WUNRN
Amnesty International
Website Link Includes Video.
Direct Link to Full 7-Page Report:
AFGHANISTAN - 10 YEARS ON - SLOW
PROGRESS & FAILED PROMISES
4. Elimination of Violence against Women
7. Access to Health and Maternal
Mortality Health
8. Access to Education
The conflict has left nearly 450,000 internally displaced
people in
6 October 2011
Ten years after a US-led military invasion removed the
Taleban from
“Hopes were high in Afghanistan in 2001 following the international
intervention but since then human rights gains have been put at risk by
corruption, mismanagement and attacks by insurgent groups who have shown
systematic contempt for human rights and the laws of war,” said Sam Zarifi,
Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific director.
“Today, many Afghans dare to hope for improvements in human rights in their
country. The Afghan government and its international supporters must back these
hopes with concrete action to defend them.”
An Amnesty International scorecard on the state of human rights in
However, progress on justice and policing, human security and displacement had
stagnated or even regressed, Amnesty International found. Afghans living in
areas heavily affected by the insurgency have seen a serious deterioration in
their conditions.
The development of a small but vibrant community of journalists and the modest
re-entry of women into schools, the workplace and the government are all signs
of the progress made over the last ten years.
However, violence against journalists and media workers has increased. In areas
heavily affected by the Taleban and other insurgent groups, freedom of speech
and opinion are severely curtailed.
Without the restrictions imposed by the Taleban, access to education has also
significantly improved since 2001. There are now 7 million children attending
school, of whom 37 per cent are girls. Under the Taleban there were less than a
million students and almost no girls were allowed to attend school.
However, in the nine months leading up to December 2010 at least 74 schools in
“The Afghan government and its partners can’t continue to justify their poor
performance by saying that things are better than during the 1990s. Wherever
Afghans were given security and financial assistance, they overcame tremendous
obstacles to improve their conditions. But too often promises of assistance
were not kept,” said Sam Zarifi.
Initial improvements made after 2001 have been significantly harmed by the
burgeoning conflict, as insecurity hinders the work of schools and clinics in
conflict areas and rural communities. Maternal mortality rates in
At the start of 2010 the Afghan government began a reconciliation process with
the Taleban and other insurgent groups. But a 70-member “High Peace Council”
body established to negotiate with the Taleban has only nine women members and
Afghan women’s groups have expressed their fear that their modest gains will be
traded away in exchange for a ceasefire.
“It’s vital we don't sell out women’s rights in expedient peace deals. The
peace process in
In the last decade increasing numbers of Afghan civilians have been injured
during armed conflict. Over the last three years, around three-quarters of
civilian casualties have been caused by attacks by insurgent groups, and the
rest by international and Afghan forces.
The UN documented 1,462 civilian deaths in the first six months of 2011,
another record high. 80 per cent of these deaths were attributed to
“Anti-Government Elements”, with IEDs and suicide attacks, accounting for
almost half of all civilian deaths and injuries.
The conflict has left nearly 450,000 internally displaced people in
“The Afghan government’s international allies, including the