Human Rights in Afghanistan

The Bonn Agreement of 2001 established the Independent Afghan Human Rights Commission to investigate human rights abuses and war crimes. However, in the early 2000s some types of human rights violations have continued, particularly outside the region controlled by the central government. The National Security Directorate, Afghanistan’s national security agency, has been accused of running its own prisons, torturing suspects, and harassing journalists. The security forces of local militias, which also have their own prisons, have been accused of torture and arbitrary killings. Warlords in the north have used property destruction, rape, and murder to discourage displaced Pashtuns from reclaiming their homes. Child labor and human trafficking remain common outside Kabul. Civilians frequently have been killed in battles between warlord forces. Poor conditions in the overcrowded prisons have contributed to illness and death among prisoners; a prison rehabilitation program began in 2003. In the absence of an effective national judicial system, the right to judicial protection has been compromised as uneven local standards have prevailed in criminal trials. The government has limited freedom of the media by selective crackdowns that invoke Islamic law and has encouraged self-censorship. The media remain substantially government-owned. The nominally lesser restrictions of the 2004 media law have been criticized by journalists and legal experts, and harassment and threats continued after its passage, especially outside Kabul. No registration of religious groups is required; minority religious groups are able to practice freely but not to proselytize. Women’s right to work outside the home, including political activity, has received increasing acceptance in the early 2000s. However, conservative elements in the judiciary have demanded separate education of the sexes and a strict dress code for women. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Warlords may refer to: The plural of Warlord, a name for a figure who has military authority but not legal authority over a subnational region. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, or ethnic Afghan; in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan) are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India who follow Pashtunwali, their indigenous religion. ... Child labor or labour is the term for the employment of children. ... Trafficking in human beings (or human trafficking) involves the movement of people (mostly women and children) against their will by means of force for the purpose of sexual or labor exploitation. ... A view of the old city Kabul Kabul (34°32′N 69°10′E, Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ... Sharia (Arabic شريعة also Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law. ...

See also

• Abdul Rahman

Note that Abdul Rahman is a common name; see the Abdul Rahman article for others with that name. ...