Advocacy for victims

Advocacy For Victims

International human rights law and international humanitarian law share the goal of preserving the dignity and humanity of all. Over the years, the UN General Assembly, the UN Commission on Human Rights and, more recently, the Human Rights Council have considered that, in armed conflict, parties to the conflict have legally binding obligations concerning the rights of persons affected by the conflict.

Although different in scope, international human rights law and international humanitarian law offer a number of protections to persons in armed conflict, whether civilians, persons who are no longer participating directly in hostilities or active participants in the conflict. These bodies of law have been recognized, inter alia, by international and regional courts, as well as by United Nations organs, treaty bodies and human rights special procedures. Both bodies of law apply to situations of armed conflict and provide complementary and mutually reinforcing protection.

During the cold war period and in particular, in recent decades, armed conflict has destroyed the lives of millions of civilians. Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are common in many armed conflicts. In certain circumstances, some of these violations may even constitute genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. In the past 20 years, governments, rebels, politicians, diplomats, activists, demonstrators and journalists have referred to international humanitarian law and human rights in armed conflicts. But the violation of both bodies of law, continues. Afghanistan is a clear example of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in armed conflicts.

Afghanistan, conflict and serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law

Afghanistan is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions on Human Rights and all documents drafted, signed and ratified by the United Nations and its member states. Unfortunately, in practice, these conventions have always been violated in different scales.

The history of the last four decades shows that the armed forces of the Afghan governments, some anti-government war groups and some of the foreign forces stationed in this country have fearlessly trampled on international humanitarian law and human rights in wartime and committed acts that could be included within the definition of war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide. Unfortunately, so far the number of violations that have been prosecuted and punished is not large. The transitional justice program has been abandoned and instead the culture of impunity in the country is raging. Taliban is rebuilding its Emirate in villages in the north of the country, but the government is insisting on keeping the constitution and the republic in Afghanistan. As the fighting intensifies in the summer of 2021 by the Taliban, the number of civilian casualties is rising sharply. Russia, Iran and India have their own interests in Afghanistan. If the military vacuum created after the withdrawal of NATO leads to the Syrianization of the war in Afghanistan, the future prospects for Afghanistan will look bleak.

Advocacy for victims inside and outside Afghanistan

Fayaz foundation has played a small part in activities concerning advocacy for victims of violations of International human rights law and international humanitarian

law, by upholding their cause among Afghan diaspora. But the main advocacy work for Afghan victims is done by the following organizations:

· UN Human Rights Commission

· Afghanistan Independent Commission for Human Rights, based in Kabul.

· Transitional Justice Coordination Group (TJCG), based in Kabul.

· Social Association of Justice Seekers (SAJS) based in Kabul

· Afghanistan Human Rights & Democracy Organization (AHRDO) based in Kabul.

· Afghanistan Victim Rights Foundation (AVR) based in the Netherlands.

· End more.

These organizations have been able to document many of the crimes committed in Afghanistan over the past 42 years. The Transitional Justice Plan was developed with the assistance of the United Nations. But the governments of Afghanistan and the United States did not have the political will to implement the transitional justice program, which included the trial of suspects of war crimes. The cause of justice is still a long way from achieving its goals.