- Title: 'Don't look away': ex Afghan diplomat tells UN special session
- Date: 24th August 2021
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) ROOM GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIR OF THE AFGHANISTAN INDEPENDANT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, SHAHARZAD AKBAR, SAYING: "The current draft resolution on the table today is a travesty. We have documentated that the Talibans advances came with so many executions, disappearances, restrictions on women, media and cultural life. This is not ancient history. This is earlier this month and this is today. Women in Afghanistan are been turned down from their offices by the Taliban, universities have been asked to discuss gender segregation possibilities, women are required to be accompanied by male members of their family in public, medias are not brodcasting music, journalists and activists are in hiding or in flee, formers members of Afghan national security forces are scared that of the worst and executions." ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIR OF THE AFGHANISTAN INDEPENDANT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, SHAHARZAD AKBAR, SAYING: "Please ensure this session has a credible and strong outcome. Please do not leave not this tomorrow or the next month, many I speak with in Afghanistan already fear that they might not have be here tomorrow. At our worst moments we call on you to do better.Thank you." ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S DEPARTMENT OF STATE, UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS UZRA ZEYA SAYING: "The protection of civilians, including women and girls, academics, journalists, human rights defenders, and members of ethnic, religious and other minority groups, must remain paramount. We condemn attacks on them and those seeking to aid them, including UN staff and humanitarian aid providers. Such attacks must stop immediately and all Afghan nationals and foreign nationals who wish to depart must be allowed to do so safely." FIJI'S AMBASSADOR WHO SERVES AS CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, NAZHAT SHAMEEM KHAN TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINA'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UN IN GENEVA, CHEN XU, SAYING: "The facts has once again proven there is no solution by solving a problem using force and military means, and will only cause serious harm to regional security, stability and the human rights of the local people.The United States, Britain, Australia and other countries' military forces in Afghanistan need to be held accountable on human rights abuse issues. The resolution adopted by this special meeting should cover this issue. China has always respected the rights of the independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, and has never interfered in Afghanistan internal politics and has always engaged with all the people of Afghanistan in an amicable way." GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) ROOM
- Embargoed: 7th September 2021 13:23
- Keywords: Taliban executions UN
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003ERN3Z9J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Shaharzad Akbar, chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, told the UN human rights council on Tuesday to "not look away", after the U.N. human rights chief said that she had received credible reports of serious violations committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, including "summary executions" of civilians and Afghan security forces who have surrendered.
The United States condemned attacks that it said were being carried out against civilians, journalists, activists and minority groups, but did not name the Taliban.
But China's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Chen Xu, said that the U.S. army and the militaries of other coalition partners, including Britain and Australia, should be held accountable for alleged rights violations their forces committed in Afghanistan.
Michelle Bachelet gave no details of the killings in her speech to the Human Rights Council, but urged the Geneva forum to set up a mechanism to closely monitor Taliban actions.
Independent U.N. human rights experts, in a joint statement, said that many people were in hiding as "the Taliban continues to search homes door-to-door" and that seizures of property and reprisals were being reported.
(Production: Noemie Olive, Yiming Woo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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