On the eve of World Human Rights Day, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has emphasized that Afghanistan must respect all the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In a social media message posted on Saturday, December 3, UNAMA marks the “countdown to 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)” on December 10. The UNAMA tweet pointedly notes that Afghanistan has signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adding, “All Afghans deserve freedom, equality and dignity.”
And notably, the message includes a bold green image stating, “No one has the right to torture me,” which is Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the official wording is “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”) That message was shown in three languages: Farsi-Dari, Pashto and English.
Although the Office of the United Nations Assistant in Afghanistan did not mention the Taliban in its social media post, it has previously criticized the Taliban’s discriminatory treatment of women and its lack of respect for the fundamental rights of the Afghan people. In September, Markus Potzel, the head of UNAMA, marked the first anniversary of the Taliban’s exclusion of girls from high school by bluntly calling it a “tragic, shameful, and entirely avoidable anniversary” while also saying it has “no credible justification and has no parallel anywhere in the world.”
As well, on Friday, December 2, a team of UN experts said that the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls may be a crime against humanity. The group, which includes Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, wants an investigation and prosecution under international law.
Since the Taliban regained power, there have been reports from across Afghanistan of the regime engaging in widespread and arbitrary torture and public floggings of men and women, some which have been posted on social media. In addition, many activists and protesters have been arrested by the Taliban, vanishing into their detention system.
There is no indication that the Taliban will honour Afghanistan’s commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its supreme leader has asserted that the Taliban Emirate does not abide by any human-made laws. They only abide by sharia laws as interpreted by its own cadre of mullahs. The Taliban supreme leader also declared his decrees are also Sharia and obligation of which is must.
In words and actions, the Taliban reject international laws and does not believe in rights and human dignity for anyone. Their main method of governance is brutality. All ordinary Afghans, particularly the majority who are poor and downtrodden, live in fear of the Taliban. Anyone, at any time, for any reason, could be roughed up.
In a recent meeting with the Taliban judges, the Taliban leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, has emphasized enforcing “hudud and qisas” according to Islamic sharia. In the Taliban’s interpretation, “hudud and qisas” can include lashing, amputating, and stoning to death in front of public crowds. After that announcement, there have been more reports that the Taliban are flogging people in sports stadiums.
Though the Taliban’s spike in public brutality has been widely condemned by international human rights organizations, the regime’s spokespeople reject the criticisms, calling them insults to Islam.
Some experts believe that the Taliban is using its implementation of sharia and hudud punishments as a bargaining chip with the international community to get foreign aid and recognition in return for holding off from enforcing the worst parts of its beliefs.
