Why is the UN’s Human Rights Council ignoring the Taliban’s atrocities?

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held its thirty-first special session this week to address the ‘serious human rights concerns and situation in Afghanistan’. This discussion was led by the Taliban friendly Pakistan and a copy of the draft resolution was shared on Twitter by the brilliant Hillel Neuer, international lawyer and executive director of United Nations Watch.

These documents make for an interesting but rather revealing read. On the current refugee problem, the draft refers to, ‘the generous hospitality demonstrated by Afghanistan’s neighbours’ and goes on to urge ‘the international community to assist Iran and Pakistan as the major host countries to address the refugee problem’. A thumbs up for Pakistan and Iran there then. Quite remarkably, the resolution goes on to blame the current humanitarian crisis not on its engineers, the Taliban, but rather on ‘prolonged conflicts and military interventions in Afghanistan’ – pointing implicitly to the US and its Western allies.