Rights activists on Friday criticised the Afghan government for suspending a political party, warning against a “dangerous” trend of limiting freedoms as NATO forces depart. The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was the first time that a party had been barred because of its views since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime in the 2001 US-led invasion. The Solidarity Party of Afghanistan was suspended earlier this month after demonstrating in Kabul in late April for the prosecution of alleged former warlords and war crimes suspects now in key positions of power. HRW urged Kabul to lift the suspension, saying it violated Afghan and international law on the right to freedom of expression. Solidarity was set up in 2004 and has no lawmakers in parliament, but HRW said it regularly organised street protests on contentious issues such as the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan.
