According to a UN human rights officer, the Taliban's violent crackdown on protests against its strict rule has already resulted in four verified deaths. The group uses live bullets, whips, and batons to break up demonstrations.
The UN's rights spokesman, Ravina Shamdasani, said at a press conference in Geneva that the UN had received allegations of house-to-house searches for those who took part in the protests.
Protests against the Taliban's pre-accession to power, many of which have been led by women terrified of their status under the Islamist group, have been met with violence in several areas and were declared outlawed this week by the Taliban's new interior ministry without prior authorization.
Shamdasani described the crackdown on dissent as "severe," adding that journalists covering the protests had faced intimidation, including the threat of "beheading" in one case, presumably a reference to an incident earlier this week in which two Afghan journalists were detained, flogged, and threatened.
Shamdasani stated, "We have seen a reaction from the Taliban, which has unfortunately been severe." “In one case, a journalist was reportedly told as he was being kicked in the head, 'You're lucky you weren't beheaded.' Journalists who were merely attempting to perform their job have been subjected to a great deal of intimidation.
“We demand that the Taliban immediately cease using force against those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and journalists covering the protests, as well as their arbitrary detention,” Shamdasani added.
Since the Taliban surged to power last month in the midst of the US-led departure of foreign forces, the UN has expressed growing worry about Afghanistan's deteriorating human rights situation.
Despite official claims on media freedom, women's rights, and freedom of expression, the Taliban have moved quickly to suppress growing resistance to their return, including demonstrations in several cities.
The new interior ministry, directed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is wanted in the US for terrorism, banned protests that had not been pre-authorized by the Taliban earlier this week, in its first step since an interim government made up exclusively of male, Pashto-speaking Taliban loyalists were appointed.
The UN statement backs up widespread media and rights monitor reports of major human rights breaches since the Taliban assumed power, including claims of extrajudicial killings, arrests, violence, and restrictions on freedom of expression and women's rights.
With a humanitarian crisis developing in Afghanistan, the US underlined on Thursday that aid would only be provided if the Taliban's caretaker government lived up to its previously stated commitments to stability in Afghanistan and the region, as well as displaying universal inclusion.
Speaking at the UN Security Council on Thursday, US deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis reiterated the US position that "any legitimacy and support must be earned."
He said the international community's criteria were clear and included allowing safe passage for Afghans and foreign nationals wanting to leave Afghanistan, as well as honoring the country's international humanitarian law commitments, "including those related to the protection of civilians."
He stated, "We're keeping a close eye on those standards to make sure they're met."
“The United States remains committed to the people of Afghanistan,” DeLaurentis said, adding that as the country's largest humanitarian donor, the US was assisting partners on the ground, “but the needs are vast.”
According to the World Food Programme, roughly 93 percent of Afghan households are not eating enough food due to price increases following the Taliban's return to power. Without international assistance, the country could slide into near-universal poverty by next year, according to a UN development program assessment released the day before.
As evacuation flights for Westerners resumed, the UN expressed its concerns, but hundreds of at-risk Afghans who had aided the US remained stuck in their homeland. With the US embassy closed, American diplomats and troops are gone, and the Taliban is in power.
With the Taliban's help, many foreigners, including Americans and Britons, left Afghanistan aboard a commercial flight out of Kabul on Thursday.
