User:Myousafi/Human rights in Afghanistan

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Law and order[edit]
Main article: Law of Afghanistan

Some members of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) have been accused of running their own prisons, torturing suspects, and harassing journalists. They have also been accused of deliberately killing civilians during government raids.

The security forces of local militias, which also have their own prisons, have been accused of torture and arbitrary killings. Warlords in the north have used property destruction, rape, and murder to discourage displaced Pashtuns from reclaiming their homes. Child labor and human trafficking remain common outside Kabul. Civilians have been killed frequently in battles between warlord forces. Poor conditions in the overcrowded prisons have contributed to illness and death amongst prisoners. To stop it, a prison rehabilitation program had begun in 2003.

In the absence of an effective national judicial system, the right to judicial protection has been compromised as uneven local standards have prevailed in criminal trials. Fair trial principles are enshrined in the Afghan constitution and the criminal procedure but frequently violated for various reasons, including the lack of well-educated, professional staff (especially defence lawyers), lack of material resources, corruption and unlawful interference by warlords and politicians. Several thousands of people in Afghanistan have been victims of enforced disappearance over the past four decades.

On 27 June 2020, two human rights defenders associated with Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) were killed in a bomb attack. They died after an explosive device attached to their vehicle detonated. The attack came less than a week after two prosecutors and three other employees from the attorney general’s office were shot dead by gunmen in Kabul.

On August 14, 2020, the United Nations experts demanded the Afghanistan government to take an early decisive action to prevent the killing of human rights defenders. Nine human rights defenders have been killed since the start of 2020. The number has already surpassed 2019’s figure.

Since the 2021 establishing of the Taliban-led Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 100 former government officials and affiliates have been killed '''. Human rights activists, civil rights activist and media workers are under ‘constant attack’ (threats and intimidations) under this new government. '''

Women’s rights
The Constitution promises equal rights for men and women, and women are permitted to work outside the home, to engage in political activity, and the Constitution requires each political party to nominate a certain number of female candidates.

During the time of Taliban rule, women had virtually all their rights taken away. Matters ranging from wearing nail polish to job opportunities were severely restricted. By keeping women indoors, the Taliban claimed to be keeping them safe from harm.

In late March 2009, Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed into law an internationally condemned "Shia Family Law" which condones apparent spousal rape (in Article 132), child marriage and imposes purdah on married Afghan women. Although the offending legislation is said to have been dormant for a year, President Karzai was trying to gain the support of Afghan northern Shia legislators and the neighbouring Islamic Republic of Iran, which is Shia-dominated. According to Britain's Independent newspaper, the 'family code' was not read in the Upper House/Senate, and also enshrines gender discrimination in inheritance law and divorce against women.

Despite various promises from the government to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the law could not be implemented. The Kabul peace talks that took place in June 2017, included only two women among 47 government and international representatives.

On 18 September 2020, President Ashraf Ghani signed a new law to include mothers' names on their children's birth certificates and identification cards. Afghan women's rights activists had been campaigning on social media for several years to include the name of both parents, under the hashtag #WhereIsMyName.

'''Article 7 of the Constitution of Afghanistan guarantees that women are not discriminated against and are legally protected. Such legal protection is wanting under the Taliban-led Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which deprives women of access to education, health and nutritional services. Despite the current administration's initial reassurances to the contrary, existing legal protections are being abandoned. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2018 Gender Inequality index listed Afghanistan in the group of countries with the lowest ranking of gender inequality. This has only worsened with the Taliban takeover: girls attend schools at less than half the rate of boys . Due to the decrease of women’s rights since 2021 and also the government proposals to change the constitution to undermine women's rights even further, Afghan societies have expressed great concern . The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan acknowledges the current challenges in future legislation to root out violence against women. '''