The Afghan Government is working hard to improve respect for human rights in line with their commitments under the Constitution and the international human rights treaties to which they are party.

For a detailed assessment of human rights in Afghanistan, see the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report 2007 (PDF 2MB, opens in new window).

 

Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission

In accordance with the Bonn Agreement, and with the assistance of the United Nations, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) was established in June 2002. The Afghan Constitution, ratified in January 2004, establishes the AIHRC with a constitutional mandate.

Its powers and responsibilities include human rights monitoring, investigation of violations of human rights, and the development of domestic human rights institutions and education. The Commission is currently headed by Sima Samar, (formerly Minister for Women’s Affairs in the Interim Administration) and has established offices in Kabul, Gardez, Jalalabad, Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Feyzabad and Bamiyan.

Cooperation

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has worked with United Nations Assistance Mission Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the AIHRC to build the latter's capacity and develop a programme of work focusing on four main areas of activity:

• institution building
• women's rights
• human rights education and transitional justice.

Progress

The human rights situation in Afghanistan has improved since the collapse of the Taliban regime. There are continuing reports of human rights abuses concentrated in rural areas where the rule of law is weakest and armed militia groups are still active.

The AIHRC investigated over 2000 allegations of abuse in its first year of operations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions (including in private prisons), torture by militia groups and police, destruction and confiscation of property, rape, forced marriage and abductions.