Status: 05/17/2022 3:02 p.m
Once again, the Taliban in Afghanistan have dissolved a body that looked after human and civil rights – this time the independent Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch is dismayed.
In Afghanistan, the independent human rights commission has been dissolved by the ruling Taliban. It is “not considered necessary,” deputy government spokesman Inamullah Samangani told the AFP news agency. “We have some other organizations for human rights-related activities.”
The tasks of the commission included, among other things, documenting the civilian casualties of the twenty-year war. The commission members had to stop their work shortly after the Taliban took power in August last year. Leading minds fled abroad. Now the body has been officially dissolved by the new rulers, as has the National Security Council and the Reconciliation Council, which was committed to peace.
Criticism by Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch’s Heather Barr said it was shocking to see Afghanistan lagging behind. “It was extremely important to have a place where you could ask for help and demand justice,” she said, referring to the dissolved Human Rights Commission.
Afghanistan heavily dependent on foreign aid
Since taking power, the Taliban have shut down several institutions tasked with protecting civil liberties, including the Electoral Commission and the Women’s Ministry. They had originally promised to act more moderately than in their first reign between 1996 and 2001.
Afghanistan is almost entirely dependent on foreign aid and is suffering from a financial deficit of around 470 million euros. In March, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced that Germany would provide a further 200 million euros in aid and called on the Taliban to respect women’s and human rights. Any further commitment by Germany beyond humanitarian aid would depend on the actions of the Taliban government, she explained.