Spotlight: Afghans denounce human rights abuses by militants, foreign troops - Xinhua | English.news.cn - Xinhua

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KABUL, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The war-weary Afghans have expressed anger at repeated abuses of human rights by militants and foreign troops, calling for bringing the perpetrators and violators to justice.

"The Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militants and the U.S. troops have been involved in human rights abuses within the past 18 years. They had committed scores of violations of ordinary Afghans rights but none of the perpetrators had been brought to justice," Kabul resident Ahmad Fahim told Xinhua on the occasion of the Human Rights Day which falls on Dec. 10.

"The militants bombed the cities by suicide car bombings and terrorist attacks, killing innocent civilians and U.S. forces bombed villages killing women and children," he said.

"The U.S. and NATO forces claim that they are civilized people; they claim they are supporters of human rights but they do not act on what they say. They are killing people under the pretext of war on terror," Fahim added.

"The Taliban and IS militants are targeting wedding parties, and they are even targeting funeral ceremonies. The U.S. forces are doing the same by conducting airstrikes in the countryside."

Earlier on Tuesday, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) held a ceremony to mark the day, where the participants called for more efforts to uphold human rights of Afghans in the war-hit Asian country.

"Great achievements had been gained for upholding human rights in Afghanistan within the past 18 years. However, more efforts are needed and the government in coordination with all national and international organizations must work more in this field," Second Afghan Vice President Sarwar Danish said at the event.

He noted that "conflicts emerging from religious and ethnic ideas had been the main challenges for ensuring of human rights in Afghanistan."

"We celebrate the Human Rights Day and National Day of Remembrance for victims of war today. Our current need is to be realistic about failures and shortcomings by safeguarding human rights in Afghanistan, we must do more effective works to ensure our achievements and gains are safeguarded, based on the lessons learned from the past," Shaharzad Akbar, chairperson of AIHRC, told the ceremony on Tuesday.

"The work of the AIHRC and its co-coordinating bodies on the prevention of torture, the rights of persons with disabilities, the rights and demands of victims of war, the fight against violence against women and children are essential steps to reduce the scope of conflict and create lasting peace in Afghanistan," she noted.

Baryali Khan, a resident from eastern Paktia province, told Xinhua that in addition to the militants, the security forces and foreign forces had also been responsible for scores of civilian casualties incidents within the past years.

"A U.S. drone strike killed a mother with a newborn together with people who were accompanying them from a hospital to a village in Paktia province just a couple of weeks ago. But no investigation was launched and they people had not been notified about the details of the strike."

In mid-November, U.S. President Donald Trump has granted pardon to two U.S. army officers accused or convicted of war crimes in Afghanistan, he said.

"After I heard this piece of news, I thought, Trump's move will undermine the military justice system. And the move will undermine the trust of Afghans for justice system either in government or foreign military justice," he opined.

"Morally, the victims' relatives must decide on the fate of U.S. soldiers, or anyone else who are involved in killing innocent Afghans, but not the U.S. president," he said.

Khan said in neighboring Nangarhar province "the U.S.-led coalition force conducted an airstrikes in September this year, killing 30 farmers and daily labors who were collecting pine nuts on a mountain," but no legal action has been taken so far.

"It is violation of human rights and escaping from the accountability," Khan said.

A villager from eastern Logar province told Xinhua that the U.S. forces have also conducted scores of erroneous airstrikes against Afghan troops on the ground.

"The U.S. and NATO forces also killed scores of our soldiers by airstrikes which they called friendly fire incidents," Zaman Ahmadi said.

"The incidents of friendly fire caused by human error and mistakes had repeated many times. Four army soldiers were killed and six others wounded by a friendly fire incident in Logar in early November, but no U.S. or NATO force service members have been brought to justice for such incident," he said.

More than 2,560 civilians were killed and over 5,670 others injured in conflict-related incidents in the first nine months of this year, according to figures released by the United Nations mission in the country.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has attributed 62 percent of the civilian casualties to the Taliban and other militant groups, 20 percent to Afghan security forces and 8 percent to foreign forces over the period, while 10 percent were attributed to both sides.

"The United Nations continues to work with Afghanistan's institutions, including the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), in supporting the implementation of the country's international human rights obligations, its constitutional framework as well as relevant domestic laws," said a statement issued by UNAMA on Tuesday.

The statement noted that the Human Rights Day was a distinct opportunity "to commend all those individuals, civil society organizations and groups actively engaged in promoting human rights for all, often at the risk of their own security."

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