Mr. President,
Since the last review, the human rights situation in Afghanistan – particularly the situation facing women and girls and marginalized groups – has deteriorated dramatically.
Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed ever-more extreme restrictions on women and girls’ rights, which now affect every aspect of their lives. They have been barred from post-primary education and many forms of employment. They have recently been banned from singing, reading aloud, and speaking in public. The removal of these suffocating restrictions should be a top priority for the international community.
Taliban forces continue to summarily execute and forcibly disappear former government employees, especially security officers.
Afghanistan’s ethnic and religious minorities face significant risks of persecution and discrimination. The recent killing of 14 Hazara men by the ISKP armed group in Daikundi province underscores the urgent need for protection of all at-risk communities in Afghanistan, including Hazaras and other Shia Muslims.
Journalists, human rights defenders, and activists face harassment, arbitrary detention, and violence. They should be free to work without fear of persecution.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis, compounded by economic collapse and the Taliban’s ban on women aid workers, has led to widespread poverty and food insecurity.
As they have ramped-up egregious human rights violations, the Taliban have further eroded access to justice and rule of law. This has further entrenched long-standing impunity for grave abuses, and the denial of “generations of Afghans [of their right to] truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.”[1]
More robust action is needed to reverse this situation. The Human Rights Council should use all the tools in its toolkit, and, among other measures, establish a comprehensive international accountability mechanism on Afghanistan, as recommended by 90 Afghan and international rights groups.
Thank you.
[1] OHCHR, The human rights situation in Afghanistan, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, 3 September 2024, (UN Doc. A/HRC/57/22), para 58.
