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05 October 2001
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5 October 2001
Statement
by
Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
TO
Forum on Afghan Refugees and Displaced Populations
Chairperson,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Once again, I am joining my colleagues in the UN Agencies and Departments to address the serious situation in Afghanistan and indeed the region.
The terrible problems of the people of Afghanistan did not begin on the 11th of September. For a long time, the people of Afghanistan have been living under the scourges of one of the most intense conflicts. They have been denied basic rights and they have been subjected to widespread and systematic abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law by all the warring Afghan parties. Civilians have been the primary victims of the fighting, particularly those living in the front line areas. They have been subjected to summary executions, indiscriminate use of landmines, bombing in urban areas, arbitrary detentions, the deliberate burning of settlements and the forced and compulsory recruitment of children as well as adults as combatants. This serious situation of impunity needs to be addressed and I am working with the Special Rapporteur on the situation in Afghanistan to tackle this issue.
Today, foremost in our minds is the serious humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the surrounding countries with the associated massive displacement of men, women and children as refugees and internally displaced persons. In such times of crisis, civilians look to the United Nations to protect their rights as and their needs. They expect us to assist them during the harsh days when they are most vulnerable and insecure. They expect us not only to provide them with emergency food and shelter, but also to protect their lives, dignity and basic humanity. They expect us to ensure their safety and to help them in returning to their homes and families. They expect us to bring to justice those who are responsible for international crimes and look to us for assistance in building a just, tolerant, and non-discriminatory society. We must be able to deliver on these expectations.
Today, I am sending a small mission to Pakistan to discuss with our UN colleagues how best to support and enhance the human rights framework for protection in the immediate emergency context. I look forward to working within the UN context, particularly with Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, as the Secretary General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, and the rest of the colleagues to see how we can be of most help.
In these challenging times, we need to be mindful of the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law and to take all measures to protect the civilian populations, especially the millions of children and women in Afghanistan. We need to cling hard to our common human values and to continue in practical ways to reaffirm our faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, as the peoples of United Nations determined in the Charter. Perhaps this is, in a true sense the worst of times and the best of times -- perhaps the people of Afghanistan will at last get the attention they deserve.
* *** *
Statement
by
Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
TO
Forum on Afghan Refugees and Displaced Populations
Chairperson,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Once again, I am joining my colleagues in the UN Agencies and Departments to address the serious situation in Afghanistan and indeed the region.
The terrible problems of the people of Afghanistan did not begin on the 11th of September. For a long time, the people of Afghanistan have been living under the scourges of one of the most intense conflicts. They have been denied basic rights and they have been subjected to widespread and systematic abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law by all the warring Afghan parties. Civilians have been the primary victims of the fighting, particularly those living in the front line areas. They have been subjected to summary executions, indiscriminate use of landmines, bombing in urban areas, arbitrary detentions, the deliberate burning of settlements and the forced and compulsory recruitment of children as well as adults as combatants. This serious situation of impunity needs to be addressed and I am working with the Special Rapporteur on the situation in Afghanistan to tackle this issue.
Today, foremost in our minds is the serious humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the surrounding countries with the associated massive displacement of men, women and children as refugees and internally displaced persons. In such times of crisis, civilians look to the United Nations to protect their rights as and their needs. They expect us to assist them during the harsh days when they are most vulnerable and insecure. They expect us not only to provide them with emergency food and shelter, but also to protect their lives, dignity and basic humanity. They expect us to ensure their safety and to help them in returning to their homes and families. They expect us to bring to justice those who are responsible for international crimes and look to us for assistance in building a just, tolerant, and non-discriminatory society. We must be able to deliver on these expectations.
Today, I am sending a small mission to Pakistan to discuss with our UN colleagues how best to support and enhance the human rights framework for protection in the immediate emergency context. I look forward to working within the UN context, particularly with Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, as the Secretary General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, and the rest of the colleagues to see how we can be of most help.
In these challenging times, we need to be mindful of the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law and to take all measures to protect the civilian populations, especially the millions of children and women in Afghanistan. We need to cling hard to our common human values and to continue in practical ways to reaffirm our faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, as the peoples of United Nations determined in the Charter. Perhaps this is, in a true sense the worst of times and the best of times -- perhaps the people of Afghanistan will at last get the attention they deserve.
* *** *