In Afghanistan, the Taliban shut down the Human Rights Commission
Scene of life in a market in downtown Kabul.
May 10, 2022. (Illustration).
REUTERS - ALI KHARA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Taliban regime announced on Tuesday May 17 that it had dissolved the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), an organization which notably monitored the violence committed against the population, judging that it was “no longer considered necessary”.
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The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) was one of the few forums Afghans could turn to in the past 20 years to report abuses by government forces, the Taliban or other groups. armed.
It published studies and press releases on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, deemed credible and regularly quoted by the country's media and experts.
"
We have other organizations that can carry out activities on human rights, organs related to the judicial system,
" Taliban government deputy spokesman
Inamullah Samangani told AFP
, without specifying the authorities. concerned.
The AIHRC, which had been registering war victims for more than 20 years, ceased operations when the Taliban overthrew the US-backed government last August, which was withdrawing from the country.
The leaders of the commission then fled abroad.
It is added to the list of bodies closed by the Islamists since their return to power, including the Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
Deficit of nearly 500 million euros…
Several other bodies, including the
High National Council
for Reconciliation, responsible for promoting peace in the country, were shut down along with the AIHRC last weekend as the Taliban government announced its first annual budget.
“
These services are no longer considered necessary, so they have been disbanded.
But they will be able to resume an activity in the future if we need them
,” added Mr. Samangani.
Let's take a moment to remember an Afghanistan which had a human rights commission.
It was not perfect—these institutions never are—but it mattered enormously to have somewhere to go, to ask for help and to demand justice.
Shocking to see a country go backwards in this way.
https://t.co/p5kx5hSMUF
— Heather Barr (@heatherbarr1) May 16, 2022
The Taliban regime has a deficit of nearly 44 billion Afghanis (nearly 500 million euros), a consequence of the halt after their return to power of international aid, which until then financed almost entire government budget.
The closure of the AIHRC was notably denounced by Heather Barr, of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"
It was very important (for the Afghans) to have an organization to go to to ask for help or seek justice
", she tweeted, judging it "
shocking to see a country going backwards in this way
" .
.
(
With
AFP)
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Afghanistan
Taliban
Human rights