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Watchdog says now is not the time for donor countries to cut back on funding

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(Last Updated On: November 18, 2020)

Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the international community to remain “fully committed to protecting and building” on Afghanistan’s fragile human rights gains and to not cut back on funding.

In a statement ahead of this month’s donor conference in Geneva, Amnesty International said Afghanistan is at a critical juncture and that now is not the time for donor countries to cut back on funding.

The Geneva Quadrennial Pledging Conference on Afghanistan, a major donor conference where countries will pledge funding for 2021 through to 2024 will take place on 23-24 November.

The conference will be attended by representatives of more than 70 countries, international organizations and agencies. The conference will also set development objectives as well as secure funding commitments for Afghanistan.

Omar Waraich, Head of South Asia at Amnesty International said: “Afghanistan is at a critical moment. Even as there is talk of peace, violence continues to surge, claiming hundreds of civilian lives, the protection of human rights is nowhere on the political agenda, and COVID-19 continues to run rampant in a country with one of the weakest health systems in the world,” he said.

“International funding has been crucial to the limited but important progress we have witnessed on human rights in Afghanistan over the past two decades, but much more remains to be done. To ensure that these advances are not reversed, the Geneva Conference must maintain a focus on human rights objectives.”

“For its part, the Afghan government must demonstrate its ongoing commitment to defending human rights, safeguarding freedom of expression, and protecting minority groups,” Waraich stated.

As such, Amnesty International has called on participants at the Geneva Conference to set objectives and commit funding to key areas including the rights of women and girls, conflict and civilian casualties, internally displaced people, human rights defenders, and access to justice.

The organization stated that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan has vastly improved compared to under the Taliban regime. There are now 3.3 million girls in education and women are politically, economically and socially engaged. However, there remain major obstacles and challenges.

Violence against women is rife, the participation of women at all levels of government remains limited and, according to UNICEF, 2.2 million Afghan girls still do not attend school. Meanwhile, two decades of progress on women’s rights are at risk of being compromised through the peace talks.

“The Afghan government and donor partners must build on the hard-won gains made by Afghan women over the past two decades by making clear commitments to support programs to eradicate violence against women, strengthen women’s participation at all levels of government and increase girls’ access to education across the country,” said Waraich.

Conflict and civilian casualties was also a key area of concern and Amnesty International stated that the Geneva Conference is a key moment to reassert the central role that human rights must have in a future Afghanistan.

Waraich said: “Afghan civilians are paying a heavy price in this bloody conflict. The Geneva Conference participants must ensure that the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law is at the centre of the ongoing peace negotiations.”

“The conference should also emphasize that there must be accountability for serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by all sides in the conflict.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is yet another area of serious concern, especially regarding the high number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Afghanistan – IDPs who are living in densely populated camps with limited access to clean water, healthcare, sanitation and employment.

As pointed out by the organization, social distancing is impossible in the camps and the situation of IDPs has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Afghanistan.

In line with this Amnesty International also called on participants at the Geneva Conference to set objectives and make funding commitments to alleviate the plight of IDPs, through the provision of safe habitation and equal access to basic services.

Human rights was also a key concern and according to the organization activists are still risking their lives by speaking out.

“The Geneva Conference must push the Afghan government to deliver on its pledge [to safeguard human rights] and make a funding commitment to help roll out the mechanism across the country,” Waraich.

On the issue of access to justice, the organization stated that despite millions of dollars having been spent on improving access to justice for people in Afghanistan, the judiciary and legal system remains weak and unresponsive and perpetrators frequently go unpunished and their crimes uninvestigated.

“The Geneva Conference is a key moment to reassert the central role that human rights must have in a future Afghanistan. To achieve this, it must commit to credible and measurable benchmarks to monitor human rights progress and, crucially, make clear to all parties to the peace talks that human rights are non-negotiable,” said Waraich.

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MoI registers over 8,700 criminal cases in the past six months

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Abdul Matin Qani, the Ministry of Interior’s spokesman said on Thursday that in the last six months, 8,747 criminal cases have been recorded across the country.

Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Qani said of these cases, 7,233 have been solved while the remaining 1,525 are still being investigated.

He said 12,540 people have been arrested in connection with these crimes.

In addition, 21 kidnappers have been killed, 18 hostages have been freed and 172 people have been arrested in connection with kidnappings in the same period of time.

Qani also said in the last six months 837,000 passports have been distributed. He said three new passport offices will be established in Kabul in the near future.

“10,000 passports are distributed to citizens daily by the Passport Department,” said Qani.

On the issue of narcotics, he said drug cultivation, production and trafficking has been eradicated. He said drug manufacturing equipment and 377 drug factories have been destroyed across the country.

According to him, the ministry has also made advances in collecting illegal weapons, fighting corruption and improving police skills.

Qani stated that during this period, no security incidents took place in most provinces across the country.

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TAPI gas company CEO satisfied with project’s progress

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

The minister of mines and petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar met with the executive director of the TAPI project and the ambassador of Turkmenistan in Kabul on Thursday to discuss progress around the key project.

Murad Amanov, head of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project, expressed his satisfaction with the recent progress of the project and talked about the practical roll out of the project.

Delawar said that the preliminary work of TAPI is progressing quickly and that the pipeline will be put into operation in the near future.

TAPI is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh – TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with participation of the Asian Development Bank.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.

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UK’s Mercer faces 10-day deadline in Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

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(Last Updated On: March 27, 2024)

Johnny Mercer, the former UK Minister for Veterans Affairs, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations that British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.

British media reported on Tuesday that Mercer, following his allegations regarding the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces, was ordered to reveal the sources of his information.

The BBC reported that a public inquiry commissioned by the UK government into the actions of its forces in Afghanistan has directed Mercer to disclose the names of individuals who leaked information to him about alleged war crimes and cover-ups by special forces, or he may face imprisonment.

Although separate investigations have sought to verify these claims, the British government has yet to officially confirm them.

Earlier this month, Mercer, who served in military missions in Afghanistan, told the court that despite the information he possesses, he cannot confirm the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces between 2010 and 2013.

In court, he also stated that the claim British soldiers killed unarmed civilians in their sleep does not contradict his findings, but he admitted reluctance to believe it.

According to Mercer, British forces were allegedly instructed to carry an unregistered weapon — one not associated with NATO forces — to place next to the unarmed Afghan individuals they had killed.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the countries that had troops in Afghanistan for 20 years all committed war crimes.

Mujahid stated that if the investigation carries on, it will be a big step and that the crimes committed should be investigated transparently.

“The crimes that have been committed should be investigated transparently because this was not the work of a few soldiers but a plan that was drawn and crimes were committed in Afghanistan,” he added.

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