The Taliban in Afghanistan is being urged by the United Nations to reform its treatment of prisoners, following the release of a new report detailing over 1,600 human rights violations.
According to the report from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), more than half of the violations involved torture or other degrading treatment.
“The personal accounts of beatings, electric shocks, water torture, and numerous other forms of cruel and degrading treatment, along with threats made against individuals and their families, are harrowing. Torture is forbidden in all circumstances,” stated U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
This report is the result of an 18-month study from January 2022 to July 2023, examining human rights violations in Afghanistan.
The report reveals that detainees are often physically harmed in order to extract confessions and are frequently denied legal representation. UNAMA documented over 550 human rights abuses against detainees, with the majority involving physical suffering.
The violations persist, despite the Taliban government’s statements and policies discouraging such conduct. UNAMA states that the rules are “not sufficiently followed at the operational level.”
“The prevalence of torture, coupled with the systemic violation of procedural safeguards in custody, such as lack of access to lawyers, must be comprehensively addressed by the de facto authorities,” Türk emphasized.
The report specifically calls for the “de facto” government in Afghanistan to establish a legal aid framework and work towards ending arbitrary and prolonged detention.
“There is an urgent need to engage more with the de facto authorities to put an end to these practices, and I hope the report and its recommendations are prioritized,” said UNAMA head, Roza Otunbayeva. “We remain committed to the people of Afghanistan and our efforts to maintain constructive engagement, with impartiality and in good faith.”
The report acknowledges that the figure of 1,600 is likely an undercount, as many human rights abuses go unreported. The U.N. group collected information primarily from Afghan civilians, as well as government workers, military personnel, and journalists.
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