A report released on Wednesday by the United Nations has revealed a disturbing pattern of over 1,600 recorded incidents of human rights violations against individuals held by the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan. Shockingly, nearly half of these incidents involved acts of torture and ill-treatment, primarily perpetrated by police and intelligence agents.
The U.N. Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) disclosed that during the 19 months leading up to July 2023, 18 individuals lost their lives in prisons or while in the custody of police and intelligence agencies.
Since taking control of the country following the withdrawal of foreign forces in 2021, the Taliban have been responsible for staffing and overseeing the police and intelligence apparatus.
UNAMA’s statement described the horrific treatment of detainees: “In attempts to extract confessions or other information, detainees were subjected to severe pain and suffering, through physical beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, stress positions, forced ingestion of water, blindfolding, and threats.”
Other reported violations included detainees not being informed of the reasons for their arrest, denied access to legal representation, and receiving inadequate medical care while in custody.
Approximately one in ten of these violations targeted women, while journalists and members of civil society accounted for nearly a quarter of the victims.
In response to the report, Afghanistan’s Taliban-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs contested the accuracy of the reported violations, particularly concerning the number of affected journalists and civil society advocates. They claimed that efforts were underway to enhance oversight and ensure compliance with the supreme leader’s decrees that prohibit torture and the coercion of confessions.
While acknowledging these decrees and prison access as “encouraging signs,” the United Nations called for more concrete actions to address the situation. Roza Otunbayeva, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of UNAMA, emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating, “These documented cases highlight the need for urgent, accelerated action by all. There is a pressing need to consider more engagement with the de facto authorities to end these practices.”
