Afghanistan, coalition forces must promote rights to cement progress – UN report

Afghanistan has achieved notable progress in promoting democracy and securing the human rights of its citizens, but the Government and coalition forces there must take further measures to prevent abuses, a United Nations report published today says.

The report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)credits the Government with working to build a democratic society under difficult circumstances, and urges further support for the judicial system, the application of human rights standards, and a rights-based approach to economic and social issues.

The report also called for mechanisms to protect land and property among vulnerable people, a campaign to address violence against women, measures to prevent the involuntary recruitment of children soldiers, and efforts to increase school attendance of girls.

With respect to the activities of the Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, the report notes that some former prisoners have alleged that they were subject to abuse, "including being handcuffed, hooded, earmuffed and roughly handled while being transported to detention facilities. Others have objected to the destruction and theft of their property, forced nudity upon arrival, extended periods of isolation, sleep deprivation, a particularly harsh and arbitrary detention regime, and the inability to communicate with their families other than through an ICRC-administered exchange of censored correspondence."

So-called enemy combatants remain in indefinite incommunicado detention without formal charges and are unable to challenge the basis of their detention, according to the report.

In May, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) urged the Coalition Forces to make public measures that have been taken to eradicate mistreatment and improve conditions of detention. The report says that the Coalition Forces have recently implemented a number of initiatives to address these issues.

"The Government and the international community should ensure that the treatment of those arrested in anti-terrorists operations is fully in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian standards," the report states.