic values,” Türk said.

The High Commissioner urged States with influence over the de facto authorities to help them reverse this trajectory, which is fatal not only for human rights, but for the future development and security of the country.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact: 

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or 

Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or 

Jeremy Laurence +  +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or

Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org

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