Afghanistan’s new government under President Ashraf Ghani must put the focus on tackling the country’s persistent human rights issues, Amnesty International said today in a human rights agenda aimed at the new administration, which is due to be sworn in on 29 September 2014.
“This new government of national unity now has an opportunity to start a new chapter on human rights and addressing the many persistent issues affecting millions of Afghans,” said Horia Mosadiq, Amnesty International’s Afghanistan Researcher.
“President Karzai’s outgoing administration has to be given credit for some notable gains on human rights in very difficult circumstances, but the new government must do better. Even the progress we’ve seen over the past 13 years is fragile and under threat – not least when it comes to women’s human rights.”
Amnesty International’s human rights agenda, which was first issued to the presidential candidates in March this year, urges the new government to tackle seven key issues:
• Fulfil Afghanistan’s international human rights law obligations
• Improve accountability of Afghan and international security forces
• Fulfil the human rights of women and girls
• Prevent and ameliorate the situation of internal displacement
• Combat impunity for past human rights violations
• Protect and respect freedom of expression
• Impose a moratorium and abolish death penalty
More information
The full human rights agenda can be found here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA11/010/2014/en