Afghanistan: Children devastated by war: Afghanistan's lost generations

Afghanistan: Children devastated by war: Afghanistan's lost generations

Index Number: ASA 11/013/1999
Date Published: 1 November 1999
Categories: Asia And The Pacific, Afghanistan

This short document examines the effects that years of fighting in Afghanistan has had on children. At various times throughout the conflict children have been deliberately killed and subjected to abduction and sexual abuse by armed political groups. Since 1995 the strict interpretation of Islamic law by the Taleban forces has had an adverse effect on the rights of girls who no longer have access to anything but the most basic education and whose freedom of expression and movement is severely limited. The document concludes with a look at the international standards protecting the rights of the child and calls upon the Afghan authorities and armed groups to respect these rights.