RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, More Repressive Measures In Pipeline As Taliban Reverts To 'Old Practices' In Afghanistan, 26 December 2022
“After forcibly seizing power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban made a public effort to assuage concerns by the international community that it would return to its brutal rule of the 1990s. But the militant Islamist group has gradually reverted to its repressive policies of the past as the prospect of international recognition and assistance has diminished, experts said. In recent weeks, the Taliban has reintroduced corporal punishments, including public floggings. The militants have also intensified their assault on women’s rights, including recently banning women from attending university. Observers said there are likely more draconian edicts in the pipeline as the Taliban
reestablishes a theocratic state governed by the militant group’s extreme and tribal interpretation of Islamic Shari’a law. “It is very likely that the Taliban will increasingly impose more repressive measures,” said Weeda
Mehran, co-director of the Center for Advanced International Studies (CAIS) at the University of Exeter. “This trend has been established.””
UNAMA, DIGNITY, FREEDOM AND JUSTICE MUST BE UPHELD IN AFGHANISTAN– WORLD MARKS HUMAN RIGHTS
DAY, 10 December 2022
“The United Nations in Afghanistan calls upon the country’s de facto authorities to live up to commitments enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a landmark document codifying everyone’s fundamental rights and freedoms, to which Afghanistan was a pivotal signatory and has a duty to continue to uphold. […] the UN urges the de facto authorities to reverse the slew of edicts and practices they have introduced that restrict the basic rights of Afghans, especially those of women and girls. […] Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have taken some steps seemingly aimed at the protection and promotion of human rights. These have included an amnesty for former government officials and security force members, a decree on women’s rights and a code of conduct relating to prisoners, as well as the creation of a special commission to deal with complaints of violations of media freedoms. Despite these, there has been a marked deterioration of the population’s enjoyment of their basic human rights and freedoms, for which the de facto authorities are responsible and accountable. They have limited dissent by cracking down on protests and curbing media freedoms, including by arbitrarily arresting journalists, protestors and civil society activists and issuing restrictions impacting private citizens and media outlets alike. More than one month after their arrests in Kabul on 3 November, Zafira Yaqobi and four other women’s right activists remain in detention,
with no clear information about the charges against them. UNAMA has also documented cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary arrests and detentions carried out by the de facto authorities, and we urge the de facto authorities to conduct thorough, impartial investigations and hold those responsible to account. The de facto authorities also appear to be increasing the use of corporal punishments such as public floggings. These constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and are therefore prohibited by a number of international treaties and conventions to which Afghanistan is a state party. On 7 December, the de facto authorities announced the public execution of a man in Farah province. He was executed in the presence of some of the country’s most senior de facto officials, as well as a large crowd of local residents. The United Nations strongly opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and calls on the de facto authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty. The use of the death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life. The relentless erosion of women’s rights has been one of the most notable aspects of the de facto administration to date. Since 15 August 2021, women and girls have progressively had their rights to fully participate in education, the workplace and other aspects of public and daily life restricted and in many cases completely taken away.”
UNGA, Report of the Secretary-General, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 7 December 2022
“1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/11 and Security Council resolution 2626 (2022), in which the Secretary-General was requested to report every three months on the situation in Afghanistan and the implementation of the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), including at the subnational level. 2. The report provides an update on the activities of the United Nations in Afghanistan, including political, humanitarian and human rights efforts, since the issuance of the previous report, dated 14 September 2022 (A/77/340-S/2022/692). II. Relevant developments 3. The Taliban de facto authorities announced ministerial-level changes and the continued the restructuring and establishment of institutions, with Taliban leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, playing a more decisive role. At the same time, they stepped up outreach towards local communities and non-Taliban actors. Security incidents linked to the armed opposition and attacks by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) continued. UNAMA continued to receive credible allegations of human rights abuses and violations against former government officials and security personnel, in violation of the general amnesty proclaimed by the Taliban upon taking power in 2021, and in the context of clashes with the armed opposition. Afghans’ fundamental rights and freedoms remain severely curtailed, especially for women and girls, who face persisting restrictions to their right to education, participation in public life and access to services. Despite reports from the Taliban of some positive developments on macroeconomic issues, the overall economic outlook remains of great concern. Humanitarian needs will further rise as winter approaches. Beyond humanitarian assistance, the United Nations continued to operationalize the new aid architecture for Afghanistan and develop a three-year strategic framework for special circumstances.”
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (UNOHCHR), Comment by UN Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on corporal punishment in Afghanistan Geneva, 25 November 2022
“The UN Human Rights Office is appalled by mass floggings in public by the de facto authorities of 14 people in Logar province on Wednesday, and calls for this abhorrent form of punishment to cease immediately.
“Corporal punishment constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which is prohibited under both the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Afghanistan is a State party to both. “Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, the UN Human Rights Office has documented numerous cases of corporal punishments, carried out in public, in many instances for alleged violations of religious and/or moral codes. In the last 12 days alone, a woman and a man were lashed 39 times each for spending time alone together outside of marriage, a child was lashed 60 times for petty theft and a man was lashed 20 times, also for theft from a shop. On 23 November 2022, three women and 11 men were lashed between 35 and 100 times at a football stadium in Logar province for alleged crimes, including theft, “violating social behaviour rules” or “illegal relationships”.”
Amnesty International, Afghanistan: Taliban’s cruel return to hardline practices with public floggings must be halted immediately, 24 November 2022
“Responding to the public flogging of three women and 11 men on Wednesday on the orders of a Taliban court on charges of theft and moral crimes in Logar province of Afghanistan, Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, said:
“The public flogging of women and men is a cruel and shocking return to out-and-out hardline practices by the Taliban. It violates the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment under international law and should not be carried out under any circumstances.””
“On Sunday 14 November, the Taliban Supreme leader gave an obligatory order for full implementation of sharia
law in Afghanistan.
Since then, the Taliban have carried out several public floggings on women and men accusing them of adultery, theft, same-sex sexual conduct or kidnapping, in different provinces in Afghanistan.
This interpretation of Islamic law includes public executions, public amputations and stoning – which were carried
out during the Taliban’s first rule that ended in late 2001.”
The Guardian, Afghan supreme leader orders full implementation of sharia law, 14 November 2022
“Public executions and amputations some of the punishments for crimes including adultery and theft […]
Afghanistan’s supreme leader has ordered judges to fully enforce aspects of Islamic law that include public
executions, stonings, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thieves, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson said.
Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted on Sunday that the “obligatory” command by Haibatullah Akhundzada came after the secretive leader met with a group of judges. Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, rules by decree from Kandahar, the movement’s birthplace and spiritual heartland.”
Afghanistan Analysts Network, ICC Afghanistan Investigation Re-Authorised: But will it cover the CIA, ISKP and the forces of the Islamic Republic, as well as the Taleban?, 11 November 2022
“The resumption of the Afghanistan investigation was authorised by the three judges of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II (hereafter ‘the judges’) on 31 October 2022. This was needed because the former government had requested a deferral, saying war crimes were being investigated in domestic courts and there was no need for the ICC to be involved. Following the overthrow of the Republic, the current ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, had argued that this deferral request should be set aside.”
Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), Afghanistan: Risk Overview, 07 November 2022
“Increased government mismanagement will provide an environment for low-level corruption and nepotism to prosper and result in the failure of state institutions to provide key services, possibly including paying salaries. Dissatisfaction with the Taliban could increase. The continued disruption to the payment of salaries, pensions, and other allowances would worsen the economic crisis at the household level.”
Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), Afghanistan: Risk Overview, 07 November 2022
“As the Taliban seek to impose more bureaucratic processes to oversee humanitarian activities, the ability of humanitarian organisations to talk directly with decision makers recedes while the Taliban administration’s demand for increasing oversight and control, including the sharing of confidential data, increases. The effect is a straining of relationships and restriction of humanitarian operations. The lack of coordination between government levels compounds the issue by creating inconsistencies in approaches to humanitarian access, resulting in varying levels of access and aid distribution between cities, districts, and provinces. […] Taliban interference with aid operations and the consequent inability of aid organisations to deliver on their commitments could directly lead to a reduction in aid delivery, donor disengagement, or the prioritisation of Taliban-preferred programming, such as food distribution, healthcare services, and WASH services. This reprioritisation of aid would result in millions of people receiving reduced assistance or the halting of programming facing the most Taliban interference (most likely protection- or education-related).”
Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), Afghanistan: Risk Overview, 07 November 2022
“The mass exodus of officials and technical Afghans has created a capacity vacuum within government institutions and the non-profit sector for emergency response. International funding also no longer supports the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority. Humanitarian organisations are left as the main frontline responders to sudden adverse shocks, as international grant funding that could have been reprioritised for emergency response ceased in-country operations in August 2021. Logistical challenges are likely to further hamper any available
response capacity.”