[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International [advocacy websites] on Wednesday issued a joint statement [press release] urging Afghanistan’s foreign donors to support human rights progress within the country. The statement, in conjunction with recent letters [text] to foreign ministers, urges domestic and international accountability, especially for female human rights. Issued ahead of a major donors’ meeting in London, HRW is calling for “sustained political and financial backing to strengthen human rights and rule of law.” The advocacy groups called on donors to continue to support bodies such as the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and aid in the development of an independent body to investigate security forces, building off of the 2012 Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan [official websites].

Afghanistan has been the target of much criticism [JURIST op-ed] regarding human rights issues, including women’s rights. In November, The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women called on the government of Afghanistan [JURIST report] and the international community to adopt sustainable measures to address violence against women in the country. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official websites] released a study [JURIST report] in February that raised concern over the treatment of women in the country. The report states there was an increase of reported acts of violence against women to the Afghan authorities in the past year, but prosecutions and convictions under the landmark Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) [text, PDF] law remained low and most cases were settled through mediation. Reported incidents of forced marriage, domestic violence, and rape all increased by 28 percent, but the indictments under EVAW only increased by 2 percent. In November HRW reported the Afghanistan Justice Ministry proposed [JURIST report] new provisions to the nation’s penal code that allow for stoning as punishment for adultery.