A common view exhibits the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room, with the ceiling painted by Spanish painter Miquel Barcelo. (Photograph credit score: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP through Getty Photos)
AFP through Getty Photos
On October 6, 2025, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted, with out a vote, a decision on the human rights scenario in Afghanistan, which is to strengthen accountability efforts in Afghanistan. The decision, led by the European Union, paves the way in which to the institution of the unbiased investigative mechanism on Afghanistan that can acquire proof of worldwide crimes and essentially the most critical violations of worldwide legislation. That is the results of tireless advocacy by victims/survivors, human rights defenders and nationwide and worldwide organizations for the final 4 years. The brand new mechanism will add to the prevailing accountability efforts and one to counter impunity, which thrives underneath the Taliban de facto regime.
The brand new mechanism will acquire and protect proof of conflict crimes, crimes towards humanity, and different grave rights abuses; determine people accountable; and put together recordsdata that can be utilized to assist their prosecution in nationwide and worldwide courts. As such, the mechanism will do related work at the moment being performed by the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM) and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). Amongst others, the IIIM has been gathering, consolidating, preserving and analyzing proof of violations of worldwide humanitarian legislation and human rights violations and abuses in Syria and getting ready recordsdata so as to facilitate and expedite honest and unbiased prison proceedings. The proof collected this fashion has been utilized by prosecutors in no less than 12 jurisdictions and has helped to fight impunity, even at a time when it was clear that guaranteeing accountability domestically in Syria was not doable.
That is additionally the hope for Afghanistan. Because it stands, justice and accountability avenues in Afghanistan are nonexistent, with the Taliban de facto authorities in energy. Nonetheless, this may occasionally change sooner or later. The earlier the proof is collected and preserved, the higher the probabilities this the proof might assist to make sure justice sooner or later. Moreover, as authorized avenues in Afghanistan are nonexistent in the meanwhile, the proof collected via the brand new mechanism may very well be utilized in different jurisdictions, together with via the precept of common jurisdiction. The precept of common jurisdiction permits for the prosecution of crimes comparable to genocide, conflict crimes, crimes towards humanity, torture and enforced disappearances dedicated on overseas territory by individuals who will not be nationals of the jurisdiction in query. Amongst others, using common jurisdiction enabled German home courts to prosecute members of Daesh (often known as the Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL) for genocide and crimes towards humanity and perpetrators of torture and different worldwide crimes in Syria. Whereas it’s probably that the brand new physique will be unable to enter Afghanistan to gather proof, the precedent of the IIIM exhibits that, in lots of instances, efficient proof assortment may be performed remotely.
The brand new physique is predicted to take a complete strategy to investigating worldwide crimes dedicated by all people, together with the Taliban management, provincial administrators, governors, and different officers, accountable for finishing up edicts and insurance policies that violate worldwide legislation, such because the Propagation of Advantage and Prevention of Vice legislation, and a litany of different human rights abuses, together with these accountable for the denial of girls and women of their rights. The decision additional gives a foundation for investigating members of worldwide forces, non-state armed teams, and others accountable for critical abuses and violations in Afghanistan.
Moreover, the newly adopted decision extends the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan to have the ability to proceed monitoring and reporting on the scenario in Afghanistan, complementary to the work of the brand new mechanism.
Commenting on the event, Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, mentioned: “International locations on the UN Human Rights Council have collectively despatched a powerful message of their resolve to make sure that these accountable for critical worldwide crimes in Afghanistan now or up to now will sooner or later face justice in court docket. It’s essential for the brand new mechanism to rise up and operating shortly in order that it might probably start to gather, put together, and protect proof, and construct recordsdata on these accountable for worldwide crimes in Afghanistan.”
The brand new mechanism is to be established at a time when different worldwide our bodies targeted on the scenario in Afghanistan, such because the Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC), are subjected to important pressures. The ICC, which is wanting into the scenario in Afghanistan and worldwide crimes perpetrated by all actors since 2003, is topic to a number of sanctions imposed by the Trump Administration in accordance with an executive order launched by President Trump in February 2025. Amongst these sanctioned are the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang, six judges presiding over numerous levels within the proceedings in regards to the conditions in Afghanistan and Palestine, amongst others. In September, information shops reported that the ICC, as an entity, could also be sanctioned, with doubtlessly catastrophic results on the ICC as an entire. The sanctions on these engaged on the scenario in Afghanistan are a response to the priority that the ICC would examine alleged crimes dedicated by the US navy since 2003. Whereas the ICC didn’t exclude the chance and confirmed that every one alleged crimes dedicated in Afghanistan since 2003 are inside its jurisdiction, lately, the ICC has been prioritizing the crime of gender persecution as perpetrated by the Taliban towards girls and women within the nation. This work has resulted in two arrest warrants being issued by the ICC. Because it stands, there isn’t a suggestion that the ICC would search arrest warrants towards US officers.
The brand new UN mechanism for Afghanistan is a much-needed step to deal with the ever-growing variety of human rights violations in Afghanistan. The havoc caused by the Taliban is not going to final endlessly. So long as the proof is collected by the brand new mechanism, justice and accountability will probably be secured sooner or later – whether or not in Afghanistan, different international locations, or by worldwide courts.
