Human rights have been reportedly violated to a large extent and the bleeding nation suffered great challenges in 2015. Amnesty International (AI) has recently released that terror, civilian casualties, violence against women and other criminal activities had increased and National Unity Government (NUG) failed to fight crime and prosecute the perpetrators. AI also expressed deep concerns over the rise in terror and violence and said that hundreds of civilians had been killed or injured. Similarly, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said that human rights, mainly women’s rights, have been largely trampled upon over the past year despite the priority given for safeguarding their rights.
Historically, mankind has fought to protect his rights and dignity. A myriad of people sacrificed their life to break the chains of slavery and to gain freedom. Rivers of blood streamed to maintain liberty and dignity. Violating man’s natural and inalienable rights, has constantly outraged man’s conscience and led to catastrophic wars. People preferred death to subjugation and humiliation. Finally, the men’s painful experiences of war and bloodshed were combined with the survival of natural rights’ theories to be resumed in human rights’ frame. In other words, natural rights, which were weakened by the conceptual confusion, high ambitions and strong criticism of positivists, were recovered in international instruments and here claim to decrease the pain and suffering of men and provide the human society justice, freedom and peace. Therefore, the theories of natural rights survived the historical challenges and crossed that tortuous path successfully. Ultimately, Human Rights’ law was established to curb the life-threatening challenges and mortal battles and claimed to bring universal peace.
It is aptly stated in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. It further adds that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people…. it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law….”
Human rights are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights “to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being,” and which are “inherent in all human beings” regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone. They require empathy and the rule of law and impose an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others. They should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances, and require freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture and execution.
Considering the terror and insurgencies and lack of justice in judicial system, a large number of Afghans suffer from having their rights violated. The Chief Executive Officer of the National Unity Government (NUG) Abdullah Abdullah said last year that he was not satisfied with the performance of the government over the past few months, adding that justice was also not being implemented in the judicial system. He believed that without respecting human rights and maintaining justice in its true spirit, it would be impossible to move the country toward longstanding peace and stability – an issue which was stressed constantly by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).
Afghanistan has committed to observe the UDHR, as it is said in the preamble of Afghanistan Constitution, “We the people of Afghanistan Observing the United Nations Charter as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights….” Moreover, men and women are entitled to equal rights in the Constitution as it declares in article 22, “Any kind of discrimination and distinction between citizens of Afghanistan shall be forbidden. The citizens of Afghanistan, man and woman, have equal rights and duties before the law.”
The National Unity Government has to ensure that the rights and dignity of all Afghan men and women are protected and address the challenges going on across the country. The officials should consider that with the establishment of NUG, political instability and economic stagnation have been intensified and civilians suffered the bulk of insurgencies. Moreover, a large number of Afghan people took refuge to foreign countries to avoid insecurity and economic crises.
Similarly, with the emergence of self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the rights of minority are imperiled further and their freedoms are curtailed on a large scale. People lost their lives on the grounds of their race, color and creed. In other words, sectarian violence is the product of ISIL presence which surfaced in the country last year.
Since there is no clear strategy to curb the challenges, people’s rights to life, liberty and property are still at stake and, constitutionally, the government is responsible to protect the rights of the public.