A/HRC/13/40/Add.1 • Under-age Shi’a girls can be married against their will before the legal age of marriage if a guardian can demonstrate in a court that the child has the “ability and interest” to marry and they have reached puberty (b) No response received from the Government (c) Observations by the Special Rapporteur 6. The Special Rapporteur regrets that she has so far not received a reply from the Government of Afghanistan concerning the above mentioned allegations. She urges the Government to uphold its commitments to safeguard the rights of women and girls as contained in the following international treaties, which it has ratified: the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 2 (f) of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, requires States Parties to “take all appropriate measure, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women.” In General Recommendation No. 21 (1994) on equality in marriage and family relations, the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women states that “many countries in their legal systems provide for the rights and responsibilities of married partners by relying on the application of common law principles, religious or customary law, rather than by complying with the principles contained in the Convention. These variations in law and practice relating to marriage have wide-ranging consequences for women, invariably restricting their rights to equal status and responsibility within marriage. Such limitations often result in the husband being accorded the status of head of household and primary decision-maker and therefore contravene the provisions of the Convention.” (para. 17). 7. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur would like to refer to General Assembly resolution 63/181 which urges States “to step up their efforts to eliminate intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief, […] with particular regard to members of religious minorities in all parts of the world, and devoting particular attention to practices that violate the human rights of women and discriminate against women, including in the exercise of their right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief” (para. 12 a). She would also like to recall that the General Assembly in the same resolution invites all actors to address in the context of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, inter alia, within the framework of international human rights, “the situations of violence and discrimination that affect many women as well as other individuals on the grounds or in the name of religion or belief or in accordance with cultural and traditional practices” (para. 16 b). 8. The Special Rapporteur would also like to recall the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, in particular its article 4 which states that “States shall take measures where required to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law”. Women belonging to minority communities must not face discriminatory treatment either in relation to members of wider society or relative to male members of their own community. Equally, article 4, paragraph 2, establishes that “States shall take measures to create favourable conditions to enable persons belonging to minorities to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs, except where specific practices are in violation of national law and contrary to international standards” (emphasis added). The Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that the Shi’a Personal Status Law, as it is drafted, contains provisions that are discriminatory and contrary to international standards. 5