ollowing the negotiated departure of international security forces and overthrow of the internationally backed government in Afghanistan, the Taliban ominously claimed freedom and sovereignty. They then went on to appoint an all-male cabinet comprising controversial figures under international sanctions for overseeing grave human rights abuses. The situation in Afghanistan—which has parallels with events in Myanmar some 2,000 miles east—presents several dilemmas for the rules-based international order overseen by the United Nations (UN) since the end of the Second World War.
In Myanmar, too an internationally recognized government was deposed this year. Myanmar’s military junta engineered a coup in February and imprisoned several elected politicians. The junta—suspected of committing crimes against humanity—presents multiple challenges for the UN’s Credentials Committee, which decides states’ representation at the UN General Assembly.
Already, governments in countries neighboring Afghanistan and Myanmar appear to have calibrated their positions with an eye on natural resources in the two countries and in line with perceived short-term geopolitical interests. Others with strategic influence in the two countries are deliberating ways by which they can overlook the abysmal human rights records of these two illegitimate governments under international law. All this runs counter to the UN Charter, which promises to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, safeguard fundamental human rights and dignity, establish conditions for justice under international law, and promote social progress and better standards of life.
The Taliban’s attempts to position themselves as more moderate than was previously believed have already been exposed by their brutal treatment of political opponents and protestors. They have a long history of using indiscriminate violence to spread fear and enforce their rule. The record shows that anyone seeking to promote inclusive values and expose the truth about their brutality is considered a target. Women human rights defenders, civil society leaders, and journalists have long been in the Taliban’s firing line. Earlier this year, the Afghan Human Rights Defenders Committee documented the killings of several civil society leaders and journalists with impunity. In July, Danish Siddiqui, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist covering a clash between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, was captured and executed by the Taliban. His body was mutilated.
After the fall of Kabul, lists of names of civil society activists were circulated by the Taliban who also raided their homes to intimidate them. The UN’s human rights chief raised alarm in August of credible reports of summary executions being carried out by the Taliban. A prominent Afghan politician and activist involved in the peace negotiations pointed out in vain that women were being forced to marry fighters and were being prevented from going out without a male companion.
The response from the international community has been apathetic. The UN Human Rights Council, the world’s premier human rights body, issued a weak resolution on 24 August following a one-day special session steered by Pakistan, on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation. The resolution expressed customary concerns about grave violations but failed to even mention the Taliban by name let alone mandate a fact-finding mission to identify perpetrators and report on atrocities taking place. Following the terrorist attack of 26 August on Kabul’s airport which killed over 150 people, the UN Security Council passed a resolution urging the Taliban to provide safe passage to anyone wishing to evacuate, allow access to humanitarian groups, and uphold human rights. But no plan of action was outlined for failure by the Taliban to comply.
In Myanmar too, international inaction fails the victims of violations. Since the military junta grabbed power hundreds of protesters have been killed with impunity. Thousands have been tortured, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned. Calls by national and international civil society groups for the imposition of an international arms embargo on the regime to curb it from attacking civilians remain ineffective. In June, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the military takeover and urging a halt to the flow of arms. The UN’s special envoy on Myanmar urged that time was of the essence to put the country back on the path to democracy. But the UN Security Council, the world’s most powerful body has looked the other way. Two of its veto-wielding governments—China and Russia—are unwilling to curb Myanmar’s junta and subject it to international scrutiny. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have also failed to address the crisis in any meaningful way, raising questions once again about their commitment to human rights and democratic values.
As in Afghanistan, civil society activists and journalists are prime targets for Myanmar’s regime in its quest to impose totalitarian rule and suppress information about violations. Many have had to go into hiding or flee the country. In August, in a tragic incident two pro-democracy activists were killed and three others injured after they jumped out of a building seeking to escape a police raid.
Recent experiences from countries as diverse as Burundi, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe show that when the international community and the UN Security Council fail to act consistently and swiftly in the face of egregious human rights violations, the consequences can be devastating. The UN’s Refugee Agency estimates that by the end of 2020 some 82 million people around the world were forcibly displaced. Today, this number continues to rise despite ample warnings by civil society about the dangers of allowing rogue regimes to persecute their populations with impunity.
In Afghanistan and Myanmar, a window of opportunity still exists for the international community to aid the 90 million people who live in these countries. There are several ways to demand compliance with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. These include imposing targeted sanctions against regime leaders responsible for abuses, putting in place an effective plan to deplete the regimes’ capacities to obtain weapons, and creating independent investigative mechanisms to collect evidence of abuses and hold perpetrators to account.
Further, democratic countries that believe in rights, equality, and justice must use diplomatic influence and resources at their disposal to ensure safe havens for those most at risk. Activists facing death threats in Afghanistan should be swiftly evacuated to countries where they are not at risk while those wrongly imprisoned in Myanmar should be immediately released through international pressure.
Notably, the UN and other multilateral institutions should firmly remain on the ground in Afghanistan and in Myanmar in three capacities: first, as observers to monitor conditions and document human rights abuses, along with civil society; second, as governance partners with civil society to preserve the fragile and painstaking development progress made over the years; and third, to support civil society in providing much needed humanitarian assistance to communities at risk.
Editor's Note: This feature was originally published in Diplomatic Courier's UNGA 2021 special print edition.
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The Twin Tests Facing the UN in Afghanistan and Myanmar
Security Council Meets on Situation in Afghanistan. UN Photo/Manuel Elías.
September 21, 2021
The situation in Afghanistan — which has parallels with events in Myanmar some 2,000 miles east — presents several dilemmas for the rules-based international order overseen by the United Nations since the end of the Second World War, says Mandeep Tiwana of global civil society alliance CIVICUS.
F
ollowing the negotiated departure of international security forces and overthrow of the internationally backed government in Afghanistan, the Taliban ominously claimed freedom and sovereignty. They then went on to appoint an all-male cabinet comprising controversial figures under international sanctions for overseeing grave human rights abuses. The situation in Afghanistan—which has parallels with events in Myanmar some 2,000 miles east—presents several dilemmas for the rules-based international order overseen by the United Nations (UN) since the end of the Second World War.
In Myanmar, too an internationally recognized government was deposed this year. Myanmar’s military junta engineered a coup in February and imprisoned several elected politicians. The junta—suspected of committing crimes against humanity—presents multiple challenges for the UN’s Credentials Committee, which decides states’ representation at the UN General Assembly.
Already, governments in countries neighboring Afghanistan and Myanmar appear to have calibrated their positions with an eye on natural resources in the two countries and in line with perceived short-term geopolitical interests. Others with strategic influence in the two countries are deliberating ways by which they can overlook the abysmal human rights records of these two illegitimate governments under international law. All this runs counter to the UN Charter, which promises to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, safeguard fundamental human rights and dignity, establish conditions for justice under international law, and promote social progress and better standards of life.
The Taliban’s attempts to position themselves as more moderate than was previously believed have already been exposed by their brutal treatment of political opponents and protestors. They have a long history of using indiscriminate violence to spread fear and enforce their rule. The record shows that anyone seeking to promote inclusive values and expose the truth about their brutality is considered a target. Women human rights defenders, civil society leaders, and journalists have long been in the Taliban’s firing line. Earlier this year, the Afghan Human Rights Defenders Committee documented the killings of several civil society leaders and journalists with impunity. In July, Danish Siddiqui, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist covering a clash between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, was captured and executed by the Taliban. His body was mutilated.
After the fall of Kabul, lists of names of civil society activists were circulated by the Taliban who also raided their homes to intimidate them. The UN’s human rights chief raised alarm in August of credible reports of summary executions being carried out by the Taliban. A prominent Afghan politician and activist involved in the peace negotiations pointed out in vain that women were being forced to marry fighters and were being prevented from going out without a male companion.
The response from the international community has been apathetic. The UN Human Rights Council, the world’s premier human rights body, issued a weak resolution on 24 August following a one-day special session steered by Pakistan, on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation. The resolution expressed customary concerns about grave violations but failed to even mention the Taliban by name let alone mandate a fact-finding mission to identify perpetrators and report on atrocities taking place. Following the terrorist attack of 26 August on Kabul’s airport which killed over 150 people, the UN Security Council passed a resolution urging the Taliban to provide safe passage to anyone wishing to evacuate, allow access to humanitarian groups, and uphold human rights. But no plan of action was outlined for failure by the Taliban to comply.
In Myanmar too, international inaction fails the victims of violations. Since the military junta grabbed power hundreds of protesters have been killed with impunity. Thousands have been tortured, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned. Calls by national and international civil society groups for the imposition of an international arms embargo on the regime to curb it from attacking civilians remain ineffective. In June, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the military takeover and urging a halt to the flow of arms. The UN’s special envoy on Myanmar urged that time was of the essence to put the country back on the path to democracy. But the UN Security Council, the world’s most powerful body has looked the other way. Two of its veto-wielding governments—China and Russia—are unwilling to curb Myanmar’s junta and subject it to international scrutiny. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have also failed to address the crisis in any meaningful way, raising questions once again about their commitment to human rights and democratic values.
As in Afghanistan, civil society activists and journalists are prime targets for Myanmar’s regime in its quest to impose totalitarian rule and suppress information about violations. Many have had to go into hiding or flee the country. In August, in a tragic incident two pro-democracy activists were killed and three others injured after they jumped out of a building seeking to escape a police raid.
Recent experiences from countries as diverse as Burundi, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe show that when the international community and the UN Security Council fail to act consistently and swiftly in the face of egregious human rights violations, the consequences can be devastating. The UN’s Refugee Agency estimates that by the end of 2020 some 82 million people around the world were forcibly displaced. Today, this number continues to rise despite ample warnings by civil society about the dangers of allowing rogue regimes to persecute their populations with impunity.
In Afghanistan and Myanmar, a window of opportunity still exists for the international community to aid the 90 million people who live in these countries. There are several ways to demand compliance with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. These include imposing targeted sanctions against regime leaders responsible for abuses, putting in place an effective plan to deplete the regimes’ capacities to obtain weapons, and creating independent investigative mechanisms to collect evidence of abuses and hold perpetrators to account.
Further, democratic countries that believe in rights, equality, and justice must use diplomatic influence and resources at their disposal to ensure safe havens for those most at risk. Activists facing death threats in Afghanistan should be swiftly evacuated to countries where they are not at risk while those wrongly imprisoned in Myanmar should be immediately released through international pressure.
Notably, the UN and other multilateral institutions should firmly remain on the ground in Afghanistan and in Myanmar in three capacities: first, as observers to monitor conditions and document human rights abuses, along with civil society; second, as governance partners with civil society to preserve the fragile and painstaking development progress made over the years; and third, to support civil society in providing much needed humanitarian assistance to communities at risk.
Editor's Note: This feature was originally published in Diplomatic Courier's UNGA 2021 special print edition.
