As the United States and the Taliban are poised to sign a peace agreement in Doha today, Zaman Sultani, Amnesty International’s South Asia Researcher, said:

“No one desires peace more than the people of Afghanistan, who have suffered so much over the past four decades of conflict. Despite many serious and ongoing challenges, Afghanistan has made significant human rights achievements on different fronts that must be protected and should not be reversed. A peace process must put human rights at its heart."

Sultani continued: “Any peace process involving the parties to the conflict in Afghanistan must not ignore the voice of victims. It must not disregard their calls for justice, truth and reparation for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations and abuses – committed by all sides in the conflict. It must also guarantee the rights of women and girls, and the rights of religious minorities in Afghanistan.”

There have been many suggestions as well as concerns around the US-Taliban agreement by rights group back in Kabul.

Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said that the intra-Afghan negotiations, which will follow the US-Taliban agreement, are the most important part and where any hope for peace lies.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in a statement on Saturday said today’s signing of the US-Taliban agreement to "bring peace to Afghanistan” is the first step in ending over 40 years of successive war in Afghanistan – and the start of restoring "human dignity" to all Afghans.

The statement said that the reduction in violence week showed a hunger for peace, and that the AIHRC's field offices reported a real desire for peace --witnessing "disbelief" to "tentative celebration" in cities and villages across the country.

Restoring human dignity can only be done through peace and non-violence, the commission said, adding that it will work with the Afghan government and Taliban to ensure human dignity prevails, and that justice for all Afghans is always humane and non-violent.