Afghanistan Watch: State Dept human rights report on Afghanistan

March 08, 2007

State Dept human rights report on Afghanistan

The U.S. State Department has just released its annual country reports on Human Rights Practices, and the Afghanistan section is available here. The bottom line: Afghanistan's performance "remained poor" but, according to the report, is improving. Abuses cited in the report include torture, prison conditions, impunity for officials, prolonged detention without trial, and violations of freedom of the press, religion and for women. Here's an excerpt:

Afghanistan's human rights record remained poor due to a deadly insurgency, weak central institutions, and the country's ongoing recovery from two-and-a-half decades of war. MORE

While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of government authority...

The government continued to develop and professionalize its army and police force. Increased monitoring of police by internal and external monitors helped to prevent abuses. Human rights training became a normal aspect of training and education for most police. Extensive reporting of human rights abuses led to increased arrests and prosecutions of abusers. The government continued to make strides towards upholding human rights standards and took action to remove corrupt officials. In some areas of concern, even where there was commitment from the government, resources restricted the ability to uphold those standards.

In response to the report, Amnesty International USA executive director Larry Cox wrote that "While Amnesty International welcomes the reports' emphasis on accountability, until the United States changes its own policies of holding detainees indefinitely, in secret prisons and without basic rights, it cannot credibly be viewed as a world human rights leader...Human rights abuses must not be hidden behind a facade of national security rhetoric." This response is especially poignant when the State Dept report criticizes conduct in Afghanistan that occurred under US auspices (see recent reports.)

Posted by Carl Robichaud on March 08, 2007 at 11:13 AM in Rule of Law | Permalink