Human Rights in Afghanistan

A Continuing Tragedy

A Brief Introduction

More than twenty years of war and devastation has had a profound impact on every aspect of Afghan life.  Perhaps the greatest tragedy of this seemingly never-ending conflict has been the violation of the most basic rights accorded to an individual.  By any standard, today Afghans, men, women, young and old are victims of the policies of the various warring groups and their foreign patrons. 

Violation of Afghan Women Rights

• Here come the Taliban 

  • Banning of basic education to Afghan girls.

  • Easier to enforce clothing attire than feeding the hungry and war-ravaged Afghan mothers.

• How the Afghan women faired under the rule of the opposition in the mid 90's

  • Amnesty International's annual report for 1994: A record of shame!

 Reports

• NEW Human Rights and Reconstruction in Afghanistan, By Center for Economic and Social Rights
  (75 pages)

• Amnesty International Reports

  • NEW Report on the Yakawlang massacres

  • Report for the tragic year of 1994

• Reports from the Human Rights Watch Group

• U.S. Dept. of State Reports

• Assasinations of Afghan notables in Pakistan

 Analysis: Papers

• NEW The Politics of Abandonment, by Sima Wali, Spring 2001:  In addition to the poverty that has long characterized Afghanistan, since l979 it has suffered the on-going brutalities of war and internal strife. Under the Taliban regime, women in particular have been subjected to a severe form of government and deprivation of many basic human rights.

• NEW Unveiling the Taleban Dress Codes Are Not the Issue, New Study Finds, By Sonia Shah

• Female Employment in Afghanistan: A Study of Decree #8 by Matthew Fielden and Sippi Azerbaijani-Moghadam (February 6, 2001)

• Afghan Women and Women in Islam: Parallels and Divergences , by Helena Malikyar, New York University, Dec. 1998.