MOSCOW, December 3 (Sputnik) — The international community should urge Afghanistan not to avert any further deterioration in the country's human rights record, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
"Afghanistan needs sustained political and financial backing to strengthen human rights and rule of law. Donors and the new unity government must ensure that human rights are at the heart of reforms undertaken by the new Afghan unity government and donor assistance to Afghanistan," Richard Bennett, Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International, was quoted as saying in a statement published on the organization's website.
Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, was quoted as saying in a statement, issued by Human Rights Watch that "Foreign donors should act now to protect the gains achieved and reverse the failings in Afghanistan's human rights record."
The statements by the two watchdogs come amid an ongoing two-day conference in London during which Afghan authorities will detail their plans for development reforms, while aiming to garner support from the international community.
Daily Brief – pressuring #Afghanistan on rights, plight of women with disabilities in #India http://t.co/vIjQgGq7MN pic.twitter.com/EB3cNnTAve
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) December 3, 2014
Human Rights Watch stated that the government of Afghanistan should take "specific steps" to eliminate torture by the country's security forces and "advance women's rights" among other things.
Amnesty International, in turn, stressed that Afghanistan, too, should call on foreign donors to assist with its human rights record.
The watchdogs are afraid that the removal of the NATO-headed troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 would cut the commitment of foreign nations to the central Asian country. Human Rights Watch added that the newly elected president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani is pressured domestically to constrain women's rights and give high positions to people notorious for human rights offenses.
