December 10th is marked as human rights day across the globe. In Afghanistan celebration of human rights week started on December 7th and will end today. The purpose of the week is to highlight the issues pertaining to human rights in Afghanistan and create awareness among people so that they know more about their rights. Such celebrations are highly important for Afghanistan where human rights have been violated throughout its history. Over the last few decades Afghanistan has seen serious violations of human rights. USSR invasion, civil war and Taliban regime not only took lives of many humans but also restricted them from their basic rights such as freedom of speech, education and so on.

In connection to human rights week, a number of events have been held in Kabul to cover issues like freedom of speech, corruption and its impacts on human rights, women rights and access of Afghans to justice. On Sunday, a gathering on human rights was held at Kabul University with the support from UNDP. Participants from Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) criticized the government for failing to implement justice and prosecute those who have been involved in serious violation of human rights.

It is pertinent to mention here that certain warlords who have been involved in serious violation of human rights during 90’s civil war have grabbed important positions in the current government rather than being questioned on their crimes. After the ouster of Taliban regime from government in 2001, hopes that the condition would improve grew among the people. It was thought that as the government will get more powerful, certain warlords who were involved in mass killing, abuse and torture of civilians would be prosecuted. Not only that did not happen, but also such people have been given positions in the government and politics of Afghanistan. Even there are concerns that few of the presidential nominees have practices violation of human rights in some way or the other.

Now the ball is in people’s in court. The next presidential election provides them an opportunity to elect the right person who can bring violators of human rights to justice. Before the election takes place, human rights and civil society organizations must bolster their programs at creating more awareness among the people on the issues of human rights. One of the rights the people of Afghanistan have is that they can vote. Therefore, they must utilize it in an efficient way.