2024-09-02 17:02:31
According to the UN Human Rights Office, other de facto authorities and armed groups are also committing serious human rights violations against returning refugees. Some have been kidnapped or disappeared, the office reports, while others have had their money and belongings confiscated.
There are also allegations in the Kurdish-administered northeast that the armed forces known as the SDF physically abuse people, wrongfully arrest them or recruit children as soldiers. There are also fears that the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) will become stronger again in this region, especially since tens of thousands of IS members and their family members are in prisons and camps here. There are also concerns that Turkey could launch a new offensive against the Kurdish militia YPG, which it classifies as a terrorist organization.
Since August 2021, the Islamist Taliban have been back in power in Afghanistan, and have been criticized internationally, especially for their massive curtailment of women’s rights. For example, women and girls are no longer allowed to attend universities and schools from the seventh grade onwards and are not allowed to travel without a male companion. A new so-called virtue law passed by the Islamists also requires women to cover themselves completely on the street and prohibits them from singing or reading aloud in public.
So far, female residents of cities like Kabul can still be seen on the streets without male accompaniment and with their faces uncovered, but women’s rights activists fear further restrictions for women in the country in the future. The “virtue” law prescribes beard and trouser length for men, and music and homosexuality are also prohibited.
Overall, there has been a significant decline in armed conflicts in the country since the Taliban regained power, although attacks still occur. Most of these are claimed by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), which is hostile to the Taliban despite ideological proximity. Members of the Shiite minority in the country are repeatedly targeted by IS. The terrorist group views Shiites as apostates from Islam and despises them.
Critics complain that under Taliban rule there is a harsh crackdown on human rights activists, demonstrators and journalists, who, according to human rights organizations, face arrest, disappearance or torture.