ABSTRACT
The 2004 Afghan Constitution is notable for embodying a rich array of human rights protections. This chapter discusses the developments since 2001, and argues that until a culture of legality is embodied in consolidated institutions, the human rights situation will remain precarious. The idea of 'human rights' owes its origin much more to political developments in Europe and America than in the Muslim world. It explores the rights continue to fill the pages of journals concerned with social, political, and moral philosophy, and the language of rights is as entrenched as that surrounding other normative concepts such as freedom and justice. Developing instruments to protect human rights is virtually impossible under a hail of rockets and artillery shells, and a culture of human rights protection is likely to fall victim to the struggle for survival. The new Constitution of Afghanistan, like its predecessors from 1923 and 1964, contained a range of human rights protections.
