Probe urged on crimes in Afghanistan

China and a group of like-minded countries on Tuesday voiced deep concern over the human rights violations of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan over the past two decades and have called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

Jiang Duan, minister of the Chinese mission to the United Nations in Geneva, delivered a joint statement on behalf of the group of countries at the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council being held from Sept 13 to Oct 8.

"We express our deep concern that the US and its allies have conducted military intervention in Afghanistan for 20 years. It has severely undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, compromised its economic and social development, and violated the human rights of Afghan people," Jiang said.

The joint statement said the US-led military intervention was the root cause of the humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan. It cited the fact that at least 47,000 Afghan civilians had been killed and more than 10 million people displaced during the US-led war. The conflict has also severely affected Afghanistan's neighbors.

"The crimes committed in Afghanistan by military personnel of the US and its allies, such as killing of civilians and torture, must be thoroughly and impartially investigated," said Jiang on behalf of the group.

He said the perpetrators must be brought to justice and that the victims deserve justice and remedy, and those countries in question must be held accountable for what they have done in the past two decades.

"They have the obligation to fulfill their commitment to Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction, rather than simply walking away and shifting the burden to the international community," he said.

New type of relations

In his speech representing a group of countries, Chen Xu, China's permanent representative to the UN Office at Geneva, called on nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, refrain from imposing one's will on others and work to build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation.

"Differences should be bridged through dialogue and consultation, and conflicts should be resolved through political negotiation," Chen said.

"The use or threat of force should be rejected," he said, as should military intervention "under the pretext of democracy and human rights".

Chen also called on promoting sustainable development to achieve peace. He said countries should respect the diversity of civilizations.

At Tuesday's session, Jiang made another joint statement on behalf of a group of countries expressing serious concern over the human rights situation in the US.

The joint statement criticized the US for disregarding the right to life and right to health of its people, saying that while the US boasts the most advanced medical equipment and technologies, it has seen the largest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world.

"Instead of fighting the virus in full gear, the US government is obsessed in political manipulation of issues such as tracing virus origins in its purpose to shift blame to other countries and shirk responsibility from its own failure," he said.

The joint statement also blasted the US for its systemic racism and for blocking many countries from access to medication and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.