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U.N. Official Presses Karzai on Rights Panel Appointees U.N. Official Presses Karzai on Rights Panel Appointees
(about 5 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — The top United Nations human rights official emerged from a meeting Tuesday with the Afghan president without hoped-for assurances that he would reverse his decision to pack the country’s human rights commission with political appointees. KABUL, Afghanistan — The top United Nations human rights official emerged from a meeting with the Afghan president on Tuesday without hoped-for assurances that he would reverse his decision to pack the country’s human rights commission with political appointees.
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, was also generally critical that progress on human rights and women’s rights in the country was endangered, in part because officials were more focused on political concerns in the run-up to presidential elections next April. The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, was also generally critical that progress on human rights in the country was endangered, in part because officials were more focused on political concerns in the run-up to presidential elections next April.
“There have been some human rights achievements during the past 12 years, but they are fragile, and many Afghans are expressing fears that the overall human rights situation is deteriorating on several fronts,” Ms. Pillay said during a news conference on Tuesday at the end of a two-day visit here. “There have been some human rights achievements during the past 12 years, but they are fragile,” Ms. Pillay said during a news conference on Tuesday at the end of a two-day visit here. “And many Afghans are expressing fears that the overall human rights situation is deteriorating on several fronts.”
Human rights activists have been particularly alarmed by President Hamid Karzai’s appointment of five new commissioners to the nine-member Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. None of the five were on a list proposed by civic and human rights groups, and they included a former Taliban mullah, a politician from the country’s leading fundamentalist party, Jamiat-i-Islami, and a police general. Human rights activists have been particularly alarmed by President Hamid Karzai’s appointment of five new commissioners to the nine-member Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. None of the five were on a list proposed by civic and human rights groups, and they included a former Taliban mullah; a politician from the country’s leading fundamentalist party, Jamiat-i-Islami; and a police general.
Ms. Pillay had already warned publicly that the appointments might lead to the commission’s being downgraded in its status internationally, which in turn could lead to its international financing’s being cut off. Ms. Pillay had already warned publicly that the appointments might lead to the commission being downgraded in its status internationally, which could in turn lead to its international financing being cut off.
“This would be a very serious and regrettable setback for one of the current Afghan government’s most notable achievements in the area of human rights,” she said.“This would be a very serious and regrettable setback for one of the current Afghan government’s most notable achievements in the area of human rights,” she said.
In her meeting with Mr. Karzai on Monday, Ms. Pillay said she again asked the president to rescind those appointments. Ms. Pillay said that in her meeting with Mr. Karzai, she again asked him to rescind those appointments.
“I made convincing arguments for him,” she said. “I left in the hope that he will revisit the matter. He did not specifically say that he would.”“I made convincing arguments for him,” she said. “I left in the hope that he will revisit the matter. He did not specifically say that he would.”
The Afghan human rights commission has often angered members of the political elite, particularly the many former warlords with dubious human rights records who hold powerful positions in Afghanistan’s governing institutions. The Afghan human rights commission has often angered members of the country’s political elite, particularly the many former warlords with dubious human rights records who hold powerful positions in Afghanistan’s governing institutions.
Ms. Pillay also praised Mr. Karzai for what she called “his strong public stand against the use of torture in numerous Afghan detention facilities.” But she also noted that such torture continues to be common, and “there has not been a single successful prosecution of a state employee for torture.” Ms. Pillay also praised Mr. Karzai for what she called “his strong public stand against the use of torture in numerous Afghan detention facilities.” But she also noted that such torture continues to be common, and that “there has not been a single successful prosecution of a state employee for torture.”