KABUL - Second Vice president Sarwar Danish on Thursday assured the public that the rights of citizens – and especially women's rights – would be protected by the National Unity Government (NUG) during planned peace talks with the Taliban.

This comes after concerns were raised that the NUG would compromise on human rights issues.

Danish however also called on the country's courts to closely implement laws prohibiting violence against women. But he said that in order for the citizens to access justice, reform is still needed in judicial institutions.

"The second season of the constitution is our red line, meaning that in regards to the [issue of] Human Rights, whether with peace issues or any other issues we cannot simply let it go," he said.

Danish said the current situation in terms of women's rights in the country was shameful and re-iterated that need for laws prohibiting violence against women to be closely implemented.

Danish emphasized that if reform is not brought to the judicial institutions, it will be hard to bring justice. This was "in response to some of the views that have been discussed ... that this law would be in contradiction or conflict with the Sharia law".

"The main issue is reform, which must take place in the judicial system of the country, and if these reforms do not take place, we will face problems in many other areas to implement justice or rule of law or standards of human rights" says Danish.

Meanwhile, the Independent Human Rights Commission speaks of extensive corruption in the judicial institutions and emphasizes that formation of good governance is the route to security, peace and human rights.

"We had witnesses at the Human Rights Commission that a judge had taken bribes in the case of a girl in Kabul, in the capital. And after a number of attempts we were able to get a divorce for the girl, due to the violence against her. Government then stripped the judge of his authority and sent him to work as an editor in another part of the country," said Seema Samar,

The organization is also concerned about the level of impunity in the country and said many corrupt violators of human rights work in senior government positions. (Tolonews)