The UN Rights Council opens a historic investigation into violations of human rights in Afghanistan
Targeting both Western soldiers and the Taliban, the UN Human Rights Council has begun a comprehensive probe into violations in Afghanistan.
A comprehensive inquiry of human rights violations in Afghanistan has been approved by the UN Human Rights Council, which may pave the way for future criminal indictments of the Taliban as well as international troops, including US forces.
The investigation, which was started by a European Union proposal and approved in Geneva on Monday without a vote, intends to collect evidence for future legal actions. It is comparable to current UN investigations into suspected war crimes in Syria and Myanmar and is one of the Council’s most robust kinds of inquiry.
Diplomats verified that the probe would be “comprehensive” and time-independent, allowing for assessment of the acts of international soldiers during the two-decade struggle, even though the proposal does not specifically name foreign forces. Prior to 2021, the United States rejected international control of its operations while maintaining a military presence in Afghanistan under NATO.
US President Donald Trump refused to comment on the EU-backed proposal and pulled the US out of the Geneva-based rights organization. “The United States government will not tolerate international organizations that attempt to exert unlawful jurisdiction over American troops,” a State Department official said ahead of Monday’s approval, restating Washington’s long-standing position.
The ruling has been praised as a landmark by rights activists. Human Rights Watch’s Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher, called it “a significant step that could break a decades-long cycle of impunity.”
The inquiry will be coordinated with the current investigation into Afghanistan by the International Criminal Court (ICC). After Washington placed sanctions on the ICC in 2020 for its investigations into Afghanistan, the court had earlier deprioritized alleged crimes committed by US forces.
Such an independent investigation has been called for for years by Afghan and international human rights organizations, particularly as the Taliban curbed freedom of expression and imposed restrictions on women. The Taliban authorities, however, argue that they safeguard rights in keeping with their view of Islamic law.
Some countries expressed concern about the initiative’s expense, despite its widespread support. In light of the UN’s continuous financial difficulties, China’s representative, Wang Nian, criticized the $9.2 million, three-year budget, referring to it as “unbalanced.”
If the probe is successful, it may help address Afghanistan’s legacy of war, occupation, and unpunished violations and pave the way for long-overdue accountability.
