Afghanistan: Collapse of legal system is ‘human rights catastrophe’, UN says

“Lawyers, judges, prosecutors and other actors involved with the legal system in Afghanistan face grave risks to their safety, and those still practicing must navigate a deeply challenging, non-independent legal system”, UN Special Rapporteurs Margaret Satterthwaite, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Richard Bennett, on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said in a joint statement.

Lawyers in Afghanistan – especially women – are risking their lives in efforts to protect the rule of law, they said ahead of the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, marked on 24 January. More than 250 women judges, and hundreds of female lawyers and prosecutors, have already been removed, Special Rapporteurs said.

Prosecutors have been “systematically side-lined”, the statement continued, noting that their previous work in investigating, and prosecuting Taliban members under democratically-elected Governments, have put them at “grave risk”.

“International actors should provide protection and safe passage to lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and other actors involved with the legal system, especially women, who are at risk of reprisal and attacks by the Taliban and others”, the statement detailed.