Universal Periodic Review 46: UK Statement on Afghanistan
The UK's Permanent Representative to the WTO & UN, Simon Manley, delivered a statement at Afghanistan’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.
Thank you, Mr Vice President.
The UK thanks the Permanent Representative and his team for their presence and engagement.
It is shocking to see how rapidly the human rights situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated since Afghanistan’s 2019 UPR, when the then-Afghan government accepted hundreds of recommendations, including on the rights of women and girls.
The situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is of course dire. Access to secondary education, to higher education, to public and political spaces, and to many employment opportunities are all denied by the Taliban. UNAMA has recently reported that these restrictions are increasing. The Taliban are targeting former government officials despite their announcement of a general amnesty. And they continue to target journalists – replacing an independent media with extensive censorship. This Council’s mechanisms have drawn our attention to the brutal use of public floggings and executions and ongoing discrimination against minority communities.
We recommend that Afghanistan:
-
Lift the draconian restrictions on education and employment for women and girls.
-
Cease the arbitrary arrest and detention of journalists and release those already detained.
-
End the use of the floggings and other state-sanctioned cruel punishments, and abolish the death penalty.
Thank you.