New UN report reveals Taliban's amnesty to former government officials not being upheld
Jul 20, 2022
Kabul [Afghanistan], July 20 : The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Wednesday released a report which revealed that the amnesty provided to former government officials by the Taliban has not been consistently upheld.
The Taliban authorities had announced an amnesty for former government officials and Afghan National Security and Defense Force members on August 17, 2021.
However, the report mentioned that this amnesty does not appear to have been consistently upheld. UNAMA recorded at least 160 extrajudicial killings of former government and security officials by members of the de facto authorities between 15 August 2021 and 15 June 2022.
Former soldiers, government officials, and those who have worked with foreign alliances are not yet safe since the Taliban's takeover.
They are either killed or imprisoned and the Taliban are taking no responsibility and are closing the files as mysterious murders by unknown gunmen, reported local media.
The law and order situation has deteriorated since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last August. Although the leader of the Taliban Hibatullah Ahkundzada announced a general amnesty following the unexpected fall of the former government, there have been several reports of arbitrary detentions, targeted killings, and attacks on former Afghan government employees.
The UNAMA report said that while the de facto authorities have taken some steps seemingly aimed at the protection and promotion of human rights, such as the amnesty for former government officials and security force members, the December 3 decree on women's rights and a code of conduct relating to prisoners, they also bear responsibility for a broad range of human rights violations.
UNAMA's report details 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 and the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials. Human rights violations must be investigated by the de facto authorities, perpetrators held accountable, and ultimately, incidents should be prevented from reoccurring in the future.
