'Widespread Violence' At Heart Of Afghan Human Rights Problems: U.S

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پنجشنبه 26 حمل 1395 ساعت 11:07 نوشته شده توسط TOLOnews.com

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A new U.S State Department report says Afghanistan's most pressing human rights problems stem from "widespread violence," including indiscriminate attacks on civilians by armed insurgent groups and "torture and abuse of detainees by govement forces."

The 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released on Wednesday, also criticized "widespread disregard for the rule of law and little accountability for those who committed human rights abuses" in Afghanistan.

"The (Afghan) govement did not consistently or effectively prosecute abuses by officials, including security forces," the report said.

The report also said that women and girls in Afghanistan last year were subjected to "targeted violence" and "endemic societal discrimination."

Women who were "accused of so-called moral crimes" also faced "arbitrary arrest and detention," it said.

Secretary Kerry submitted the 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (commonly known as the Human Rights Reports) to the U.S Congress on Wednesday.

The reports, now in their 40th year, document the status of human rights conditions in 199 countries and territories around the world.

Mandated by Congress, the Human Rights Reports help inform U.S foreign policy and congressional allocation of foreign aid and security sector assistance. They also serve as a reference for other govements, inteational institutions, non-govemental organizations, legal professionals, human rights advocates, scholars, interested citizens, and joualists.

The 2015 Reports highlight the intensified global crackdown by an increasing number of states on members of civil society.

Addressing a press conference later in the day Kerry said: "I want to stress about the standard that is applied in the compiling of this report. The norms referred to in this report, in these reports, are universal norms. They are not something that we make up. They're not some arbitrary standard of the United States, which we seek to impose on people."

He added: "These are universal standards of human rights that have been adopted and accepted and are agreed to by most nations in the world, and even some nations that have agreed to them but violate them. These are the inteational standards."

He said: "The point that we make over and over again is that respecting human rights isn't just a moral obligation; it's an opportunity to haess the full energy of a country's population in building a cohesive and prosperous society. And it doesn't jeopardize stability; it enhances it."

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