By Emily Bare / GICJ

The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ms Ilze Brands Kehris, called for concrete action by the international community to uphold all human rights for women and girls in Afghanistan. She emphasised the importance of Afghan women in roles as human rights defenders and advocates.

On the 12th of September 2022, during its 51st Regular Session, the Human Rights Council re-visited its prior resolution adopted on the 8th of July 2022 (A/HRC/RES/50/14). Through an enhanced interactive dialogue, an updated situation on the human rights situation of women and girls in Afghanistan was presented.

This update highlighted the acts of the Taliban in suppressing the rights of women and the importance of respecting the rights of Afghan women and girls. Among others, concerns were raised regarding forced marriages, access to education, female journalists losing their jobs, and women and girls being invisible actors within society. The Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Mr Richard Bennett, and the Ambassador of Afghanistan, Nasir A. Andisha, called for the establishment of an Independent Investigative Mechanism to provide a venue for redress for the women and girls in Afghanistan.

Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) urges the government of Afghanistan to effectively address the human rights violations highlighted during this dialogue. We remain deeply concerned about the continued prevalence of violence and discrimination against women and girls in the state. We specifically call upon the Taliban to reverse the policies and practices that currently limit the human rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls.

We will be publishing a full discussion report on this discussion, stay tuned!

HRC51, Afghanistan, Human Rights Violations, Justice, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Girl's Rights, Geneva, Geneva4Justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre for Justice, Human Rights Council