Amnesty International calls for voices of victims to be heard

With peace talks poised to start in Doha between Afghanistan and the Taliban, human rights organization Amnesty International has called on both sides to include the voices of victims of the conflict so as to ensure their rights are respected in any deal made. 

The organization also called for women to be heard so as to preserve their rights. 

In a statement issued Wednesday, Amnesty International’s Director of the Office of the Secretary-General, David Griffiths said “for any peace talks to be worthy of their name, they must commit to delivering justice for victims and ensuring accountability for serious human rights violations. The participation of victims in these talks is a critical safeguard to ensure that their voices are not ignored.”

“Peace cannot merely mean a cessation of hostilities. For Afghanistan to break with its painful past and for wounds to heal, victims must have access to justice, with perpetrators held accountable,” he said. 

“A failure to address serious human rights violations committed by all sides in the conflict will not only betray the victims but also threaten further conflict.”

Amnesty International also called on the negotiating teams and parties to the conflict – particularly the government of Afghanistan – to ensure that the advances made on human rights over the past two decades are not rolled back, and that the human rights of all Afghans, especially women, are at the heart of any eventual agreement. 

“All efforts on women’s rights should aim to consolidate and further strengthen the ability of women to exercise their human rights fully.” the statement read.

The organizations stated that peace talks must also make a commitment to preserving and strengthening Afghanistan’s human rights progress over the past two decades.

They said any peace agreement must meet Afghanistan’s international obligations by upholding fair trials and the rights of women and girls, children, religious and ethnic minorities, journalists, and human rights defenders.

According to them, the Taliban has to date failed to make explicit and credible commitments to the human rights enshrined in Afghanistan’s constitution and international human rights law including the right to work, the right to education, the right to freedom of movement, the right to religion or belief, and the right to freedom of expression.

“There is no getting away from the fact that the Afghan authorities have failed to meet their own commitments to human rights, but there is also no denying that important strides have been made over the past two decades towards greater freedoms for women and girls, religious and ethnic minorities, journalists and human rights defenders, and on the right to education.

“Afghans, despite serious security threats, have been exercising their civil and political rights. These gains must be consolidated and not bargained away,” said Griffiths.

War Crimes

This comes after the United States sanctioned the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, for her continued probe into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan. 

On this note, Amnesty International stated that since 2003, the organization, along with other human rights groups, had documented serious human rights violations against Afghan civilians. 

They stated these violations include torture, disappearances, target killings and the deliberate targeting of civilians in war crimes. 

“Following a failure by the Afghan authorities to seriously investigate these crimes, the ICC stepped in as a “court of last resort”, Amnesty International stated. 

Unhappy about the sanctions against Bensouda, Griffiths stated: “The unconscionable sanctioning of the ICC prosecutor represents the latest attempt by the Trump administration to punish people seeking justice for crimes under international law in Afghanistan. In doing so, the USA has decided to shield perpetrators from accountability and abandon the victims.” 

He called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to stop “shielding perpetrators, support the ICC’s investigation, and commit to ensuring domestic justice to all victims of decades of atrocity crimes in the country. 

“If they are serious about delivering peace to Afghanistan, they must demonstrate that they are not afraid of delivering justice.”