The United Nations expressed dismay that a media outlet named Afghanistan International had chosen to misuse an important discussion on Afghan women’s and girls’ rights at the Human Rights Council in June to launch a smear campaign against an invited Afghan woman speaker and a UN staff member.
In a statement, the UN experts said that such events should be a safe space for the expression of a broad range of views. While criticism of speakers for positions they take on human rights issues is acceptable, all participants should be free from intimidation, abuse, threats, or other forms of retaliation. Personalized attacks, intrusions of privacy, and the spreading of gendered disinformation can have severe consequences for the safety and security of affected individuals and gravely damage their reputations.
The relevant mandate holders and senior UN staff, not including the staff member identified, coordinated in selecting and inviting speakers for this event according to an established procedure, prioritizing a plurality of voices and views relevant to the topic.
“We call for a concerted focus on restoring and protecting the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, including respecting a wide range of views, particularly those held and expressed by Afghan women,” the statement said.
Afghanistan International TV has not yet responded to the UN experts’ statement.
Mr. Tomas Niklasson, Special Envoy of the European Union for Afghanistan tweeted that “Afghan women should be safe when expressing their opinions – in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, and Geneva.”
The smear campaign against the Afghan woman speaker and the UN staff member involved a number of false and misleading claims, including that the speaker was a member of the Taliban and that the staff member was biased against the Taliban. The claims were widely shared on social media and led to threats and harassment against the two individuals.
The UN experts said that the smear campaign was “deeply disturbing” and that it “undermines the important work that is being done to promote the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.” They called on Afghanistan International to retract the false and misleading claims and to apologize to the two individuals.
The UN experts also called on all media outlets to “refrain from spreading disinformation and to uphold the highest standards of professional ethics.” They said that “the safety and security of women and girls in Afghanistan is at stake.
