Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the statement of the European Union.

We thank the Special Rapporteur for his oral update and wish to express our continued deep concern about the continuous deterioration of human rights in Afghanistan, and the lack of accountability for human rights violations.

We continue to urge the de facto authorities to immediately reverse decisions limiting the human rights of particularly women and girls, and to adhere to the international human rights laws and conventions to which Afghanistan is a state party.

In the absence of domestic rule of law, the importance of international mechanisms – including this Council – has increased for the effective realization of justice and accountability for the Afghan people. We therefore strongly support the work of the Special Rapporteur and call upon the Members of this Council to extend his mandate. Furthermore, in order to be as effective as possible as an international community, we reiterate the importance that those involved in accountability efforts, here in particular the Special Rapporteur, the ICC and UNAMA, work together, cooperate and exchange information.

Mr. Bennett,

Could you kindly share with us your views on how the current accountability mechanisms work together and whether additional accountability mechanisms would have added value?  

Thank you.