After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, UN indicates rise in human rights violation

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Afghanistan
A Taliban special forces soldier stands guard in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 18, 2022. (AP/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Wednesday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan emphasized the worsening human rights situation in Afghanistan, particularly for women and children, since the Taliban assumed control of the country a year ago.

UNAMA's special representative for Afghanistan, Markus Potzel, stated in a report that despite the better security situation since 15 August, the Afghan people, particularly women and girls, are deprived of the full enjoyment of their human rights.

"The relegation of women and girls to the home deprives Afghanistan of the significant contributions they have to offer," denying them the right to secondary education, which Islamists have outlawed for girls in the country.

Since the Taliban assumed power, according to the research, around 700 civilians have been murdered and 1,406 injured in attacks primarily carried out by the Islamic State against ethnic and religious minorities.

The United Nations also expressed concern over the impunity provided to Taliban fighters in human rights violations, such as "extrajudicial killings of individuals accused of affiliation with armed groups, as well as cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishments and extrajudicial killings of individuals accused of moral crimes."

In addition, the report stated that the amnesty given to former government officials had not been consistently honored since the Taliban had committed 160 extrajudicial killings.

The study demanded that "human rights violations must be investigated by the de facto authorities, perpetrators must be held accountable, and incidents must be prevented from occurring in the future."

The UNAMA accused the ministry of propagation of virtue and prevention of vice of adopting measures to "limit the human rights and freedoms of Afghans, especially women and girls."

In the previous ten months, there have been "122 instances of arbitrary arrest and detention" of journalists, as well as "58 instances of ill-treatment, 33 instances of threats and intimidation, and 12 instances of incommunicado detention" as part of a crackdown on the media.

"The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of opinion are not only fundamental freedoms, but also necessary for the development and progress of a nation," emphasized Fiona Frazer, Chief of Human Rights at UNAMA.

She stated that the human rights situation in Afghanistan was worsening owing to the worsening economic and humanitarian catastrophe, with at least 59 percent of the population needing humanitarian assistance, six million more than at the beginning of 2021.

Frazer stated, "The international community has an obligation to ensure that sanctions have no negative impact on human rights while they remain in place."

Publish : 2022-07-20 19:55:00

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