The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented at least 218 extrajudicial executions of former officials and military personnel after the Taliban came to power. The corresponding statement is published on the organization's website.
And this is despite the announcement by the current authorities of a "general amnesty" for former government officials and former servicemen of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
According to the UN, the Taliban persecuted former police officers, military personnel, as well as employees of the Afghan National Security Directorate. In most cases, they were taken into custody and then killed. Some were taken to an unknown destination and executed there. The organization has documented more than 800 cases of human rights violations against political opponents of the Taliban.
"The UNAMA report provides a sobering picture of the treatment of individuals associated with the former Government and security forces of Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country. Moreover, they were assured that they would not be targeted, this is a betrayal of people's trust," said Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "I urge the authorities to carefully consider the findings of this report and fulfill their obligations under international human rights law, preventing further violations and bringing those responsible to justice."
In interviews conducted by UNAMA, individuals described cases of torture and ill-treatment by members of the Afghan security forces. In some cases, people were never found. Aliya Azizi, the former head of the Herat women's prison, did not return home from work on October 2, 2021. As of August 22, 2023, her whereabouts remain unknown.
To date, the authorities' efforts to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the incidents described in the UNAMA report have been extremely limited. Even in the few isolated cases where the authorities have announced an investigation, progress is not transparent and accountable; impunity reigns.
Jeremy Lawrence, a representative of the UN Human Rights Office, said at a briefing in Geneva that the Taliban movement carried out at least 144 acts of torture and 424 arbitrary arrests, mainly against former military personnel, from August 15, 2021 to June 30, 2023.
