21 January 2014
Afghanistan’s human rights situation regressed in key areas in 2013, increasing uncertainty about the country’s future, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014. Government policies on human rights were negatively affected by the end-2014 deadline for the withdrawal of international combat forces and the negotiations over US troop presence after 2014. Human rights concerns increasingly took center stage ahead of the planned April 2014 presidential election.
The Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai made a series of decisions in 2013 that undermined human rights, particularly those of women and girls, Human Rights Watch said. Taliban insurgents continued their campaign of targeted assassinations of government officials, including women. Security is of key concern in the run-up to the presidential election, having a particularly harmful effect on the participation of women who already have a severely limited role in Afghan political life.
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