The United Nations Office at Geneva
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HRC57 Afghanistan Continuity 09SEP2024
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19:13
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MP4
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1.2 GB
Speakers are:
- Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Richard Bennett, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan
- Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Pls, see attached PDF Documents for the statements of:
- Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the 57th session of the Human Rights Council
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan with:
- Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Richard Bennett, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan
- Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Teleprompter
Now I would like invite the **** Commissioner for Human Rights to make an opening statement for this enhanced interactive dialogue.
Mr Vice President, distinguished panellists excellence, his colleagues and friends, It has been three years since the current defect authorities to control of Afghanistan, three years of drastically declining respect for the rights of the people of the country against a backdrop of decades of suffering due to armed conflict.
The report before you examines in particular the period from September 23 to July this year with recommendations and options for accountability for the human rights violations and abuses that have taken place over decades.
It focuses on equality and the rights of women and girls.
The humanitarian crisis and its impact on and its impact on economic, social and cultural rights.
Restrictions on media freedoms and the civic space, executions, corporal punishment and I'll treatment of detainees.
The targeting of former officials and human rights defenders, opposition groups and perceived critics of the authorities and conflict related harm which has notably impacted the Hassara community, activities by the de facto Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and the impact on Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries are also examined.
While the report does not include last month's promulgation of new so-called morality laws, I want to make clear my abhorrence of these latest measures, which include limiting the transportation of women who seek to travel without a male so-called guardian, requiring women's voices to be muted in public, forbidding even eye contact between women and men who are not related, and imposing mandatory covering for women from head to toe, including their faces.
Previous measures include forbidding girls from attending secondary school and women from attending university, denying women's rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, opinion expression and freedom of movement, and severely curtailing women's rights to seek employment.
Women who have sought to protest such laws or express any different opinion or form of dissent have faced harsh punishments.
I shudder to think what is next for the women and girls of Afghanistan.
This repressive control over half the population in the country is unparalleled in today's world.
It is a fundamental rupture of the social contract.
It's outrageous and amounts to systematic gender persecution.
And it will also jeopardise the country's future by massively stifling its development.
This is propelling Afghanistan further down a path of isolation, pain and hardship.
Today, the vast majority of the population is trapped in poverty and deprived of essential rights, including the right to adequate food.
The situation for children is especially devastating and deeply distressing, with 12.4 million children in desperate need.
Overall, an estimated 23.7 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance this year, with poverty and the impact of repression and violence exacerbated by natural disasters and climate change.
But a massive shortfall in funding is sharply undercutting the response by the UN and its partners.
[Other language spoken]
A key factor underlying these and other violations is the persistent lack of accountability in Afghanistan over decades for human rights violations and abuses committed by multiple actors.
As the report notes, generations of Afghans under successive administrations have been denied truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non recurrence for the suffering that has been inflicted on them.
Accountability is a powerful deterrent to future violations.
Given the pressing need for action to prevent the recurrence of human rights violations and abuses and to redress the rapid decline of rights and freedoms across the country, I believe that a comprehensive approach to accountability is needed, spending both national and international action.
The de facto authorities cannot continue on this path and must take decisive steps to comply with human rights law.
These are obligations of the state, they are non negotiable and they do not depend on the vagaries of who exercises control over territory and people.
Measures also need to be introduced to protect the victims of human rights violations and abuses, irrespective of when or by whom they were committed, and to hold perpetrators to proper account consistent with international standards.
I also encourage the the de facto authorities to permit resumption of the operation of a credible and independent national rights institution.
I urge all states that have been involved in previous armed conflict in Afghanistan to ensure investigation and prosecution of violations committed by their personnel, and I welcome credible steps in this direction by some states.
The ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to the full extent of available jurisdiction is crucially important, and I call on all states cooperate fully with that process.
I also note the scope and international law for third States applying accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute serious breaches of international law where appropriate to secure due accountability.
Mr Vice President, human rights are not only a legal requirement, they are a prerequisite for peace, security, social cohesion and development.
Afghanistan has enormous development potential.
It can achieve prosperity, security and justice for all.
It can contribute productively to the international community.
It can deliver on the hopes and rights of its people, or it can spiral further in the into the abyss of state failure with a broken economy and a society that is marred by severe violations across the entire spectrum of human rights.
As experience has confirmed many times, respect for human rights unlocks a wealth of benefits for all societies, from development that is sustainable to peace and social harmony that can endure.
It is essential that Afghanistan uphold the equality of women and men, and indeed the rights of all people.
My office will continue to engage with the de facto authorities to urge that they reverse current policies and take meaningful steps to fulfil human rights.
[Other language spoken]
I thank the **** Commissioner and now I give the floor to Mr Richard Dennis, Vice President, distinguished panellists, excellencies, colleagues and friends.
I'm honoured to share this panel with the **** Commissioner and distinguished Afghan and international experts.
While the Council has asked me for an oral update, I'll endeavour not to duplicate the **** Commissioner or the information in his report.
Rather, I echo his concerns.
Regrettably, I can report few grounds for optimism.
Since I reported in June, the Taliban has further intensified its violations of the human rights of the Afghan population, particularly women and girls.
As the **** Commissioner noted recently, a law was promulgated empowering the de facto ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Not only does it reinforce the Taliban's institutionalised system of sex and gender discrimination, segregation and oppression, in short, gender persecution, a crime against humanity, it impacts almost the entire population and addressed the repercussions will shape future generations.
I won't repeat the examples already given by the **** Commissioner with regarding the impact on women and girls.
I will only add that there is also an impact on religious and ethnic minority groups and to give an example from the media broadcasting of images of the impact on the media broadcasting of images of human beings is now banned.
This law marks a new phase in the ongoing repression in respect in of respect for for human rights since August 21, especially the rights of women and girls.
[Other language spoken]
President, in Afghanistan, religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities are facing ongoing attacks and violence, in addition to restrictions on their ability to practise their faith, speak their language and express their cultural identities.
With Hazaras suffering more than most, it's time to pay more attention to this.
Afghanistan has won one of the world's youngest populations.
I'm especially concerned about the protection and human rights of children.
LGBTQI individuals, long subjected to systematic, systematic discrimination and persecution, now endure even more severe violence, including public flogging.
Older people and those with disabilities are also bearing the brunt of human rights violations, while the worsening humanitarian crisis leaves the most vulnerable facing extreme suffering.
Severe restrictions, threats, intimidation, and violence makes it nearly impossible for journalists and human rights defenders to operate freely.
The cumulative effects of these oppressive policies and human rights violations perpetuate a climate of fear and oppression that affects every segment of Afghan society.
Following my initial visit to Afghanistan in 2022, I observed that the country stood at a crossroads and there was a gap between the words of the de facto authorities and their actions.
Now both their words and their actions are harsher.
They claim that human rights are an internal matter, rather than expressing some willingness to respect their international human rights treaty obligations.
They ****** virtually all assessments and recommendations by human rights experts, whether Afghan or otherwise, consistent with their intolerance of any dissenting views.
And in my case, they've decided to refuse to allow me to visit.
Having reached the crossroads, they appear to have taken the the turning that leads back to the appalling conditions of the late 1990s.
Collectively, we must persuade them to reverse and take the other direction.
[Other language spoken]
President, the human rights crisis in Afghanistan isn't three years old.
Human rights have been violated throughout the country's 4 1/2 decades of conflict.
All parties to the conflict are responsible and must be held accountable.
Regrettably, impunity has prevailed in Afghanistan for generations.
It's among the main causes of conflict and repression in the country.
Failure to effectively tackle the cycle of impunity not only emboldens the Taliban's oppressive regime and reduces the possibility of genuine and durable peace in Afghanistan and beyond, it does a huge disservice to all victims and survivors.
I welcome the conclusion of the **** Commissioner's report report that highlights the need for a comprehensive approach taking account several taking into account several principles that should guide accountability, in fact transitional justice efforts in line with international standards.
This paralysed parallels my previous calls for an all tools approach.
I urge the Council to identified survivor centred and gender responsive pathways to justice and in addition to strengthening and supporting existing mechanisms to fill any gaps so that the situation in Afghanistan receives a response that is proportionate to it's gravity.
To date the collective response has fallen, has fallen far short.
Member States and regional bodies have yet to take effective action to counter the Taliban's behaviour.
Nor is there a principle, coherent and coordinated strategy among international actors to improve the situation.
A fragmented and piece meal approach with some turning a blind eye not only fails the people of Afghanistan, it also contradicts State's own human rights commitments.
Any normalisation of engagement with the de facto authorities must be based on demonstrated, measurable and independently verifiable improvements in human rights.
[Other language spoken]
And now I would like to give the floor to His Excellency, Mr Nasheer, Ahmad and Disha, please, you have the floor.
Thank you very much, Mr Vice President, we welcome the **** Commissioner's report on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, which includes stock taking of accountability options.
The report offers a much needed conclusion that could be a departure point for the next phase of the human rights system engagement with Afghanistan and with the de facto Taliban authorities.
The first phase began with the Special Rapporteur's mandate following the military takeover by the Taliban on August 15, 2021.
The current mandate was established with an idea of a constructive engagement with the de facto authority and with an optimistic outlook on the basis of the Taliban's Doha negotiation promises, with an overarching goal of paving the way for a full return of Afghanistan to the international system.
The Taliban, particularly those holding real power, reneged on their promises and dramatically increased distractions over the past three years, including enacting and institutionalised regime of gender prosecution and gender discrimination.
With the banning of Special Rapporteurs from visiting Afghanistan, effectively cutting engagement with the UN human rights system and sanctioning A draconian so-called virtue and vice law, we believe that the first this first phase have come to an end.
The new phase of engagement has to be different since there is no domestic accountability or addressing mechanism and since the power holders, particularly the kind of action of the Taliban are closing all windows of principal engagement.
This Council should enact what Sr previously referred to us all tools approach.
Mr Vice President, while the report also emphasises the need for a multi layer and multi dimensional approach on accountability, yet it falls short of recommending the establishment of an independent international investigative and accountability mechanism with sufficient financial and technical resources.
So therefore, we retreat that we support the renewal and the strengthening of the Special Rapporteurs crucial mandate.
However, the prohibition of access to the country further_the pressing need for a complementary mechanism.
We support the report's recommendation from the ongoing investigation of the ICC Prosecutor and the national avenues to increase support for victims, families and civil society #2.
The report also undermines the underlines that the existing mechanism need to be strengthened, including the OECH or capacity to collect, preserve and analyse evidence of crimes to facilitate future accountability and transitional justice process.
However, this was not translated into an actionable recommendation.
Mr Vice President, indeed gruesome atrocities and severe violation of the IHL and Human Rights Law are being committed in several conflict zones from Palestine to Ukraine, from Sudan to Myanmar and other places.
But have we ever witnessed such a level of institutionalised human right abuses and violation, an affront to to women and men, dignity and right as it is undergoing in the history of this Council, the Taliban act with impunity as if the state of Afghanistan was created after the military takeover on 15th of August 2021.
No, Afghanistan joined the UDHR in December 19, 4876 years ago.
Notwithstanding the form of its government, it has remained bound by its obligation under international law including UDHRUN Charter and the core international human rights treaties and obligations and optional protocols to which the State was a party and is a party.
Over the past two decades, Afghanistan have made enormous progresses in promoting and protecting human rights.
Mr Vice President, the people of Afghanistan remain deeply alarmed by the international community's increasing lethargic and at the time counterproductive response to deteriorating situation.
For example, the US decision to organise a recent Doha meeting in late June this year excluding non Taliban, Afghans including women and civil society and omitting human rights from the agenda sets a dangerous president.
The logic, we were told was to convince the Taliban to cooperate on implementing UN road map Aun Security Council resolution including appointment of an special envoy for political coordination, which did not materialise.
The Taliban not only failed to engage constructively but did not hesitate to enact a new virtue on vice law and further denied women on their voices in public.
Every time they lower the bar on human rights and fundamental freedom, the international community lower their standard and making unprecedented concessions.
While paying lip service for the situation of gender apartheid in Afghanistan, some countries are moving toward creeping recognition.
Afghanistan's history has shown that this situation will pass and the freedom loving people of Afghanistan will prevail as we are committed to upholding our equal human rights and dignity.
And I will end with a quote from nobody but Martin Luther King that once he said we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Thank you very much, Mr Vice President.
Thank you for your Excellency.
And I would also want to inform that the list of speakers is now closed.
[Other language spoken]