The 54th Session of the Human Rights Council

11 September - 13 October 2023 

Item 2: ID on OHCHR report on Afghanistan

12th September 2023 

Joint Statement with International Organisation for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)

Delivered by Martin Browne / GICJ

Thank you.

Those responsible for perpetrating the violations outlined in the OHCHR report are not in the room with us – victims cannot voice their criticism directly to the de facto authorities of Afghanistan.

The return of the Taliban was however linked to policies and military occupation of some States in this room. It is a stain on the human rights records of those States that they do not offer enough help such as opening accessible safe migration routes available for Afghans to seek asylum in the countries which ruled over them for so long.

Since 2022, reports of attacks against minorities have tripled since the takeover. Ethnic and religious minorities, especially groups such as the Hazara community, are persecuted and severely affected by the endless restrictions on freedom which have not yet culminated, more severe measures are promised every week.

At the intersessional meeting last year on Education in Afghanistan there was widespread agreement on the term ‘gender apartheid’. It is deplorable that so little action has followed those words expressed. The Taliban continue to attack the right to education – chopping off at the knees, the chance, the hope of the next generation that they will be able to live in a better world.

EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice support Afghanis in their long, lonely, fight. We strongly condemn the disproportionate repression of their freedoms. Every State here today, but particularly those with legacies of occupying Afghanistan must share the burden of trying to remove the Taliban from power once again.