Statement at the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Enhanced Interactive Debate on Afghanistan
Delivered by Sigrid Lipott
Thank you Mr. President,
CIVICUS and SRMO welcomes this new report by the OHCHR on accountability for human rights violations in Afghanistan. More than three years after the Taliban takeover, there has been a failure to stem the systematic assault on civic space in the country.
Human rights defenders, in particular women activists, have continued to be criminalised as well as tortured and ill-treated for their activism. Journalists have also been targeted while public protests have all but been stamped out, due to Taliban brutality. Women in Afghanistan have also lost agency in every aspect of their lives - in what has been repeatedly described as gender apartheid - and outrageous new laws issued by the de facto authorities in August 2024 aims to silence them further. The denial of access to the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan is another step backwards.
Despite these serious violations, there has not been a coherent and coordinated response to this crisis from the international community. Instead, women human rights defenders have been excluded from international meetings while some states appear to be normalising relations with the Taliban.
The UN must step up and establish a dedicated independent investigative mechanism to investigate crimes under international law in Afghanistan. The mechanism must also collect and preserve evidence for future accountability efforts as well cooperate with existing international judicial mechanisms. The failure to do so will further undermine the work of human rights defenders and others seeking truth, justice and reparation.
We thank you.
