In the name of Almighty Allah
CSHRN statement
About the increasing violence against women in Herat province
December 19, 2013
Herat-Afghanistan
The western Herat province of Afghanistan has recently been witnessed of heinous and inhuman acts against women. The incident happened with Sitara; a young lady has shocked all the people across the country and hurt the conscience of Herat society. Some cruel people having no basic mercy against women and mothers, always commits the worst and the most heinous and inhuman acts in our society. They forgot that they are born of those mothers, whom they are violating against, while women have been valued and are of high dignity in Qur’an. These criminals do not know that inhuman and cruelty acts and behaviors against women and mothers are against the Islamic principles and human values. They harm the human values and make themselves the most hideous and disliked persons in the society.
The western office of CSHRN and other human rights defenders and activists shortly after hearing this shocking news, commenced protests and indicated their abhorrence against this inhuman act. On the other hand, the reports of the western office of civil society & human rights network of Afghanistan indicate that violence and inhuman acts against women have increased in Herat province. Our studies and observations from the hospitals and meetings with the victims clearly indicate that most of the victims are suffering family violence.
The Civil Society & Human Right Network of Afghanistan acknowledges that if such inhuman treatments are not prevented and its perpetrators are not punished and bring to courts, then Herat province will face a huge catastrophe against women. According to the constitution, civil code and international obligations, the Afghan government is required to protect and respect women’s rights. The Convention on discrimination against women, International Convention on Civil & Political Rights and United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1325 requires the Afghan government to obey the women’s rights in their social environment and reject any kind of gender discrimination.
The UN recommendations on periodic report of human rights in Afghanistan and the report of women’s situation in Afghanistan stated that the government should plan some constructive programs of women’s rights implementation and promotion in the structures of households, society and government. The recommendations further expressed its deepest concerns over the unpleasant condition of women in Afghanistan and that the Afghan women are victims of the inhuman treatments especially gender discrimination.
The Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan urgently asks the Government of Afghanistan to:
– Assign a special mission of security, justice and civil for prosecuting crimes against humanity against women, that will be responsible for assessing and checking the causes and consequences of such crimes in order to punish the perpetrators. Addressing such issues can be a great lesson for all of criminals who are against the human rights values;
– The victims of crimes against women should be paid serious attention, we would like to ask MOPH and other international aid agencies to pay their serious attention to hospitals in Herat province and address the difficulties of victims;
– We want the local courts, trails and legal institutions of Herat province to continuously keep tracking of violence and crimes against women and never let the criminals to carry out their inhuman acts without any punishment.
– We ask the security forces to ensure security of the families and make efforts for arresting the criminals, and avoid any kind of negligence toward the crimes against humanity. People and particularly the women should trust the police and report crimes and identify the criminals to the legal institutions and prosecution centers.
– We would like to call on media, civil society institutions, intellectuals and citizens of Afghanistan to jointly work on this worthwhile campaign and never let the human rights values to be hurt.
In Hope of an Afghanistan Free of Violence!