- Wave of arrests of intellectuals, activists and people who defend women’s rights
New evidence of attacks on civilians in Panjshir
Preservation of evidence is fundamental to achieving international justice
Amnesty International urges the UN member states to act to end impunity and ensure justice for victims of Taliban abuseswhen the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan presents today (March 6), at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, a new report on the country.
In recent months, the Taliban have been unlawfully stopping to intellectuals, activists and people who defend women’s rights. Many of his victims have been arbitrarily detained, without legal recourse or access to their families. They are believed to have been detained for publicly criticizing Taliban policies.
Amnesty International calls on the UN Human Rights Council to establish in Afghanistan, as soon as possible, an independent investigative mechanism focused on preserving evidence to ensure that international justice is administered.
“The human rights situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly, and the unrelenting abuses by the Taliban continue on a daily basis.”, said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“People publicly criticizing the Taliban’s abusive rules have recently been detained without explanation, while the stifling crackdown on the rights of women and girls, and targeted killings of ethnic Hazaras, have also continued unchecked. It is clear that the Taliban is not willing to investigate actions by its members that flagrantly violate the human rights of the Afghan population.”
“While the Special Rapporteur continues to do valuable work under extremely difficult conditions, more needs to be done now to meet the daunting challenge of documenting and recording human rights abuses in Afghanistan. It is critical that an investigative mission focused on the collection and preservation of evidence is created to ensure that justice is served.”
In a new public statement, Amnesty International calls for the creation of a fact-finding mission, or other similar independent investigation mechanism, similar to those that already exist in countries such as Ethiopia, Iran or Myanmar. Such a mechanism should have a multi-year mandate and have the resources to investigate, collect and preserve evidence of human rights abuses and violations throughout the country.
Although the UN Special Rapporteur has a vital mission to document ongoing abuses, a key contribution of the mechanism would be to determine the facts and circumstances of serious violations, identify potential perpetrators, and collect and preserve evidence for future prosecution. international. This mechanism is crucial to ensure that crimes under international law and human rights violations committed in Afghanistan do not escape scrutiny, and also to ensure that all those suspected of being criminally responsible are held accountable in trials held before ordinary civilian courts. or before international criminal courts.
Recent wave of arrests
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they declared their commitment to uphold and respect human rights in the country. However, since then Amnesty International has repeatedly documented crimes under international law and human rights violations committed by the Taliban.
Recent arrests include: Narges Sadat, defender of women’s rights; he Professor Ishmael Mashalactivist in favor of women’s education;Fardin Fedayeecivil society activist; Zekria Asoliwriter and activist;Mortaza BehboudiAfghan-French dual national journalist;Qais Khan Representative, former senator; and Muhammad Yar MajrohAfghan journalist.
To date, Amnesty International understands that only Professor Ismail Mashal has been released. In many cases, no information is provided on the reasons for the detention, and the whereabouts of the detained person are often unknown, which constitutes enforced disappearance.
Newly verified evidence of crimes committed in Panjshir
Attacks against civilians, including kidnappings and enforced disappearances, continue in Panjshir as the conflict between the Taliban and the National Resistance Front continues.
Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program Evidence Laboratory has confirmed the authenticity of photos and videos of at least eight incidents posted on social media between May and August 2022, when large groups of men were arbitrarily detained and detained without trial by Taliban in Panjshir. In total, these videos show at least 87 people at various points in the detention process, most with their hands tied. In one video, a Taliban fighter said: “If it were up to me, I would kill them right here.”
Witnesses have reported how the Taliban detained civilians after clashes with the National Resistance Front in Panjshir.
A witness told Amnesty International: “A meeting was called from the loudspeakers in the mosque. when they had [a los hombres] assembled, they tied their hands with their handkerchiefs. They beat them with the butts of their weapons. They arrested men who did not even have a knife. The Taliban had collected their weapons a month earlier. The village of Dan-i-Rivat has about 50 houses. all these men [que se habían reunido] They were detained or captured.
Suppression of women and girls, and attacks against ethnic minorities
Amnesty International has carried out three investigations into mass killings of Hazaras by Taliban forces — in the provinces of Ghazni, Ghor y The second time— which may constitute war crimes. The Taliban, authorities in fact in Afghanistan, they have not carried out investigations in any of the three cases or brought the alleged perpetrators to justice.
In a report published in July 2022, Amnesty International documented how the Taliban are devastating the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan by repressing their human rights. Since taking control of the country in August 2021, the Taliban have violated the rights of women and girls to education, work and free movement; they have decimated the protection and support system for those fleeing gender violence in the family; they have detained women and girls for minor infractions of discriminatory rules; and have contributed to the increase in the number of child, early and forced marriages in Afghanistan.
In November 2022, the Taliban arbitrarily detained three prominent women’s human rights defenders —Zarifa Yaqoobi, Farhat Popalzai and Humaira Yusuf—, and her colleagues, for their peaceful activism. In December 2022, the Taliban banned women from attending university “until further notice” and ordered all local and foreign NGOs to lay off their female staff “until further notice”. According to the UN and humanitarian aid organizations, millions of women and children will be left without humanitarian aid if the ban on NGOs is not immediately lifted.
“It is time for the international community to turn its repeated statements into concrete actions,” he said. Agnès Callamard.
“The international community must act without delay to establish an international investigative and evidence preservation mechanism to ensure that independent investigations and prosecutions can take place. The current accountability vacuum allows serious human rights abuses and violations in Afghanistan to continue unstoppable, and must be urgently closed.”