The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report published Tuesday it has recorded credible reports of serious human rights violations by the Taliban against hundreds of former government officials and former armed forces members, including 218 extrajudicial killings.
The report is part of a series of thematic studies on current human rights issues of concern to the people of Afghanistan and covers the period from the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021 to 30 June 2023.
It documented at least 800 instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment and enforced disappearance carried out against individuals affiliated with the former republic government of Afghanistan and its security forces.
This comes despite a general amnesty proclaimed two years ago by the Taliban.
According to the report, UNAMA documented at least 218 extrajudicial killings of former government officials and ANDSF members since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The most targeted groups affiliated with the former government were ANA members, Afghan National Police, National Directorate of Security officials and Afghan Local Police.
In most instances, individuals were detained by the Taliban’s security forces, often briefly, before being killed. Some were taken to detention facilities and killed while in custody, others were taken to unknown locations and killed, their bodies either dumped or handed over to family members.
The report stated that UNAMA has documented more than 424 arbitrary arrests and detentions of former government officials and ANDSF members since the Taliban takeover, and at least 14 instances of enforced disappearance.
One example given was that of Alia Azizi, former head of the Women’s Prison in Herat province, who disappeared on October 2, 2021. She has not been seen or heard of since.
In addition to this, more than 144 instances of torture and illtreatment of former government officials and ANDSF members by Taliban members have been documented since 15 August 2021, including beatings with pipes, cables, verbal threats and abuse. Individuals reported to UNAMA that they were tortured or ill-treated by de facto officials in order to force them to make confessions regarding their work with the former government or ANDSF, or to hand over weapons.
Multiple reports were also received of threats made to former government officials and ANDSF members, both by unknown people and by members of the de facto authorities.
UNAMA stated that the apparent impunity with which the Taliban members continue to commit human rights violations against former government officials and ANDSF members is of serious concern.
To date, efforts by the Taliban to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable for the incidents described in the report have been extremely limited. Even in the few, isolated cases where an investigation was announced, progress lacked transparency and accountability; impunity prevails.
The report meanwhile pointed out that the Taliban has on a number of occasions responded to killings as having been about “personal enmity or revenge” and that the action was not carried out in an “official” capacity.
Responding to the report, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk said Tuesday that “UNAMA’s report presents a sobering picture of the treatment of individuals affiliated with the former government and security forces of Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country. Even more so, given they were assured that they would not be targeted, it is a betrayal of the people’s trust.”
He urged the Taliban “to carefully consider the findings of this report and to uphold their obligations under international human rights law by preventing further violations and holding perpetrators to account.”
UNAMA has in turn called on the Taliban to clarify the terms of the general amnesty, to ensure that it is upheld and to conduct credible, transparent criminal investigations into alleged human rights violations against former government officials and ANDSF members.
“While the announcement of a general Amnesty by the Taliban in August 2021 was a welcome step, it continues to not be fully upheld, with impunity for human rights violations prevailing,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of UNAMA.
“The de facto authorities must demonstrate a genuine commitment to the general amnesty. This is a crucial step in ensuring real prospects for justice, reconciliation and lasting peace in Afghanistan,” she said.
Taliban response to report
Before publishing the report on Tuesday, UNAMA shared the document with the Taliban. In response, the Taliban’s foreign ministry said no reports have been made by former security forces of human rights violations against them.
“The draft report of the human rights service of UNAMA in Kabul was evaluated regarding human rights violations against the employees of the previous government.” The Taliban also stated that in the past two years, “cases of human rights violations (murder without trial, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and other acts against human rights) by the employees of the security institutions of the Islamic Emirate against the employees and security forces of the previous government have not been reported.”
The Taliban said: “No military staff of the previous administration has been arrested, detained or tortured because of his activities in the security institutions. Those employees of the previous administration who joined the opposition groups of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) or had military activities to the detriment of the system, have been arrested and introduced to judicial authorities, keeping in mind all the legal processes.”
According to them, “if the UNAMA office in Afghanistan has any specific and documented claims about human rights violations by intelligence agencies, they should share the matter with this ministry in detail in order to share it with the relevant institutions and conduct an all-round investigation.”
