UN Seeks Talks with Afghan Factions to Safeguard Civilians

AVA- The UN is trying to engage in discussions with the warring factions in Afghanistan to stop the targeting the civilians, says Tadamichi Yamamoto, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
 
He said that UN is also committed to bringing the warring factions to the negotiation table.
 
Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has also expressed deep concerns over the increasing number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, calling on the warring factions to ensure the safety and security of civilians during battles.
 
The remarks came at a special gathering marking World Human Rights Day.
 
Based on the UN statistics over the first six months of the current year, more than 1600 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during armed conflict.
 
“The United Nations will continue its work with parties to the conflict to protect the civilians from harm and encourage all parties to move forward to build peace in Afghanistan,” said Yamamoto.
 
Talking on the issue of elections in Afghanistan, Yamamoto said that he hopes that women participation in the elections will be very broad.
 
“I can assure you that the United Nations will put all its weight to ensure that women can take their part in elections as voters, campaigners, electoral officials and candidates,” added Yamamoto.
 
There are a lot of concerns among the right groups that the recruitment of children for war purposes has also increased in Afghanistan. The practice is a clear war crime.
 
“Children are recruited in the ranks of local police forces, we hope that this trend comes to an end,” said AIHRC chairperson Sima Samar.
 
But the ministry of interior affairs has pledged that the government will be considering some changes in the structure of police in the near future.
 
“With regards the allegations that in the past children were recruited in the structure of the local police, this problem has been identified. We cannot reject this issue completely,” said the Minister of interior Wais Ahmad Barmak.
 
Participants at the gathering stated that the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has also led to a surge in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
 
Based on the statistics of AIHRC, last year over 200,000 people were displaced across Afghanistan due to the war and violence.