INDIA’S INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT TO UNITE NATIONS

STUDY GUIDE

COMMITTEE: UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS

COUNCIL
AGENDA: DISCUSSING THE HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN
 MANDATE
A United Nations organization, the Human Rights Council (UNHRC), is responsible for
making sure that human rights are promoted and safeguarded worldwide. The council's goal
is to address instances of human rights breaches and offer options for reform. Racial fairness,
freedom of association, religion, speech, and the rights of ethnic minorities are just a few of
the subjects that the council can weigh in on.
At least three times a year, the council meets in the United Nations Office in Geneva. The
original United Nations Commission on Human Rights was succeeded by the Human Rights
Council, which adopted the commission's interventionist approach. This meant that they
would keep resolving human rights issues by interposing in the political affairs of another
nation, having the power to impose penalties or particular policies, or changing trade systems.

INTRODUCTION
Human rights are a necessary standard of conduct drawn from ethical principles. Ideally,
these rights would be recognised as fundamental human rights that everyone has a right to
and would be safeguarded by both international and domestic law. Regarding race, sex,
nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status, these principles remain the same.
However, social structures are such that one chooses to treat those outside of their own
“groups” differently since they find comfort in those communities. The reason for the
formation of a judgement of a group lies in a phenomenon called illusory correlation, where
the characteristics of a few people from a minority group are conflated with the inherent traits
of the community. This correlation is sometimes lauded as fact, creating a cycle of
radicalisation and misinformation among the different collectives. This leads to prejudice
towards minority groups and bias based on the innocuous characteristics of another person or
community, which may quickly evolve into a conflict of a greater magnitude.

Human rights violations refer to the manifestation of this conflict, particularly when a
majority community is using their greater influence and size to marginalise a minority
community. This marginalisation can be characterised by unequal treatment, prosecution,
surveillance, economic disparity, exploitation, and more. The Taliban took over Afghanistan
in August 2021 and imposed policies severely restricting basic rights—particularly those of
women and girls. The Taliban regime is a radical Islamist movement that dictates the control
of women under the guise of their protection, as well as the condemnation of Hazaras, an
ethnic minority, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Taliban
The Taliban, specifically the Afghan Taliban, is a Sunni Islamist nationalist and pro-Pashtun
movement founded in the early 1990s, ruling approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996
to 2001. Their philosophy is a haphazard fusion of rigorous religious philosophy, particularly,
Deobandi traditionalism and Wahhabi puritanism with a traditional Pashtun social code
(Pashtunwali) resulting in a severely oppressive rule. Its policies included draconian criminal
penalties, the near-total ban of women from public life, referring to employment and
education, and the systematic destruction of non-Islamic artistic artefacts. The Tajik, the
Uzbek, and the Hazara ethnic groups in the north, west, and centre of the nation, who
perceived the dominance of the primarily Pashtun Taliban as a continuation of the ancient
Pashtun supremacy of the country, were particularly vocal detractors from the Taliban
regime.
The Taliban has been known to provide refuge to terrorist organisations, particularly
al-Qaeda1, posing a threat to regional and international security. The Taliban is known to have
a dissonance between actions and commitments, most notably, assuring al-Qaeda and ISIS
would not find refuge in Afghanistan, however, no steps against their presence have been
taken.

HISTORY
The Soviet Invasion
The Soviets entered neighbouring Afghanistan in 1979, attempting to promote the newly
established pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. Close to 1 lakh soldiers took control of Afghanistan’s
major cities and highways, with immediate action taken against rebels and their supporters.
The rebel forces were largely Mujahideen, self-proclaimed defenders of Islam, who fought on
behalf of the faith or the Muslim community. In the span of the nearly decade-long conflict,
nearly 10 lakh civilians died, as well as 90 thousand Mujahideen fighters 18 thousand Afghan
troops, and 14 thousand Soviet soldiers. In 1992, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from

1
A network of foreign-born Muslim fighters during the Afghan War, who evolved into a network of Islamist
militants who sought a violent struggle to free the Islamic world from non-Muslim influence.
the country, civil war continued to rage in Afghanistan. During this conflict, the newly
formed Islamic State of Afghanistan was unable to seize control, rendering the country
disoriented.
The Taliban was founded during the period of unrest, by Mullah Mohammad Omar, who first
recruited 50 students, a majority of whom were military personnel during the Afghan-Soviet
War. The reason for the creation of this group was Omar’s belief that power struggles
between rival Afghan groups that did not uphold the moral principles of Islam were to blame
for the suffering of the Afghan people. They had been instructed in their religious schools
that they should strictly follow Islamic law, attributing peril to an absence of complete and
absolute faith. Within mere months, over 15 thousand students joined the group. Thus began
the Taliban’s campaign to conquer Afghanistan, rapidly amassing popularity in the lawless
state.

The Afghan Civil War

A large majority of people were in support of the Taliban in the early stages of their rule,
since they were responsible for curbing the existing corruption and injustice in the
government. However, since the dominance of the Taliban entailed a Pashtun state,
non-Pashtun groups continued to demonstrate resistance. The Taliban was augmented by
volunteers from various Islamic extremist groups sheltering in Afghanistan, including
al-Qaeda, many of whom were Afghan-Arab holdovers from the earlier conflict. The group
soon controlled all but a small portion of northern Afghanistan, which was administered by
an unconsolidated coalition of mujahideen forces known as the Northern Alliance.

The Surfacing of Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda was founded by Osama bin Laden as a network to support Muslims fighting against
the Soviet Union during the Afghan War, however, it soon evolved into a militant group that
aimed to purge what its leaders considered corrupt Islamic regimes and foreign presence in
Islamic land. The group wasn’t originally based in Afghanistan but was welcomed by the
Taliban militia and recruited from the many dispersed Islamic militant groups in fractured
Afghanistan. The group waged war against the United States, responsible for many terrorist
attacks on U.S. embassies, warships, and bases. Most notably, al-Qaeda staged the September
11 attacks on the U.S. World Trade Center in 2001. This attack is considered the primary
catalyst for the 20-year-long Afghanistan War.
The U.S. War in Afghanistan
Soon after, in 2001, a U.S.-led coalition invaded Afghanistan, and with the support of troops
from Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, the Taliban regime was overthrown in a mere two
months. However, the Taliban regrouped and launched insurgency multiple times in response
to the U.S.'s efforts to establish a new Afghan government. After a decade of rising and
falling combat and phases of escalation, the USA and NATO began to gradually reduce the
number of troops that were deployed in the country. The focus then shifted to negotiations
and the building of infrastructure to support civilian security and prevent unrest. After
another decade of negotiations and violent conflict, in 2020, the USA and Taliban signed an
agreement that guaranteed the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in exchange for
security.

The Resurgence of the Taliban

Soon after the withdrawal of USA troops from Afghanistan, by mid-2021, the Taliban had
seized control of more than half of the country after having led a major takeover. By August
2021 the Taliban controlled every major city in Afghanistan, leading to the dissolution of the
Afghan government. The Taliban troops occupied the Presidential palace after the leaders of
the fallen Afghan government fled.

CURRENT SCENARIO
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Several human rights, such as the rights to labour, education, and the freedoms of expression,
assembly, and association, have been continuously, methodically, and shockingly rescinded as
a consequence of the policies they have imposed on the Afghan population. Concern has
grown as a result of credible reports of repeated executions, widespread arbitrary
incarceration, torture, and other ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary displacement. Women and
girls, members of racial, religious, and other minorities, those with disabilities, those who
have been displaced, LGBTQ+ individuals, human rights activists and other members of the
civil society, as well as former government and security employees, are those who have been
impacted the hardest. Many Afghans who had worked with the U.S. and NATO fear
retribution from the Taliban, notably the non-Pashtun ethnic minorities, from which the
Hazaras are most persecuted.

Women’s Rights
The Ministry for Women's Affairs (MoWA) has been abolished by the Taliban and replaced
with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which passed
suppressive and punitive directives on the rights of women and girls. Women who resist these
restrictions are met with forcible detention and brutality.
Secondary school attendance for girls continues to be prohibited, as does postsecondary
study. Before the complete barring of women, women attending universities had to study in
gender-segregated classrooms while donning head-to-toe covers. Higher education was all
but unreachable for them since they had trouble signing up for classes, failing the national
university entrance exam, and occasionally being turned away from university premises.
Additionally, certain subjects are off-limits to female students. Presently, only primary
schools are available for women and girls.
Women have not been allowed to participate in government at any level or hold any high
positions in the civil service, according to the Taliban leadership. Authorities routinely
impose regulations that forbid women from travelling or leaving their houses, including to go
to work without a male family member accompanying them, a requirement that was
unfeasible for virtually all families. In addition, authorities established rules mandating that
women's faces be covered in public, including female TV newscasters, and they stated that
male family members would be held accountable for a woman's violations of the laws
governing her freedom and attire. This led to family members restricting the rights of female
relatives out of fear of reprisals by the Taliban authorities.
Taliban troops allegedly subjected some women and their family members to torture or
beatings, and arbitrary imprisonment, and used excessive force on many occasions to disperse
women participating in public demonstrations against Taliban policies or laws. Some of the
women who were detained, even those who were running from abuse, were accused of the
vague and imprecise “crime” of “moral corruption.” The Taliban officially imposed their
limited and stringent interpretation of sharia law across the nation, therefore the applicability
of earlier laws remained mostly uncertain after their takeover. As protests persist, Taliban
police increasingly put up barriers in the route of demonstrators and detained journalists who
try to cover the protests.
Children’s Rights
Aside from the barring of young girls from their education, onlookers have also raised
concerns regarding the recruitment of young minors for dangerous militia groups. At least
1/4th of Afghan children between ages 5 to 14 work for a living or to help their families. In
Afghanistan, children typically work long hours for little or no compensation. They work as
bonded labourers in brick kilns, weaving, as welders, in mines, in agriculture, and as
peddlers. Children who work are either unable to attend school at all or are forced to balance
the demands of employment with their education. Many children are forced to leave school
early due to work. Of the child labourers in Afghanistan, just half go to school.
Many youngsters in Afghan families are forced into dangerous jobs due to their extreme
poverty which is exacerbated by the constant political tension, making Afghanistan one of the
world's poorest nations. The main causes of chronic poverty and, consequently, child labour
include homelessness, illiteracy, high unemployment, ongoing armed conflict in most of the
nation, and the subsequent absence of able-bodied male adult workers in many families.

Ethnic Minority Rights

Ethnic minorities have been a longstanding subject of persecution in Afghanistan, with most
non-Pashtun communities being continually repressed. Of these groups, the Hazaras are the
most oppressed under Taliban rule. A majority of Hazaras are Shi’a Muslims, in comparison
to the majority Sunni population, which is the largest cause for their marginalisation. The
location of the majority diaspora of Hazaras is usually cut off from basic amenities, including
water, electricity, and food rations. Threats in the form of eugenicist militant organizations
like ISIS directly perpetuate the discrimination of the population. These people are victims of
abduction, extortion, and large-scale massacres. This has become especially prominent after
the Taliban’s resurgence because a majority of the Hazara population was a part of the
Northern Alliance, which sided with the U.S. during the Afghanistan War. Not only is their
population declining as a result of these massacres, but also their cultural identity and
property. The de facto capital of the Hazara population, Bamiyan, was bombed and raided of
the communities cultural artefacts. While members of ethnic minorities were appointed
government positions after international criticism, their roles are largely as figureheads, and
their designation is mostly regarded as tokenism.
LGBTQIA+ Rights
LGBTQ+ people in Afghanistan also face severe oppression from the government and are
forced to keep their sexual orientation and/or gender identity private for fear of persecution,
in the worst case, the death penalty. Under the imposed Sharia law, even discussion of
homosexuality is deemed taboo, and any dissenters will likely be victims of harassment and
violence. Religious and government authorities have been known for going out of their way
to lure homosexual men by infiltrating social media platforms, after which they would most
likely rape and kill them. The continuous marginalisation of the LGBTQ community has
incited an exodus, with many LGBTQ people hoping to flee to more tolerant nations.
However, very few LGBTQ Afghans escaping Afghanistan are known to have reached a safe
country.

Media Censorship
As the Taliban established an increasingly threatening atmosphere and forced numerous
media outlets to close, the space for free media was severely reduced. Many journalists began
to self-censor as a result of the increasing constraints they encountered, which included
arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, and torture in response to reports that criticised the
Taliban. While in custody, journalists endured beatings and other types of abuse. Numerous
journalists left the nation. Television reporters who were women were forced to hide their
faces almost entirely.
The national human rights organization, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission (AIHRC), remained closed, and there was far less room for civil society
organizations to record and report on human rights. Free operation of independent human
rights organizations was prohibited. When people criticised the Taliban on social media,
especially Facebook, the Taliban wrongfully imprisoned and arrested them.
Any area intended for non-violent protest, or assembly was destroyed by the Taliban, and any
attendees found would be arbitrarily jailed, tortured or forcefully vanished using excessive
force. Protesters in detention endured psychological and physical abuse. The area for freedom
of assembly was further reduced when family members forbade female relatives from
participating in protests for fear of negative consequences.
 PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
SRAK
The SRAK, an underground school founded by Parasto Hakim (pseudonym), is a collection
of young women and children who are pursuing an education while it is restricted by the
Taliban. While this solution is a treatment of a symptom rather than the cause, it provides a
foundation for a community, and Hakim insists that it is the best way to fight against the rule
of the Taliban. This network of schools, educates around 400 girls across eight Afghan
provinces with the help of 150 teachers and staff, with constant efforts to recruit more.

UNAMA
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is a UN venture where the
protection of human rights and safety of Afghan civilians is the aim. The UNAMA can
achieve this through unbiased monitoring of civilians during conflict to report harm and
defend innocent casualties. They aim to report on aspects of women’s rights and work on the
elimination of violence against women and girls. The UNAMA also engages with detention
authorities at the national and sub-national level, to ensure adequate detention conditions, the
prevention of torture and the protection of detainee rights. This organization keeps
monitoring and reports on media freedom, which facilitates information access and educated
responses to societal problems, as well as fundamental freedoms (opinion, expression,
peaceful assembly, and association). They monitor conditions for media professionals, human
rights advocates, and members of various racial and religious groups.

UNHCR
The UNHCR has proposed multiple steps that can be taken by the international community to
support the Afghan population and cease human rights violations in Afghanistan. These
initiatives are as follows:
● Ensuring political engagement with all Afghan interlocutors creates a human
rights-centred and gender-integrated approach.
● Bridging the funding gap of the humanitarian response plan, and devising ways to
provide aid that directly reaches the Afghan people, including displaced populations
and host communities.
 ● Supporting investigation and accountability mechanisms for human rights violations
to avoid their recurrence and address impunity and other irregularities in the country’s
judicial system
● Granting refugee status to all Afghan women and girls based on human rights
violations against them stemming from the discriminatory policies and practices
instituted by the de facto authorities.
● Stepping up the commitment to Afghan refugees and migrants by ensuring that
refugee status can be granted based on the gender apartheid, that refugees and
migrants are received in a dignified manner and that they are protected against
refoulement.
● Backing initiatives by Afghan women leaders and thinkers, and other civil society
groups, operating inside and outside Afghanistan to explore practical avenues to
promote human rights values and principles.

BLOC POSITIONS
India
India is against human rights violations and condemns the human rights violations in
Afghanistan. India has always been interested in the well-being of people living in
Afghanistan and strives to ensure people get equal rights. India condemns the recent laws
imposed on women by the Taliban government. It keeps track of the human rights violations
in Afghanistan and has a clear interest in a stable and well-governed Afghanistan, not least to
prevent spillover into Kashmir. India intends to reduce human rights violations and ensure a
fair government in the country.

USA
The United States has ceased to provide aid for Afghanistan's rehabilitation since the Taliban
took control of the country in August 2021. To help meet basic human necessities and prevent
a total and inevitable economic collapse, the United States has altered the nature and scale of
its operations in Afghanistan. Thus, it is now concentrating on humanitarian aid and targeted
support. In furtherance of these initiatives, the United States has taken the lead in the global
response to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people via NGOs and UN agencies, and it
has contributed at least $775 million in aid. In the priority areas of food security/agriculture,
health, and education, the United States has intensified its efforts to meet the fundamental
needs of Afghans and deliver life-saving humanitarian aid. Beyond providing for the most
fundamental needs, the US has funded initiatives aimed at advancing human rights in
Afghanistan, especially for women, girls, and marginalized communities. The largest single
source of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan continues to be the United States.

Pakistan
The Pakistani government has consistently refuted claims that it offers military assistance to
the Taliban about the latter's vast activities within Afghanistan. Pakistan stands out among all
the foreign powers involved in attempts to maintain and control the ongoing fighting for the
breadth of its goals and the intensity of its efforts, which include soliciting financial support
for the Taliban, financing their operations, acting as the Taliban's virtual envoys abroad,
arranging for fighter training, hiring both skilled and unskilled labour to serve in their armies,
organizing and leading offensives, supplying and facilitating fuel and ammunition shipments,
and on multiple occasions appearing to provide direct combat support. Pakistan has
additionally encouraged the establishment of an Afghani government that would lessen
Pakistan's susceptibility to domestic a state of flux by assisting in taming the nationalist
ambitions of tribes whose lands overlap the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistan transferred the majority of the funds and assistance it received during the Soviet
intervention to Islamist organizations due to other internal considerations. In particular,
Pakistan aimed to prevent Pashtun nationalism organizations from becoming more powerful
in case they decided to split off Pakistani and Afghan territories to create an independent
Pashtun state.

United Arab Emirates

The fact that the Taliban is the only de facto administration in Afghanistan has caused
contention for the UAE. Abu Dhabi has viewed the circumstance as a chance to demonstrate
its humanitarian credentials and enhance its standing as a vital ally to Western countries. This
is demonstrated by Abu Dhabi's provision of food and relief supplies to Afghanistan, as well
as the UAE's aid with the evacuation of foreign diplomats and 28,000 Afghans during the
Taliban takeover.
There has been a careful balance in terms of politics. President Ashraf Ghani was welcomed
by the UAE, on the one hand. Nevertheless, in its initial response to the Taliban's takeover in
2021, Abu Dhabi referred to “brotherly people” in Afghanistan, and the Taliban claimed that
Abu Dhabi forbade Ghani and other members of his overthrown administration from
participating in political activities in Emirati territory. Conversely, Emirati authorities have
not held back from denouncing the Taliban's breaches of women's rights, even as they laud
some of the Taliban's declared commitments to moderation under Sharia law.

SUGGESTED MODERATED CAUCUS TOPICS

1. Discussing the formal recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as a
government.
2. Analysing the direct impact of the gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
3. Formulating a Framework to Support displaced and marginalised people in
Afghanistan
4. Discussing the implementation of a legal framework to prevent impunity.
5. Discussing the ways the international community can support Afghan women and
other civil rights organisations.
6. Discussing media censorship in Afghanistan and its impact on public perception of
the country.
7. Discussing the prevention of child recruitment into armed groups.
8. Analysing the efficiency of various attempts to address human rights violations in
Afghanistan.
9. Discussing the implementation of Sharia law and its impact on non-Sunni minorities.
10. Discussing the state of fundamental rights under Taliban rule.

RESEARCH LINKS
(Note: Delegates, some of the links are only meant for light reading and thus are not
highlighted, only refer to the highlighted sources as valid proof as others may or may not be
accepted as a source of proof in the Council. The decision of the Presiding Officer in regards
to the acceptable sources is Final and Binding. )
1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/al-Qaeda
2. https://www.britannica.com/event/Afghan-War
3. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/08/the-soviet-war-in-afghanistan-1979-1989/
100786/
4. https://www.dni.gov/nctc/groups/afghan_taliban.html
5. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan#chapter-title-0-3
6. https://www.britannica.com/event/Afghanistan-War/U-S-troop-surge-and-end-of-U-S-
combat-mission
7. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_8189.htm
8. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/
report-afghanistan/
9. https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/08/afghanistan-un-human-rights-expe
rts-denounce-idea-reformed-taliban
10. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/07/experts-taliban-treatment-women-may-
be-gender-apartheid
11. https://unama.unmissions.org/human-rights
12. https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/01/26/even-if-you-go-skies-well-find-you/lgbt-p
eople-afghanistan-after-taliban-takeover
13. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/26/afghanistan-taliban-target-lgbt-afghans
14. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/afghanistan
15. https://www.hrw.org/asia/afghanistan
16. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm
17. https://www.unhcr.org/in/countries/afghanistan
18. https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/15/they-bear-all-pain/hazardous-child-labor
-afghanistan
19. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/afghanistan
20. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-afghanistan/