Human rights violations are rife in our society. For instance, a woman suffers from domestic violence, her daughter is harassed sexually on the street, her son loses his life in suicide bombing on the way to school and her graduate son cannot gain a job due to serious nepotism. Women are considered inferior, children are abused and extremism victimizes the soldiers and the innocent civilians here, there and everywhere. These challenges are experienced bitterly in our society, despite the piercing slogans and big claims of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
In the preamble of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, big and mouth-watering claims are stated as: The General Assembly recognizes that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, human rights should be protected by the rule of law, friendly relations between nations must be fostered, the peoples of the UN have affirmed their faith in human rights, the dignity and the worth of the human person, the equal rights of men and women and are determined to promote social progress, better standards of life and larger freedom and have promised to promote human rights and a common understanding of these rights.
Even though, Afghanistan is a member of the Human Rights’ Declaration, “the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights” of the citizens are under questions. Moreover, freedom, peace and justice are the citizens’ dream come true to be achieved. As previously mentioned, citizens are killed in cold blood by Taliban insurgents, women still lose their bread-winners, children are orphaned, and the challenges increase with each passing day.
Seemingly, the mouth-watering slogans of the presidential candidates were only a flash on the pan and the citizens’ hopes are on the wane. In other words, the candidates paid lip service to democracy and the president has failed to determine his cabinet members – despite the high insecurity across the country. So, the political upheaval remains a serious issue for the citizens without an effective reaction from the officials. This is a major factor which leaves the way open to the violation of inalienable rights of citizens – especially the rights to life and liberty.
Human rights’ violation does not necessarily mean to use violence, to injure one physically or to take one’s life; however it also includes discrimination in an office, mocking one on the street, hurting one’s feelings by your sharp tongue, etc. To answer the question that where human rights begin, Chair of the United Nations Commission Eleanor Roosevelt said, “In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
The equal rights of man and woman is also stressed upon and the discrimination is forbidden in the Constitutional law of Afghanistan. As a result, it is mentioned in article 22, “Any kind of discrimination and distinction between citizens of Afghanistan shall be forbidden. The citizens of Afghanistan, man and woman, have equal rights and duties before the law.” Additionally, the natural rights, which is bestowed by the Creator, is also referred to in article 23 of this Law as, “Life is the gift of God as well as the natural right of human beings. No one shall be deprived of this except by legal provision.”
Article 23 is very similar to the aphorism of the US Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1776, which declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Considering this fact, the validity and rationality of Afghanistan’s law is beyond doubt, but the law is not enforced as it must be. For instance, it is said that everyone is equal in the eye of the law, however the opposite is practiced. The rich and the influential commit crime and violate others’ rights with impunity, whereas the law is enforced severely on the poor. In such a case, discrimination appears and equality disappears. Likewise, one is deprived of his/her natural rights, particularly rights to life, without any reaction from the officials. The terrorist victims are the worst example for this fact. In spite of the heavy attacks carried out by the Taliban insurgents, no mechanism is thought up by the officials to curb this challenge.
Hence, the officials are urged by the Afghan citizens not to turn blind eyes to their challenges. The Afghan National Unity Government is supposed to end this issue without further waste of time. Hope, the Afghan officials feel the pain of the victims’ families and heal the wounded hearts of the mothers, who has lost their children, through planning an effective mechanism to curb the country’s issues and prevent from the violation of rights.