Overview of Human Rights in Afghanistan

In the years since the ousting of the Taliban, Afghanistan has made progress in stabilizing its system of governance, but still continues to suffer from serious instability in its infrastructure. Afghanistan faces increasing violence from insurgents in some areas and warlords in others. Insecurity and lawlessness continue to hamper efforts towards peace and security in the region.

Nearly 80 percent of the world’s heroin was produced in Afghanistan in recent years. Narcotics production as well as drug and human trafficking brought substantial revenue to the Afghan economy, making the black-market economy the single greatest source of income for the nation. Warlords and drug traffickers contribute to the constant resistance to the rule of law in the nation.

Afghanistan’s Constitutional Loya Jirga adopted a new constitution in January 2005. While this document did contain several human rights guarantees, it lacked specific safeguards to protect against both government and individual human rights abuses.

In May 2005, 16 protestors were killed by both police and army troops during demonstrations in several cities. These deaths have yet to be brought to justice.

Today, armed groups also continue to commit abuses against civilians, including abduction, rape, and murder.   As well, terrorism and violence by resurgent Taliban and extremist allies has been on a steady increase in recent years, with civilians being the victims in many cases.  Justice regarding these and other crimes appears to be elusive.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

Not ranked

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.