The situation of human rights in Afghanistan has always worried the sensitive individuals, the human rights organizations, civil society, media and the international community. Decades of instability has proved to be the basic reason behind the evident violations of human rights. As most of the energies and attentions have been diverted towards security, little consideration has been given to the issues of human rights. After the downfall of Taliban, there were expectations that the country would defeat the evident human rights violations. Though, certain headways were made in this regard, major breakthrough could not be observed. Therefore, many issues still prevail and threaten the status of human rights in the country. Moreover, the role of the current government in facing the challenges of human rights violations is not considered to be satisfactory.   
Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed in its recent report that the Afghan government had not made any considerable achievements in improving human rights in 2016 and that internal political rifts and the lack of political will could put the achievements of the past 15 years in jeopardy. The report said that 8,000 civilians were killed and thousands of families left their homes due to insecurity in 2016. Moreover, in the first nine months of 2016, 12 journalists were also killed. The report disclosed that most of the deaths were because of the insurgents; however, public uprising belonging to politically powerful men also led to the deaths and injuries of innocent civilians.
In response to these facts and figures the role of the National Unity Government (NUG) was controversial as the leaders were caught up in a power struggle and HRW senior researchers have warned if the NUG does not bring necessary reforms, the last 15 years’ worth of achievements will be lost. Immediate and large scale improvements are required regarding security, governance, justice and equality. Innocent people are being killed with no one to answer; there are serious issues like poverty, unemployment and corruption that are proving to be the main ingredients of a discriminatory setup; while, justice and law and order have gone out of the reach of the common people. At times, when the law and order system should come to play its role to curb discrimination, there is a huge gap, which further nourishes distrust and sows the seeds of long-term instability that would further debilitate the situation of human rights. 
Afghan government needs to play a tremendous role in the area of human rights because of the basic reason that there have been evident violations of human rights on Afghan soil and they have even continued after so much emphasis and efforts. Every day there are incidents that show clear violation of human rights and make the headlines in the national and international media. There are many other cases that are never brought to the attention of law enforcement officials or media. There are many districts in the country that are closed and do not allow the news of discrimination of human rights, particularly women rights, to leak. Therefore, many cases go unnoticed. Looking at the plight of human rights in Afghan society, it is really important that the Afghan government must do something more than promises and commitments.
In addition to the responsibilities of the government there should be efforts to raise awareness on individual level. The individuals must have proper information and knowledge about their rights and responsibilities and how can they make efforts for them. Because of the prevailing ignorance most of the people in the country cannot even think about a prosperous society, wherein all the citizens have their due rights. They even do not know that there are certain countries in the world that have most of the facilities of life and they have developed so much that now they have reached to skies to discover them. However, the situation in our country is so that if a clergy announces that man is mortal and he can never reach to the skies and the claims of the developed countries of the world are nothing than white lies, they will definitely believe him with respect and complete obedience.
However, they need to understand that they have to be vigilant and understand that they are being fooled. Their thoughts are being confined and their emotions are being betrayed. They are being utilized in the name of religion and history. Now, they have to realize that their responsibilities are to declare clearly that they are no more ready to be fooled and to be utilized by others. Their rights are to announce their hatred for ignorance, poverty, conservative ideas, slavish thinking and growing hypocrisy. They need to fight against the prevailing injustice and all the efforts that try to keep them away from their basic human rights. They should say no to the darkness and try to follow the light as it is the only way that they can live their life with prosperity and dignity