RASC News Agency: Hilary Power, a senior official at Human Rights Watch, criticized the recent UN Human Rights Council resolution, describing it as yet another failure. She emphasized that despite repeated pleas from human rights organizations, the council has not established any mechanisms to hold the Taliban accountable for their grave human rights violations. In her statement, Power expressed that the council had missed a crucial opportunity to pursue justice and address the egregious abuses taking place in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, she acknowledged that the resolution could potentially pave the way for future efforts to hold the Taliban accountable.
Power remarked, “Despite persistent calls from human rights groups, this resolution fails to create a framework for accountability regarding the Taliban’s severe violations in Afghanistan, particularly their systematic oppression of Afghanistani women and girls.” On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning the widespread human rights abuses in Afghanistan, with a particular focus on the Taliban’s mistreatment of women and girls. The resolution stressed the need for accountability and protection of vulnerable minority groups.
Additionally, the resolution voiced alarm over the worsening human rights conditions in Afghanistan, citing ongoing violations such as systematic abuses against women and girls, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, forced displacements, mistreatment of prisoners, and collective punishment. Through this latest resolution, the Council extended the mandate of Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, and requested that he submit a report in the upcoming session concerning the Taliban’s “Law of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.”
Human Rights Watch’s critique of the resolution comes as four Western nations, including Germany and Canada, threatened to bring the Taliban before the International Court of Justice for their widespread violations of women’s rights. These countries aim to compel the Taliban to comply with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Simultaneously, the International Criminal Court is conducting an investigation into human rights abuses in Afghanistan, which may ultimately lead to the arrest of Taliban officials implicated in these violations.
