Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/18 Situation of human rights in Afghanistan

The Commission on Human Rights,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and accepted humanitarian rules, as set out in the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 on the protection of war victims and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977,

Reaffirming that all Member States have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to fulfil the obligations they have freely undertaken under the various international instruments,

Recalling that Afghanistan is a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and that it has signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Recalling also its previous resolutions, the most recent being resolution 1999/9 of 23 April 1999, the relevant General Assembly resolutions, as well as the relevant resolutions and presidential statements of the Security Council, decisions of the Economic and Social Council and resolutions of the Commission on the Status of Women,

Concerned that armed confrontation persists in Afghanistan and by the ethnic nature of the conflict,

Deeply concerned about the deteriorating economic and social conditions of women and girls in all areas of Afghanistan, in particular in areas under Taliban control, as documented by the continued and substantiated reports of grave violations of the human rights of women and girls, including all forms of discrimination against them, such as restrictions on access to health care, to many levels and types of education, to employment outside the home and, at times, to humanitarian aid, as well as restrictions on their freedom of movement,

Recalling the agreement between the Taliban and the United Nations signed on 23 October 1998 on the security of United Nations personnel in Afghanistan and urging its full implementation,

Convinced that the major contribution to improving the human rights situation in Afghanistan would be an immediate ceasefire followed by a negotiated settlement in line with the efforts aimed at the establishment of a broad-based Government, and the effective participation of the people of Afghanistan in the governance of their country through freely chosen representatives,

Recalling that the United Nations continues to play its central and impartial role in international initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the Afghan conflict, and encouraging all efforts at the national, regional and international levels, in particular those of the "six plus two" group and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the efforts to convene a Loya Jirgah, as well as the invitation to Tokyo extended by the Government of Japan to the relevant parties earlier this year, all aimed at finding a solution to the continuing conflict through a broad-based dialogue involving all concerned actors,

Taking into account the report of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women on her visit to Afghanistan in November 1997,

Expressing deep concern at the lack of reconstruction in Afghanistan,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan (E/CN.4/2000/33) and the observations contained therein, as well as the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on her mission to Pakistan and Afghanistan (E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.4) and looks forward to her conclusions and recommendations;

2. Strongly condemns the mass killings and systematic human rights violations against civilians and persons deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict, including in the areas of Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan, Shiberghan and Maimana, and notes with alarm the resumption by the Taliban of the wider conflict during the past summer, especially in the Shamali Plains, resulting in the massive, forced displacement of the civilian population, in particular of women and children;

3. Notes with deep concern:

(a) The continuing pattern of human rights violations in Afghanistan;

(b) The persisting armed hostilities in Afghanistan and the complex nature of the conflict, including ethnic, religious and political aspects, which have resulted in extensive human suffering and forced displacement, including on the grounds of ethnicity, and which hinder the return of the internally displaced to their homes;

(c) The continued displacement of millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as in other countries, while recognizing with appreciation efforts undertaken in host countries to ease the plight of Afghan refugees, inter alia in the fields of health and education;

4. Condemns:

(a) The widespread violations and abuses of human rights and humanitarian law, including the rights to life, liberty and security of person, freedom from torture and from other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and freedom of opinion, expression, religion, association and movement;

(b) The continuing grave violations of the human rights of women and girls, including all forms of discrimination against them, in all areas of Afghanistan, particularly in areas under the control of the Taliban where findings of further gross violations of the human rights of women and girls include abductions and kidnappings, as well as accounts of many instances of forced marriage and of trafficking;

(c) The frequent practice of arbitrary arrest and detention and of summary trials, which have resulted in summary executions, throughout the country;

(d) The recent violations by the Taliban in Kandahar of United Nations immunity granted by the 23 October 1998 agreement, which compelled the United Nations to stop work in the area;

5. Reiterates its condemnation of the killing of Iranian diplomats and the correspondent of the Islamic Republic News Agency by the Taliban, which constituted flagrant violations of established international law, as well as of the attacks on and killing of the United Nations personnel in Taliban-held territories of Afghanistan, and calls upon the Taliban to fulfil their stated commitment to cooperate in urgent investigations of these heinous crimes and to bring those responsible to justice;

6. Stresses the need for national reconciliation and for the establishment of the rule of law, good governance and democracy in Afghanistan and, concurrently, the need for extensive rehabilitation and reconstruction;

7. Urges all States to respect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan and to refrain from interfering in its internal affairs, and to end immediately the supply of arms, ammunition, military equipment, including fuel, training or any other military support, including providing any foreign military personnel, to all parties to the conflict;

8. Urges all the Afghan parties:

(a) To respect fully all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion, in accordance with international human rights instruments;

(b) To cease hostilities immediately, to work and cooperate fully with the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan with a view to achieving a ceasefire and to implement the Tashkent Declaration on Fundamental Principles for a Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict in Afghanistan of 19 July 1999, thus laying the foundation for a comprehensive political solution leading to the voluntary return of displaced persons to their homes in safety and with dignity and to the establishment of a broad-based, multi-ethnic, fully representative Government through the full exercise by the Afghan people of the right to self-determination;

(c) To reaffirm publicly their commitment to international human rights and principles, and to recognize, protect and promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(d) To respect fully international humanitarian law, to protect civilians, to halt the use of weapons against the civilian population, to refrain from the wanton destruction of food crops and civilian property, in particular homes, to stop the laying of landmines, especially anti-personnel mines, to prohibit conscripting or enlisting children or using them to participate in hostilities in violation of international law and to ensure the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration into society of children;

(e) To provide efficient and effective remedies to the victims of grave violations and abuses of human rights and of international humanitarian law and to bring the perpetrators to trial;

(f) To fulfil their obligations and commitments regarding the safety of all personnel of diplomatic missions, the United Nations and other international organizations, and non-governmental organizations, as well as of their premises in Afghanistan, and to cooperate, fully and without discrimination on grounds of gender, nationality or religion, with the United Nations and associated bodies, as well as with other humanitarian organizations, agencies and non-governmental organizations, in order to facilitate full resumption of their cooperation;

(g) To treat all suspects and convicted or detained persons in accordance with relevant international instruments and to refrain from arbitrary detention of any person, including of civilian foreign nationals and non-criminal civilian and political prisoners, and urges their captors to release them;

9. Urges all the Afghan parties, and in particular the Taliban, to bring to an end without delay all violations of human rights of women and girls and to take urgent measures to ensure:

(a) The repeal of all legislative and other measures which discriminate against women and girls and those which impede the realization of all their human rights;

(b) The effective participation of women in civil, cultural, economic, political and social life throughout the country;

(c) Respect for the equal right of women to work, and their reintegration in employment;

(d) The equal right of women and girls to education without discrimination, the reopening of schools and the admission of women and girls to all levels of education;

(e) Respect for the right of women to security of person and that those responsible for physical attacks on women be brought to justice;

(f) Respect for the freedom of movement of women;

(g) Respect for effective and equal access by women and girls to the facilities necessary to protect their right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;

10. Notes with appreciation the activities carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross throughout the territory of Afghanistan;

11. Recalls that it had invited the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to proceed without delay to investigate fully reports of mass killings of persons deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict and of civilians, and of rape and cruel treatment in Afghanistan, and that it had called upon the United Front and the Taliban to fulfil their stated commitment to cooperate with such investigations and, noting the summary of the report on the investigations, as a preliminary response, expresses, in this context, to the parties its deep regret for the unsatisfactory results;

12. Invites:

(a) The Secretary-General to ensure that the ongoing deployment of the civilian affairs observers in Afghanistan takes place as soon as possible, security conditions permitting, and that gender issues are fully incorporated in their mission;

(b) The Secretary-General to exert efforts to ensure a gender perspective in the selection of the staff of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan in order to enhance the role of women in preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping;

(c) The Special Rapporteur to continue to pay attention to the human rights of women and children and to apply a gender perspective in a similar manner in his report to the Commission at its fifty-seventh session;

(d) The United Nations to offer, once national reconciliation is achieved and upon request of the governmental authorities, advisory services and technical assistance concerning, inter alia, the drafting of a constitution, which should embody internationally accepted human rights principles and provide for the holding of direct elections;

13. Appeals to Member States and to organizations and programmes of the United Nations system, specialized agencies and other international organizations, whenever the situation on the ground permits and as part of an overall effort to achieve peace:

(a) To provide, on a non-discriminatory basis, humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and to the Afghan refugees in the neighbouring countries;

(b) To intensify the programme for the removal of millions of anti-personnel mines laid in Afghanistan;

(c) To ensure that all United Nations-assisted programmes in Afghanistan are formulated and coordinated in such a way as to promote and ensure the participation of women in those programmes, and that women benefit equally with men from such programmes;

(d) To implement the recommendations of the inter-agency gender mission in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women;

14. Expresses its deep concern at reports of attacks on and looting of cultural artefacts in Afghanistan, emphasizes that all parties share the responsibility to protect their common heritage and requests all Member States to take appropriate measures to prevent the looting of cultural artefacts and to ensure their return to Afghanistan;

15. Urges all the Afghan parties to extend their cooperation to the Commission on Human Rights and its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and to all those special rapporteurs who are seeking invitations, and to facilitate the access of the Special Rapporteur to all sectors of society and to all parts of the country;

16. Requests:

(a) The Secretary-General to give all necessary assistance to the Special Rapporteur and to give due consideration to his recommendations in the formulation of United Nations activities in Afghanistan;

(b) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure a human rights presence in the context of the United Nations activities in Afghanistan in order to provide advice and training in the field of human rights to all the Afghan parties, as well as to the intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations active in the field;

17. Decides:

(a) To extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for one year and requests the Special Rapporteur to report on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-seventh session;

(b) To continue its consideration of the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, as a matter of high priority, at its fifty-seventh session under the same agenda item.

55th meeting
18 April 2000
[Adopted without a vote. ]