Human Rights Watch Letter on Protecting and Promoting Human Rights in Afghanistan --- Dr. Ashraf Ghani -- Congratulations on your recent election. You and your new national unity government now have an opportunity—and the responsibility—to address continuing human rights concerns in Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to use your offices to bring new resolve to specific reforms urgently needed to protect and promote the human rights of all Afghans. -- Human Rights Watch has monitored human rights in Afghanistan since the early 1980s, documenting abuses by Soviet as well as Afghan forces at that time, and by all parties to the conflicts in the decades since. We have been grateful for the effective working relationship we have established with the Afghan government in recent years. We look forward to working with your government as you undertake crucial measures to improve the human rights situation in Afghanistan. -- We are aware that 2014 is a year of major change for Afghanistan—its first democratic transfer of power and the withdrawal of most international forces by year’s end, against the backdrop of the continuing threat posed by insurgent forces. We are encouraged that both of you noted the importance of human rights for Afghanistan in your election campaigns. As Dr. Ghani observed, the protection of human rights values “is the most important obligation of our state and government.” Since Afghanistan is a party to the major human rights treaties, we encourage you to ensure that Afghanistan lives up to its international legal obligations. We are also mindful of the specific human rights commitments both of you made during the campaign and election processes, and we look forward to seeing those pledges fulfilled and to similar action on other key human rights concerns. -- We write to you with recommendations in a number of key areas important to the protection of the human rights of Afghans, specifically regarding accountability for abuses by security forces, women’s rights, freedom of expression, human rights institutions, and transitional justice. We urge you and your government to make these actions a priority. We offer recommendations in each area that can have near-immediate impact on the human rights situation of large numbers of Afghans, as well as some that require longer-term commitments of political will and capital. -- Read More, Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/25/human-rights-watch-letter-protecting-and-promoting-human-rights-afghanistan