KABUL: (MEP) – The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Sunday, the International Human Rights Day, criticized the government for failing to enforce justice against human rights violators.
The AIHRC registers complaints of those whose rights have been violated. And its representatives on Sunday said the implementation of justice on human rights was the job of the legal and judicial organs of the country.
The International Day of Human Rights was celebrated in a ceremony at Kabul University on Sunday, with the support of United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The UN representative in Afghanistan said that the government is responsible for making the people aware of their rights and use its resources to strengthen respect for human rights in the country, particularly in remote regions that have not seen the same progress major urban centers like Kabul have over the last 12 years.
“Afghanistan has ratified seven international human rights conventions which lay strong foundation for the socioeconomic, cultural, civil and political empowerment of the Afghan citizens; again it’s a society coming out of war where the realization of rights becomes even more appropriate for us all,” UN representative for Human Rights in Afghanistan Mark Brown said.
Nevertheless, the Afghan Minister of Justice said that for strengthening the human rights regime in Afghanistan there is needs to be more comprehensive laws.
“People should be provided information about their rights and this is the job of the government and the institutions, the laws should be comprehensive laws and we need to focus on legislation so that good laws are ratified,” Afghan Minister of Justice Habibullah Ghalib said.
AIHRC representatives expressed called on the government to see through human rights laws, especially when it comes to punishing offenders, which they argued Kabul has failed to do.
“The government, on implementation of justice against violators, has been feeble,” AIHRC official Shams Ahmadzai said.
Although human rights in Afghanistan have been a hot-button issue since the days of the Taliban, this year discourse surrounding law enforcement and the punishment of violators has picked-up ahead of the April Presidential and Provincial Council elections, tolo news reported.
Many have raised issue with the involvement of supposed human rights violators in the election races.
