UNITED NATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — UNITED SIKHS made a statement last week to the Permanent Missions to the UN on the plight of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan. Mejindarpal Kaur, International Legal Director of UNITED SIKHS, made the statement in Geneva at the pre-sessions of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Afghanistan, which took place on Dec. 11-14, 2018. This statement was supported by the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar in London, which serves the largest Afghan Sikh congregation.

“We called on representatives of Permanent Missions to make recommendations, during the UPR in Jan 2019, for Afghanistan to urgently address the continuing threats to religious freedom and security of Sikhs and Hindus, following the 1st July bomb attack in Jalalabad that killed one Hindu and 12 Sikh leaders,” Kaur said. “The recent Taliban advances and terror attacks raise a real fear that Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, if not protected, will be subjected to such a level of discrimination and ill-treatment as to amount to a very real and immediate risk of persecution based on ethnic and religious identity. They are desperately in need of international protection.”

UNITED SIKHS and the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar, London had also made a joint written statement on this issue to the Human Rights Council 39th Session in Geneva in September 2018.

During the last UPR in 2014, Afghanistan received three Recommendations on religious freedom that were made by Canada, Mexico and the Czech Republic. These were accepted by Afghanistan. However, Mejindarpal Kaur informed the Mission Representatives that research by UNITED SIKHS shows that the Government has failed to implement its agreed recommendations and that indeed the ground reality does not reflect the above response that was given by Afghanistan.

Senior Sikh leaders in Afghanistan, who have requested anonymity for security reasons, have informed UNITED SIKHS that the Government has not provided any schools or support for Gurdwaras or allocated any land for religious use. A senior Hindu community leader in Afghanistan, who also requested anonymity for security reasons, said in a statement to UNITED SIKHS that the Hindu community has not received support for special worship places or special schools. Nor has any land been allocated for religious rituals.

After the pre-sessions, Mirwais Qaderi, Third Secretary, Human Rights Affairs, Permanent Mission of Afghanistan at the UN in Geneva had a meeting with Mejindarpal Kaur of UNITED SIKHS, Thierry Valle, President of CAP Freedom of Conscience, Jamila Afghani, Section President of Afghanistan WILPF and Asif Safdary, Member of UNHCR Global Youth Council. At the meeting, Mr Qaderi agreed to organise a dialogue between NGOS and the Afghan government, as a side event during the UPR session in Geneva, to discuss the plight of Sikhs and Hindus, women and other minorities including the Hazaras of Afghanistan.

“The Afghanistan Mission in Geneva is prepared to organise a dialogue between the Afghan government and UNITED SIKHS and other NGOs in relation to the human rights of religious minorities and women in Afghanistan,” Qaderi said.

Below are recommendations that UNITED SIKHS has proposed to Permanent Missions that they should request Afghanistan to agree during its UPR on Jan. 21, 2019:

1. Implement the unfulfilled recommendations on religious freedom that were made by Canada, Mexico and the Czech Republic to Afghanistan during the last UPR in 2014;

2. Set a time frame for a fact-finding visit to Afghanistan by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief to identify issues faced by religious minorities, including Sikhs and Hindus;

3. Establish an independent body to:

a) Investigate the statement by Sikh and Hindu minorities that they have not received any support for religious freedom contrary to Afghanistan’s response during the last review;

b) Review and produce a report for the OHCHR on all complaints of religious freedom issues faced by Sikhs and Hindus.

4. Due to the real risk of religious persecution of Sikhs and Hindus and threat to their security, execute a specific plan administered by United Nations Assistance Mission on Afghanistan (UNAMA) to immediately protect their places of worship, homes, schools and workplace from attacks;

5. If it is not possible for the Government and UNAMA to immediately protect Sikhs and Hindus from attacks and risk of religious persecution, secure their immediate relocation as protected persons in a safe country on humanitarian grounds, administered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The UPR is a unique process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, under which all UN member states’ human rights record is reviewed. It provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations. Afghanistan’s UPR is due on Jan 21, 2019.To read about UNITED SIKHS’ civil and human rights advocacy for Sikhs in Afghanistan, please visit:https://unitedsikhs.org/civil-rights.php.