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Afghanistan:
New human rights commission in Herat praised
by Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
(December 24, 2002) The
Afghan Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has praised the establishment
of a human rights body in the western province of Herat, following
disturbing reports of abuses there by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"This is very
encouraging and a positive move, because it shows that the new
administration is willing to have such a body within its framework
to deal with human rights issues," the AHRC deputy chairwoman,
Fahim Hakim, told IRIN from the capital, Kabul on Monday.
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Herat, females are compelled to undergo "chastity
checks" by religious police. |
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Comprising six people,
two of them women, the AHRC was set up over the past few weeks
by the Herat governor, Ismail Khan, who had been criticized in
two recent HRW reports for abuses, particularly of women.
According to one of
the reports, females are facing increasing harassment to the extent
of being compelled to undergo "chastity checks" by religious
police and a "youth police," who are allegedly hauling
women and girls to hospitals for gynecological examinations. "We
have had some individual complaints from people who told us that
they have been humiliated in the same way the Taliban used to
treat women, and this is worrying," Hakim said.
Welcoming the new commission,
Hakim said it set a good example for other provinces to follow.
He noted that in addition to this, the central government would
be setting up its own human rights offices in seven provinces,
including Herat, pointing out that it was important to have an
independent body present.
"What we are seeing
in Herat is a level of responsibility," she said, adding
that it was important for the authorities to work closely with
HRW and other watchdog groups. "We should understand our
differences. But we should start with sharing our commonalities,"
she said, highlighting the importance of working with the provincial
authorities.
Human rights abuses,
such as massacres and gross violations of women's rights, have
been widespread in Afghanistan during the many years of civil
war, which has left the country in tatters. Created under the
Bonn agreement, the AHRC was established to put an end to this.
The AHRC had sent a
mission to Herat several weeks earlier, but was unable to enter
the women's jail in the city due to the inaccessibility of the
governor. "We don't want to push the authorities into a corner
as we need to work with them," Hakim stressed.
Commenting on the overall
situation of human rights in Afghanistan since the fall of the
Taliban, she said: "It's very difficult to point out one
specific province as being the worst for human rights, but times
have changed and people have hope now."
Hakim pointed out that
it was important not to lose sight of the country's history of
human rights violations. "We need to learn from the past
if the situation is to continue to improve," she said.
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